This book aims to educate US music fans about Pink Floyd’s albums prior to Dark Side of the Moon.

The Floyd were formed in London in 1965 and released their first album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn the following year. Their debut pioneering work of space rock/psychedelia reached No. 6 in the UK album charts. Their subsequent LPs: Saucerful of Secrets, More, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, Meddle and Obscured by Clouds all were equally succesful. The Floyd earned a reputation as a great live band who made compelling records which have stood the test of time. However, in the USA Pink Floyd struggled to get any recognition and it was not until 1973 that they finally charted with Dark Side of the Moon. It reached No 1 and became one of the biggest selling records of all time.

Bill Kopp is a musician and writer who clearly loves this subject and writes with great enthusiasm about Floyd’s early years. His book asks two questions. Firstly, how did Pink Floyd re-invent itself after the demise of Syd Barrett? The second question is, why are the first seven Pink Floyd albums not better known as they represent a logical progression which led to the creation of the masterpiece that is Dark Side of the Moon?

The book is an annotated discography of the first seven albums plus some previously unreleased tracks that appear on the 27 CD box set, Pink Floyd: The Early Years 1965 -1972. It is also a study of how the group, minus the tortured genius of Syd Barrett, managed to become one of the most creative and biggest selling bands of all time. Kopp attributes quite a lot of their success to the musical abilities of their keyboard player, Richard Wright (1943 -2008).  He was a classically trained musician and multi-instrumentalist who was also a vocalist, composer and arranger.

Kopp’s critical study of Pink Floyd’s early work brings a lot of insights to the music but the book does cover much of the same ground as Pink Floyd: Song by Song by Andrew Wild. Whilst Kopp’s book is more detailed, the Andrew Wild study does give you a track by track guide to all 17 albums plus the unreleased tracks. If you are a dedicated Floyd fan then the Kopp book will offer a rewarding read especially if you are also a musician as the book talks a lot about time signatures and unusual chords.

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