This is Biography David Jon Gilmour, born on 6 March 1946 in Cambridge, England, was a good childhood friend of Barrett, with whom he learned to play guitar at school. As early as 1962, they played a duet during the rehearsals of his band ‘Mottoes’, which was dissolved like snow in the sun to make way for experiences with various local groups such as the ‘Ramblers’ or the ‘Jokers wild’.
Even today, many years after the exit of the deranged Syd Barrett, whose place he took, David Gilmour, a gentleman with a good-natured face and a leisurely air, so at odds with the image we have through the photos of the 1960s, is the guitarist of Pink Floyd, the legendary psychedelic group responsible for countless masterpieces.
A band that had to undergo several splits, including the stainless Rick Wright (in 1979), then returned for mysterious reasons; the consequence is that now the legendary band seems nothing more than a trio that more or less wearily drags itself from one concert to another chasing the glories of the past.
This is a feeling that many people have, although many others may not agree with this assessment. His career took a decisive turn when he was co-opted into the still young but already famous Pink Floyd. He joined the band in 1968 when, during the recording of the album “A Saucerful of Secrets”, he replaced the bewildered Barret, apparently unable to cope with the success of the band and alienated by serious mental problems.
From then on, the band underwent various stylistic metamorphoses in an attempt to absorb the shock of the departure of Barrett, the creative force. The reins of artistic management passed into the hands of Gilmour and the bassist Roger Waters, who both proved to be gifted with considerable musical intuition. It is no coincidence that Pink Floyd’s great commercial successes are equally due to the signature of the two.
There would be a lot to say about the tormented events of the band, but they are a story in themselves. Needless to say, a certain amount of rust was smouldering among some of the band members: an emotional state that then led to the break-up by Roger Waters, who decided to start an artistic adventure on his own.
In the troubled years marked by those events, Gilmour also tried a solo career. He debuted in this new guise in 1978 with a self-titled album composed during the empty moments of Pink Floyd’s production. The album was nevertheless a success and remained in the British and American charts for a long time.
In 1984 “About face” was released, the second album signed by the band on its own and touched by little success. In the same year, however, David Gilmour dabbled in numerous collaborations: first he played in concert as a guest with Bryan Ferry, then he recorded the album “Bete noire” with the former Roxy Music; later he played with Grace Jones on the album “Slave to the rhythm”.
However, the sublime guitarist is dissatisfied. He wanted to implement some of his musical ideas independently and formed a band with drummer Simon Phillips. The experience was negative and in 1986, in agreement with Mason, he decided to continue the tours he had underway under the revived name of Pink Floyd: new recordings and new discs were in the pipeline.
Roger Waters showed up to protest, full of vibrant indignation, and so from that moment began the interminable legal battle between the former bassist and the rest of the group (led by David Gilmour), for the exclusive use of the trademark “Pink Floyd”.
At the same time, Richard Wright also disengaged from the pre-announced recordings, to the point of often being replaced by other passing instrumentalists.
In 1986 Mason and Gilmour, unstoppable, recorded under the Pink Floyd name “A momentary lapse of reason”, containing hit-singles like “On the turning away”, “Learning to fly” and “Sorrow”. In part, it is a return to the musicality of albums like ‘Wish you were here’, even if the genius of the past seems to be missing. Sales were good and the album proved to be well thought out, with Gilmour’s guitar still capable of creating dreamy, evocative atmospheres.
In 1987 Wright actively rejoined the group and Pink Floyd (or at least what remained of it) began a grand tour full of special effects and spectacular solutions, lasting about four years and marked by a huge influx of people (it is estimated that something like six million tickets were snatched), proving that in the hearts of fans the past, however glorious, slowly gave way to the new, perhaps less visionary but more serene style of Pink Floyd.
In 2006, David Gilmour’s solo album “On an Island” was released. In addition to his wife Polly Samson, who wrote many of the lyrics, his friends Graham Nash, David Crosby, Robert Wyatt and Phil Manzanera collaborated on the album. Polly is also a journalist and writer; her first novel published in Italy (the second of her career) is entitled ‘La gentilezza’.
Her new solo work arrives in 2015 and is entitled “Rattle That Lock”. In the song “In Any Tongue” his son Gabriel Gilmour (making his debut) plays the piano parts. In the song “Today”, his wife Polly (who wrote the lyrics) lends her voice.
Discography
978 – David Gilmour
1984 – About Face
2006 – On an Island
2015 – Rattle That Lock
Live albums
2008 – Live in Gdańsk
2017 – Live at Pompeii
Singles
1978 – There’s No Way Out Of Here/Deafinitely
1984 – Blue Light
1984 – Love on the Air
1985 – Lie for a Lie (Nick Mason e Rick Fenn featuring David Gilmour)
2006 – On an Island
2006 – Smile
2006 – Take a Breathe
2006 – Arnold Layne
2009 – Chicago/Change the World
2015 – Rattle That Lock
2015 – Today
2015 – Faces of Stone
2016 – In Any Tongue
2020 – Yes, I Have Ghosts
With Pink Floyd
1968 – A Saucerful of Secrets
1969 – More
1969 – Ummagumma
1970 – Atom Heart Mother
1971 – Meddle
1972 – Obscured by Clouds
1973 – The Dark Side of the Moon
1975 – Wish You Were Here
1977 – Animals
1979 – The Wall
1983 – The Final Cut
1987 – A Momentary Lapse of Reason
1994 – The Division Bell
2014 – The Endless River
With Arcadia
1985 – So Red the Rose
