David Gilmour named his ultimate career achievement: “Top that, motherfucker!”
With an array of classic albums to his name and an undisputed place in the pantheon of guitar heroes, David Gilmour is elated at how his career has panned out. The tragedy of former Pink Floyd leader Syd Barrett and the fall-out with Roger Waters aside, it’s safe to say that the Cambridge native’s career panned out in a way that even the young, wide-eyed version of himself could not have imagined when busking the continent seeking to emulate his idols.
Gilmour was crucial to Pink Floyd’s rise to become one of the most influential bands of all time and was instrumental in classics such as Meddle, The Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here. As a guitar player, he covets a bluesy feel and serves the song over technical vanity, meaning that, in many ways, he was the soul of the band. His work instilled a tangible heart into their work, moving them away from the whimsical psychedelia of their early years.
After he joined Pink Floyd and they set about finishing their 1968 second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, amid Barrett’s mental health decline, Gilmour and the band embarked on a period of great experimentation. It saw them gradually progress into the prog-adjacent area that they became world beaters for conceiving, with Gilmour’s atmospheric playing the tip of their spear and the perfect accompaniment to Waters’ increasingly cerebral lyrical themes.
Yet, Gilmour’s life hasn’t just comprised of Pink Floyd. He’s also committed to a lauded solo career and has, on occasion, converged with some of the other most lauded musicians his era produced. These include playing with Paul McCartney and others at Liverpool’s Cavern Club in 1999 and contributing to Who leader Pete Townshend’s 1985 solo effort, White City: A Novel.
For Gilmour, working with the biggest acts of his generation is also a cause for much celebration. In particular, linking up with Paul McCartney has been life-affirming, given that he once said The Beatles were the group that taught him “everything”, from the guitar to rhythm.
As he is still the young man who was first galvanised by The Beatles and their British invasion counterparts at heart. To play with McCartney and the other pioneers of the era was a ‘pinch me’ moment, despite the many iconic achievements he secured with Pink Floyd. However, understandably, he finds it impossible to separate playing with an array of legendary musicians from his own work, and naturally, to him, gracing the studio and stage with such a mass of heroes is his most significant career achievement.
Speaking to Record Collector about working with The Beatles man, Gilmour said: “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,” he then added before reflecting on his ultimate career accomplishment. “Managing to persuade him to sing ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ at The Cavern, with me doing the John Lennon parts, was absolutely fantastic. I’ve been in The Who, I’ve been in The Beatles and I’ve been in Pink Floyd! Top that, motherfucker!”
Only a select few reach such lofty heights as Gilmour has done. But thanks to his talent, he did so with relative ease, becoming as storied as the men who first influenced him.
