Pink Floyd
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Their second release was "See Emily Play", on 16 June. It was premièred at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London earlier in May that year, where the band also used a device called an Azimuth co-ordinator. They performed on the BBC's Look of the Week, where an erudite and engaging Waters and Barrett faced rigorous questioning from Hans Keller. The single fared slightly better than "Arnold Layne", and after two weeks was at number 17 in the charts. It was mimed for the BBC's Top Of The Pops, to which they returned after the single climbed to number five, but a scheduled third appearance was cancelled when Barrett refused to perform. It was about this time the rest of the band first noticed changes in Barrett's behaviour. By early 1967 he was regularly using LSD, and at an earlier show in Holland Mason observed him to be "completely distanced from
everything going on, whether simply tripping or suffering from a more organic neural disturbance I still have no idea." Pink Floyd's contract with EMI had been negotiated by their agent, Bryan Morrison, and EMI producer Norman Smith. They were obliged to record their first album at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London. There they experimented with musique concrète, and were at one point invited to watch The Beatles record "Lovely Rita". Although in his 2005 autobiography Mason recalled that the sessions were relatively trouble-free, Smith disagreed, stating that Barrett was unresponsive to his suggestions and constructive criticism. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released in August 1967, and Pink Floyd continued to draw huge crowds at the UFO Club, but Barrett's deterioration was by then giving them serious concern. The rest of the band initially hoped that his erratic behaviour would be a passing phase, but others, including Jenner and June Child, were more realistic: To their consternation, the band were forced to cancel their appearance at the prestigious National Jazz and Blues Festival, and informed the music press that Barrett was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Jenner and Waters arranged for Barrett to see a psychiatrist, a meeting the frontman did not attend, and a stay in Formentera with Sam Hutt, a doctor well-established in the underground music scene, led to no visible improvement. A few dates in September were followed by the band's first tour of the United States. Blackhill's late application for work permits forced the band to cancel several dates, and Barrett's condition grew steadily worse. He detuned his