Pink Floyd 1963-1967

Although Pink Floyd is officially founded on 1965, the history can be traced back to the 1963. On that year Roger Waters and Nick Mason were first met while studying architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London. They first played together in a group formed by Clive Metcalfe and Keith Noble and also with Noble's sister Sheilagh. Richard Wright, a fellow student, later joined and becoming a sexted named Sigma with Roger Waters on lead guitar, Richard Wright on rhythm guitar, and Nick Mason on drums. Richard Wright's girlfriend was a regular guest artist for the band.

Later, Roger Waters and Nick Mason moved into a flat at 39 Stanhope Gardens, London in September 1963. The flat is owned by Mike Leonard, a part-time teacher at the Hornsey College of Art and Regent Street Polytechnic. Nick Mason later moved out of the flat, while Bob Klose, an accomplished guitar player, moved in. Sigma 6 went through several changes in name, including The Meggadeaths, Leonard's Lodgers, The (Screaming) Abdabs, and the Spectrum Five before settling as The Tea Set. Later in 1963, Noble and Metcalfe left to form their own band, while Klose and Waters were joined by Syd Barret.

After The Tea Set lost Metcalfe's and Noble, Klose introduced the band to a Royal Air Force technician, Chris Dennis. It was during that time the band was first referred to as "The Pink Floyd Sound", created by Barret when he discovered that another band, also named The Tea Set, were to perform at one of their gigs. The name was found by Barret by combining the names of his favorite bluesmen Floyd Council and Pink Anderson, later in 1967 the word "Sound" was dropped from the name thus becoming "Pink Floyd".

The Pink Floyd Sound was the resident band at the Countdown Club, London, where from late night until early morning they played three sets of 90 minutes. After pressure from his father, and also advice from his college teachers, Bob Klose quit the band in 1966 and Barret took over on lead guitar. Then they began to receive paid bookings, including one at the Marquee Club in March 1966 where Petter Jenner, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, watched and impressed with them. And together with Andrew King, became Pink Floyd's manager.
They had almost no experience with musc industry and used inherited money to purchase new equipment and instruments for the band, and to set up Blackhill Enterprises. Under their guidance Pink Floyd became part of London's underground musc scene. To celebrate the launch of the International Times magazine, they performed in front of about 2,000 crowd including celebrities like Paul McCartney and Marianne Faithfull at the opening of The Roundhouse.

Their relationship with Blackhill Enterprises was strengthened when the band became full partners, with each of the members holding an one-sixth share.

Later, Pink Floyd were present at the head of a wave of psychedelic music that later would be called space rock, and began attracting the music industry. While in negotiations with record companies, Bryan Morrison and Joe Boyd arranged and funded the recording of several songs including "Arnold Layne" and "Interstellar Overdrive". Later, the band signed with Electric and Musical Industries (EMI), with a £5,000 advance.

On 11 March 1967 "Arnold Layne" was released, becoming Pink Floyd's first single. Its references to cross-dressing make it banned in several radio stations but it still peaked in the UK charts at number 20.

"See Emily Play" was Pink Floyd's second single, released on 16 June on the same year. It was first sung at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London in May 1967, where they first used a music device called Azimuth co-ordinator. The "See Emily Play" was getting better in the charts than "Arnold Layne", reached number 17 in the UK charts after two weeks. Soon, after their immensely popular appearance on the BBC's Top Of The Pops, the single climbed to number six in the UK charts.

It was around this time that the band first noticed changes in Barrett's behavior as he was regularly using LSD.

Later in August 1967, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released as their third single and the band continued to draw huge crowds at the UFO Club. Yet, Barret's erratic behaviour giving the band serious concern, they hoped that his behaviour would be a passing phase but some were more realistic that he had some problems with that.

Also because of that, Pink Floyd were forced to cancel their appearance at the famous National Jazz and Blues Festival. Waters and Jenner arranged a visit to psychiatrist for Barrett but he didn't attend. Instead he choosed to stay with Sam Hutt, a doctor which is popular in the underground music scene, led to no visible improvement.

In September they are doing their first tour in the United States. Barrett's condition getting steadily worse as he detuned his guitar during a performance at the Winterland Ballroom. King quickly curtailed Pink Floyd's US tour, immediately sending them back to the UK. Shortly after that Pink Floyd supported Jimi Hendrix's tour of England but Barrett's condition worsened through the tour. Barrett's position in the Pink Floyd was becoming less secure. In November 1967, Pink Floyd released the Apples and Oranges single and with the Barrett's condition the band responded by adding a new member to their band.