The stuff Traffic did was so much better and also the San Francisco bands were miles ahead of Pink Floyd.

I voted Piper at the Gates of Dawn. That album has the most insane and brilliant song writting out of the other two. It's also more daring with the infamous track 'interstellar overdrive' which is over 9 minutes. Great album.

Which san francisco bands?

All of them. Especially the guitar playing of Jorma Kaukonen & Carlos Santana. Plus all the bands on Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 are far more interesting than Pink Floyd's Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

probably, but most of them don't have albums as fully realised as Piper and I like the English whimsy better

Voted for Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It's my favorite Pink Floyd album.

Moby Grape for one.

I`d agree that most of these bands were putting out superior material than the Pink Floyd debut.

Also anything with Jorma Kaukonen`s guitar on, is going to be better than Syd Barrett`s noodling.

I prefer Nuggets over Piper at the Gates of Dawn anytime.
I bought the rerelease two years ago and it's brilliant.
But that doesn't mean piper is plain crap. It's just a different style, I guess.

Hey does anyone know if S.F. Sorrow was ever released in mono? My copy's liner notes say that it's in mono but it's not.

I've seen quite some records claiming to be mono when they are not.
My vinyl edition of SF Sorrow says 'stereo' on both sleeve and label.
My vinyl edition of Parachutes says 'stereo' on both sleeve and label too :)