How Jimi Hendrix inspired David Gilmour
It wasn’t exactly an easy road for David Gilmour to walk at the start of his career. The Pink Floyd guitarist might be legendary now, but he had the unenviable task of complimenting, then replacing, another legendary singer and guitarist: Syd Barrett. Initially hired to fill in the gaps that Barrett’s deteriorating state left in Pink Floyd, Gilmour quickly carved out his own singular voice in the band. That voice primarily came through in his instantly recognisable guitar playing.
Gilmour had a unique ability to make his Fender Stratocaster sound like it was crying from the very heavens. That combination of tone, ability, and soul has a distinct lineage within the history of rock music. Unsurprisingly, Gilmour traced it back to the kind of crying guitars himself, Jimi Hendrix.
While appearing on the BBC Radio 2 show ‘Tracks Of My Years’ back in 2006, Gilmour listed Jimi Hendrix’s ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ as one of his favourite songs of all time. Gilmour even gave a peek into the first time that he heard Hendrix play, which ultimately set him on the path towards becoming a top-shelf guitar player himself.
“Jimi Hendrix, fantastic,” Gilmour gushed. “I went to a club in south Kensington in 1966, and this kid got on stage with Brian Auger and the Trinity and (started to play) the guitar with the other way around (upside down) and started playing. Myself and the whole place was with their jaws hanging open.”
“I went to the next day to record shops, and I said, ‘You’ve got anything by this guy Jimi Hendrix?’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ve got a James Hendrix’. He hadn’t yet done anything. So I became rather an avid fan waiting for his first release. Also, this is one of his beautiful ballads that I really love,” David Gilmour said.
Gilmour had jumped the gun by a year: Are You Experienced, Hendrix’s debut, wouldn’t come out until 1967. That same year, Gilmour was offered the position of joining Pink Floyd. He and his old friend Barrett would co-exist within the group for only a few short months. By March of 1968, Barrett was out, and Gilmour had to help steer the ship as the band’s newest guitarist and singer. One has to wonder if Hendrix’s success helped fuel Gilmour’s desire to make Pink Floyd one of the biggest bands of all time. In any case, by the time Gilmour and the Floyd had firmly established their sound outside of Barrett’s shadow, Hendrix would already be gone.
Check out ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ down below.
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