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David Gilmour etched his title in rock historical past as the co-lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for Pink Floyd. However there is much more to him than the massive hits that he recorded with one of the greatest bands of all time. To celebrate his 71st birthday today, listed here are five things you may not know about Pink Floyd’s Gilmour.
1. Humble Beginnings
Prior to joining Pink Floyd, David GIlmour performed in just a few groups that went nowhere – on the charts, at least. In 1967, he toured Europe with a band known as Bullitt, who had nothing however bad luck. Audiences did not enjoy their covers of current hits and club owners stiffed them after sets. When the group returned to London, they were so poor that they had to push their van off the ferry as a result of they could not afford gas.
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2. Pre-Floyd Recordings
We hate to knock a rock legend, however audiences were right about David Gilmour’s early covers. Within the mid 60s, the band Jokers Wild – featuring Gilmour on vocals and guitar – cut an eponymous album featuring their takes on hits by groups like The 4 Seasons. The results were underwhelming. Many of the tracks sound just like the type of cheap covers you hear in movies that can’t afford the rights to the unique recordings.
3. Helping A Former Floyd
David Gilmour essentially replaced enigmatic singer/songwriter Syd Barrett when he joined Pink Floyd at the end of 1967. However there were no hard feelings between the 2 musicians. In actual fact, David Gilmour went on to co-produce Barrett’s album ‘The Madcap Laughs’ (1970).
David’s contributions to Barrett’s debut included reworking the album’s single ‘Octopus.’
4. Gilmour’s Day Off
David Gilmour went on to co-produce a number of other artists, together with the folksy pop group The Dream Academy. The English band did not achieve the sort of success they’d hoped for. However thanks to David’s work, The Dream Academy immortalized themselves in movie historical past by contributing the songs ‘Edge of Forever’ and their cover of The Smiths’ ‘Please, Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’ to the soundtrack for ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986).
5. Synth Popstar
David has collaborated with many musicians over time. And he lent Duran Duran some artistic cred in 1985. After rocketing up the charts within the early 80s, Duran Duran members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor wanted to take a break from arena pop. So they teamed up with David Gilmour and other musicians to record the artsy album ‘So Red the Rose’ under the band title Arcadia.
David performed guitar on more than half the tracks on the platinum album that Kelvin Hayes of AllMusic.com called “the best album Duran Duran never made”.
I first heard Pink Floyd in the early 70’s and I have listened to them ever since. Greatest Band ever.