David Gilmour

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David Gilmour (2006) with the Fender "Black Strat" ​​guitar.

David Jon Gilmour , CBE (born March 6, 1946 in Cambridge ) is a British rock musician , composer and record producer . He became known as the guitarist , singer and songwriter for the British rock group Pink Floyd .

Life

David Gilmour grew up as the son of genetics professor Douglas Gilmour in a middle-class academic family. As a teenager he started playing guitar in various local Cambridge groups. In his youth he gave occasional street concerts with his school friend, Syd Barrett . Her main interests were in the music of Bob Dylan , the Beatles and the Rolling Stones . In the mid-1960s, Gilmour worked temporarily as a dressman . In 1965, Syd Barrett formed the band Pink Floyd ; Gilmour was playing as a cover musician in the band Jokers Wild at the time . With her he recorded an album with five songs; only around 50 pieces were pressed for family and friends. The songs are soul standards and two of them, Don't Ask Me and Why Do Fools Fall in Love , made up a 7 "single, which were also made in small numbers. In 1994 a copy was made for sold over £ 800. A tape recording of the album can be heard at the National Sound Archive in London under archive number C-625/1.

In January 1968, Gilmour joined Pink Floyd to assist Barrett with performances, and soon after replaced the seriously mentally ill when he left the band in April of the same year. With his melodic style of playing and his precise handling of sound effects, he became a style-defining rock instrumentalist of the 1970s. Gilmour's flair for atmosphere and timing shaped pieces such as Echoes , Time , Shine On You Crazy Diamond , Comfortably Numb and Marooned , which won a Grammy Award in 1995 . He released four solo albums with David Gilmour (1978), About Face (1984), On an Island (2006) and Rattle That Lock (2015), only the last two of which were accompanied by major commercial success. After Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, Gilmour took over the leading role and played three more studio albums with the band: The album A Momentary Lapse of Reason was released in 1987, The Division Bell followed in 1994 and The Endless River in 2014 . A last joint appearance of the classic line-up (with Waters, without Barrett) of Pink Floyd took place in 2005.

In the early 1990s, David Gilmour and his wife Ginger divorced. He is now married to journalist Polly Samson , who worked on the texts for The Bell Division , On an Island and Rattle That Lock . Gilmour has four children with his first wife and three more with Samson. He also adopted a son from Samson's first marriage. Gilmour lives with his wife and four children on a Sussex estate , which is also home to Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason . Gilmour sold one of his houses in London in 2003 for the equivalent of around five million euros, which he donated to the British homeless charity. He runs the Astoria recording studio on his houseboat on the Thames . There - in addition to large parts of the last two Pink Floyd albums and the Gilmour solo albums On an Island and Rattle That Lock - recordings for bands such as Porcupine Tree , Archive and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds were made . In 2003 Gilmour was awarded The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire .

In spring 2006, after the release of his third solo album On an Island, a sold-out European tour took place, which also included Germany. Gilmour was accompanied on this tour by, among others, Jon Carin (keyboards, vocals) and Guy Pratt (bass) - who both played on the last two Pink Floyd tours - as well as Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright . At the end of the tour, Gilmour played on three consecutive nights in May 2006 at London's Royal Albert Hall . On the first evening David Bowie sang the encores Arnold Layne and Comfortably Numb with Gilmour as a surprise guest , while Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason took over the drums for Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb on the last evening in Albert Hall . In the summer of 2006 Gilmour played a number of open-air concerts, including at the Clam Concerts in Austria and on Munich's Königsplatz . On August 26, 2006, on the anniversary of the founding of the Solidarność union, Gilmour played in front of around 50,000 visitors in the Gdańsk shipyard .

In September 2008 he played the song Remember a Day on the TV show Later with Jools Holland as a tribute to the Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, who had died eight days earlier. In 2009 he stood up for the "UFO hacker" Gary McKinnon and protested against his planned extradition to the USA. In addition, he had re-recorded the rock classic Chicago by Crosby, Stills and Nash with Chrissie Hynde , Bob Geldof and McKinnon to support an appeal for donations with the free download of the piece. In the same year he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. He had left this facility in 1968 with Pink Floyd's beginning success without a degree.

In July 2010 Gilmour appeared on behalf of The Hoping Foundation (Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation) together with Roger Waters in front of about 200 invited guests and played a cover version of Phil Spectors To Know Him Is to Love Him , the Pink- Floyd songs Wish You Were Here and Comfortably Numb as well as an encore Another Brick in the Wall . Waters then announced that Gilmour was planning an appearance on his upcoming tour, which took place in London in May 2011. Gilmour played again the title Comfortably Numb and together with Nick Mason the title Outside the Wall . In March 2015 Gilmour announced the release of his fourth solo album, Rattle That Lock, and a European and American tour for September 2015 .

In the late summer of 2015, Gilmour embarked on a concert tour that took him to selected historic locations around the world. It started in Europe, including a concert in Oberhausen in September, and performed in Brazil, Argentina and Chile by the end of the year. In the spring of 2016, the tour continued in North America and it ended in September 2016, where it began: in Europe with five evenings at London's Royal Albert Hall . Before that there were again two concerts in Germany.

In July 2016, David Gilmour also played two shows in the shadow of Vesuvius as part of this tour , 45 years after his first concert in the amphitheater in Pompeii . For the 70-year-old Briton it was the return to the arena in which Adrian Maben's concert film Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii was made in 1971 , at that time still without an audience and designed as a documentary. It was the first live performance in front of an audience since the gladiatorial fights in AD 79. Because of the cultural and historical importance of the place buried under ashes when Vesuvius erupted , the number of spectators was limited to 2600 each. Both concerts were filmed in 4K under the direction of Gavin Elder . The concert film David Gilmour: Live at Pompeii was created from these highlights . It premiered in more than 2000 cinemas worldwide in September 2017 and was also available for purchase.

Gilmour as a guitarist

David Gilmour (2006)

David Gilmour was influenced in his playing styles by blues and rock 'n' roll as well as by folk music. In his early bands The Ramblers and Jokers Wild, he covered material by Chuck Berry , Wilson Pickett and later by Jimi Hendrix . Typical blues techniques such as bends and slides run through all of his well-known solos, such as Money , Wish You Were Here , Shine On You Crazy Diamond , Comfortably Numb and Another Brick in the Wall . Pieces such as Dogs on the Animals album and Mihalis on his first solo album with their complex harmony sequences also document Gilmour's approach to contemporary fusion jazz . Just as Roger Waters lyrically and conceptually shaped Pink Floyd music in the 1970s, Gilmour and keyboardist Richard Wright determined the musical face of Pink Floyd. Steve Tarshi's book Original David Gilmour contains transcriptions of his famous solos from Meddle (1971) to About Face (1984). The Rolling Stone listed Gilmour as 14th of the 100 best guitarists of all time . In a list from 2003 he was ranked 82nd.

“I've never had fast fingers, they're very slow compared to most, and the coordination between left and right hands and such is not great. ... so I have to rely on other things. ... I just try to make nice melodies, try to make it sing, I try to imagine the guitar singing. "

- David Gilmour, 1984

“My fingers aren't very fast, but I think I'm instantly recognizable. I can hear myself and know that it is me. And other people too. "

- David Gilmour, 2006

Equipment

Gilmour plays a lap steel guitar (1977)

The typical for David Gilmour clean sound is mainly based on his Hiwatt Signature amplifier, considered one of the best guitar amp goes for clean, undistorted sound. His well-known "distorting sounds" in solos are the products of various effects devices . For example, he uses various distortions ; in his early years the Fuzz Face and the Big Muff from Electro-Harmonix , later the Colorsound Power Boost, the Chandler Tube Driver or several effects specially built for him by Pete Cornish . Usually one (up to three - on the last tour) custom WEM boxes or Marshalls 1960s are used as boxes. On the 1994 Division Bell Tour , Gilmour used a specially made Leslie system to reproduce the floating sounds of B. To realize Us and Them live.

In order to do justice to the diverse sound modes , Gilmour uses a number of well-known effects devices ( Polychorus , Smallstone Phaser , Electro Harmonix, Electric Mistress Flanger, etc.). The delay section has been completely converted from analog (tape echo etc.) to digital over the years due to advances in technology and reliability. Gilmour's pedalboard and rack were built entirely by Pete Cornish . He has worked with him since the 1970s.

Gilmour's main instruments are electric guitar type Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster . Since September 2008 Fender has dedicated his own signature model of his Black Strat to him . It is offered in two versions: New Old Stock and Relic , a copy that has been artificially aged and produced with precisely reproduced signs of use. The pickup manufacturer EMG produces a pickup named after Gilmour (the "EMG DG 20"), which, for example, it used almost exclusively on the 1994 Bell Division tour. This is specially tailored to the Fender Stratocaster, has a higher output volume and sounds much clearer than the pickups from the Fender production.

In addition to the stage guitars, which are mostly more recent, Gilmour owned various instruments from the 1960s and 1970s as well as - until the auction of the complete guitar collection in 2019 - the white Stratocaster with serial number 0001 from 1954 and some early models of the Gibson Les Paul . Prominent among Gilmour's favorite acoustic guitars is a CF Martin D-35 from 1969, with which he recorded the title song of the same name from Wish You were here in 1975 . Since his unplugged gigs in 2001 and 2002, Gilmour has also been seen with a black Gretsch Duo-Jet, which can also be heard on the album On an Island . Another frequently used guitar on the new album is a '56 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with a Bigsby - Tremolo . Gilmour's leather guitar strap embroidered with crosses once belonged to Jimi Hendrix and was given to him by his wife Polly on his 60th birthday. He often plays the slide guitar influenced by the blues , for example in Atom Heart Mother , Breathe , The Great Gig in the Sky or One of These Days .

Auction of the guitar collection 2019

In June 2019, David Gilmour had his guitar collection, which last consisted of 120 instruments, auctioned by Christie's auction house in New York City . According to the auction house, the total proceeds amounted to the record sum of 21.5 million dollars (about 19 million euros). The most expensive instruments from Gilmour's collection were his white Stratocaster from 1954 for 1.8 million dollars, the 1969 Martin D-35 for around 1.1 million dollars and the Black Fender Stratocaster ("The Black Strat"), the at a price of nearly four million dollars, making it the most expensive guitar ever auctioned, according to the auction house. The latter two guitars were bought by the US entrepreneur Jim Irsay . According to Gilmour, the total proceeds of the auction will go to the climate protection organization ClientEarth : " Climate change is the greatest challenge that humanity will ever confront," Gilmour himself justified his decision. "We need a civilized world for all of our grandchildren and beyond, where those guitars can be played and songs can be sung."

Gilmour as a producer and promoter

Gilmour produced all of his solo albums himself and was involved in the production of all twelve Pink Floyd albums , beginning with the Pink Floyd album More (1969) - with the exception of The Final Cut (1983) . He also produced the two solo albums by Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett , such as The Madcap Laughs in 1969 .

David Gilmour helped Kate Bush get her first recording deal and also worked on the production of her debut album The Kick Inside . He produced albums for the British bands The Dream Academy and Unicorn and also discovered Sam Brown .

Trivia

  • When asked which song he would like to cover within the last few years, Gilmour named Crazy from Gnarls Barkley and mentioned that the song was part of the soundcheck at current concerts.

Discography (solo)

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1978 David Gilmour DE17 (10 weeks)
DE
- - UK17 (9 weeks)
UK
US29
gold
gold

(18 weeks)US
1984 About Face DE24 (9 weeks)
DE
- CH15 (10 weeks)
CH
UK21 (9 weeks)
UK
US32
gold
gold

(28 weeks)US
2006 On to Iceland DE3
gold
gold

(13 weeks)DE
AT2 (8 weeks)
AT
CH4th
gold
gold

(14 weeks)CH
UK1
platinum
platinum

(19 weeks)UK
US6 (11 weeks)
US
2007 Remember That Night - Live at the Royal Albert Hall DE9
gold
gold

(16 weeks)DE
- CH69 (1 week)
CH
UK-
platinum
platinum
UK
US-
platinum
platinum
US
DVD
2008 Live in Gdańsk DE12 (9 weeks)
DE
AT28 (2 weeks)
AT
CH14 (5 weeks)
CH
UK10
gold
gold

(8 weeks)UK
US26 (4 weeks)
US
2015 Rattle That Lock DE2
gold
gold

(18 weeks)DE
AT2 (12 weeks)
AT
CH2
gold
gold

(17 weeks)CH
UK1
gold
gold

(16 weeks)UK
US5 (5 weeks)
US
2017 Live at Pompeii DE2 (43 weeks)
DE
AT6 (6 weeks)
AT
CH4 (13 weeks)
CH
UK3 (3 weeks)
UK
US45 (1 week)
US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

  • In Concert (DVD, 2002, UK:platinumplatinum, DE: goldgold)
  • Live at Pompeii (DVD, 2017, UK:goldgold)

Collaborations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
2010 Metallic Spheres
The Orb feat. David Gilmour
DE95 (1 week)
DE
- - UK12 (3 weeks)
UK
US73 (2 weeks)
US

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
UK UK US US
1984 Blue Light
About Face
- US62 (7 weeks)
US
2006 On an Island
On an Island
UK72 (2 weeks)
UK
-
Smile
on to Iceland
UK72 (1 week)
UK
-
2007 Arnold Layne
Remember That Night - Live at the Royal Albert Hall
UK19 (3 weeks)
UK
-
originally Pink Floyd's debut single (1967)

More singles

  • 1978: There's No Way Out of Here / Deafinitely
  • 1984: Love on the Air / Let's Get Metaphysical
  • 2015: Rattle That Lock

Guest musicians (selection)

David Gilmour has worked on individual songs by other musicians on the following albums:

literature

Web links

Commons : David Gilmour  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. Pink Floyd - Story and Songs compact, 2004 Bosworth Music GmbH, Berlin, page 128
  2. Pink Floyd's Gilmour backs McKinnon protest gig
  3. Students set to graduate alongside David Gilmour and other top honoraries in Cambridge ( Memento from June 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  4. May 13, 2011
  5. Official page of David Gilmour with information about the fourth solo album and the 2015 tour ( Memento from March 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  6. David Gilmour Live At Pompejii. Accessed October 1, 2017 .
  7. 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 18, 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .
  8. 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time - David Fricke's Picks. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 .
  9. Shades Of Pink 1984. Retrieved August 18, 2020 (British English).
  10. Guitarist March 30, 2012: Classic guitar interview: David Gilmour, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2020 .
  11. On the scope and subject of the auction see: The David-Gilmour-Collection. David Gilmour's legendary "Black Strat" ​​comes to auction. In: Christie's, New York , accessed June 23 of 2019.
  12. Pink Floyd guitarist is auctioning guitars for $ 21.5 million , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 21, 2019.
  13. See Yohannes Lowe: David Gilmour guitar sells for record breaking £ 3.13m to American football billionaire , The Telegraph, June 21, 2019.
  14. See Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 21, 2019.
  15. ^ David Gilmour Credits , Allmusic, April 23, 2013
  16. a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  17. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7
  18. Sources for awards: DE AT CH UK US