While the Barrett era was certainly important and beloved, it’s here that Pink Floyd’s hegemony truly began. After releasing 1967’s seminal debut LP, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, mastermind – and tortured genius – Barrett was forced to leave, resulting in legendary guitarist/singer David Gilmour taking his place on 1968’s A Saucer Full of Secrets onward. Like many English groups formed in the mid-1960s, the first notable incarnation was comprised of childhood friends and schoolyard chums (singer/guitarist Syd Barrett, drummer Nick Mason, bassist/vocalist Roger Waters, and keyboardist Richard Wright).
