David Jon Gilmour, CBE, born in Cambridge, England, on March 6, 1946, turns 70 today. With a music career spanning 50 years, he his still writing and playing new music. His fourth solo album, Rattle That Lock, was released in 2015, and David is currently touring the US with 10 shows scheduled between 3/24 (in LA) and 4/12 (in NYC). A tad fuller in the face and shorter in the hair, Gilmour still has it folks.
Of course, David Gilmour is best known as Syd Barrett’s replacement in the progressive rock group Pink Floyd, the band that has sold 250 million albums worldwide. Yes, THAT David Gilmour.
As an 8 year old, David bought his first record, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock.” It was soon followed by Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel” and the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love.” He taught himself to play on a borrowed guitar with a lesson book and record set by Pete Seeger. Fateful meetings with Syd Barrett and Roger Waters took place in his school days in Cambridge. Barrett and Gilmour trekked around Europe in ’65. Barrett went back to England and started that Pink Floyd band. In December, 1967, the group’s drummer, Nick Mason, came calling. Syd, who in his deteriorating state of mind didn’t even recognize his old chum David, was to become a non-performing songwriter and would David be his guitar voice? "OK" Yada, yada, yada . . . 250 million albums later, and here we are.
Gilmour is multi-talented. Mainly known for his guitar work, he also played bass on a portion of Pink Floyd tracks, keyboards, synthesizer, banjo, lap steel, mandolin, harmonica, and drums on the Syd Barrett solo track "Dominoes". He can also play the saxophone.
Since the demise of Pink Floyd, David has continued to create, playing on Bryan Ferry’s Boys and Girls. Interestingly, Ferry’s former guitarist Phil Manzanera has become Gilmour’s sidekick, on tour and in the production booth. Gilmour’s On An Island (2006) album, tour and film documentaries thrust him back into the spotlight. Of particular note, David Crosby and Graham Nash were backup singers on that tour, and David Bowie collaborated memorably on “Comfortably Numb” and “Arnold Lange” during the tour’s stop at Royal Albert Hall in London.
We wish David Gilmour happy 70th birthday. Time is an imposter!
