The 60s will always be a prime-time British Rock group. With the emergence of artists like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, old-school music went on to create many of the most influential albums and songs. Talking about bands, Pink Floyd was also one of them with critical success.
Back then, the major influencers for such bands were Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and other musicians from the 50s. David Gilmour, the guitarist of the band also held his regards to such artists and also Lead Belly and B.B King. Later on, he helped Progressive Rock to reach great heights with many albums like The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon.
In the late 1960s, Pink Floyd met with The Beatles in Abbey Road Studios while the former were recording their debut album. Gilmour had high regard for The Beatles and always wanted to perform with them. Also, he has always talked about them. Back in 2002, Gilmour talked about musicians and one of them was Paul McCartney. He said, “He is a musician in the broadest sense of the word. He can play everything: bass, guitar, piano, drums … And on all these instruments, he has a very good level. We cannot, therefore, mystify him, he knows exactly what he wants. We owe him certain productions which were not of the greatest interest. But he definitely deserves the success and respect he enjoys.”
Also during his talk with Mojo in 2016, he expressed his desire to be in the Beatles. He told, “I really wish I had been in the Beatles, [They] taught me how to play guitar; I learnt everything. The bass parts, the lead, the rhythm, everything. They were fantastic.”
He continued, “I’m a kid, really, You get into Studio Two at Abbey Road, you’re sitting there with Paul McCartney, and your guitar is plugged in. You think that’s an ordinary day’s work, but of course, it isn’t; it’s magical! Managing to persuade him to sing ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ at the Cavern, with me doing the John Lennon parts, was absolutely fantastic.”
Gilmour joked and said, “I’ve been in The Who, I’ve been in The Beatles, and I’ve been in Pink Floyd, Top that, m***********!”
After The Beatles disbanded in 1970, Gilmour has been with McCartney in the studio on many occasions. He played guitar on the 1984 solo album Give My Regard To Broadstreet, 1989’s Flowers In The Dirt, and 1999’s Run Devil Run. Also in an interview with the BBC Radio 2 show “Track Of My Years” back in 2006, he talked about his favorite songs and one of them was ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.’
McCartney has also talked about David a lot. In his book ‘The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present’ he called David ‘a genius’. He said, “David Gilmour plays the solo on the record. I’ve known him since the early days of Pink Floyd. Dave is a genius of sorts, so I was pulling out all the stops. I admired his playing so much, I’d seen him around; I think he’d just done his solo ‘About Face’ album. So I rang him up and said, ‘Would you play on this?’ It sounded like his kind of thing.”
They also played in concerts together. Paul also made a special show at the historical Cavern Club in Liverpool. He invited David Gilmour, Deep Purple’s drummer Ian Paice, Mick Green on Guitar, Pete Wingfield on Keyboard, and Chris Hall on the accordion.
Also in an MSN webcast, when Gilmour was asked about future collaborations, he said.
“I’ve completed all the stuff that Paul has so far asked me to do with him. I don’t know if he’s doing anymore but it was really good fun to get back to that kind of music for a change. Getting to be a Beatle for that night at the Cavern was unforgettable.”
Watch David Gilmour and Paul McCartney perform together at the Cavern Club, Liverpool, in 1999.
