Gilmour, Guitars & Gear
David Gilmour: Ladies' Man
In this column, I'll be examining Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's gear and playing techniques from a musician's point of view. Please feel free to e-mail me with questions and ideas for future articles if you feel you have an idea that readers of Spare Bricks might find of interest. Past articles are now posted here.
In keeping with this issue's theme, I thought it would be interesting to examine some of David Gilmour's solo session work with female artists.
 Kate Bush's "Love And Anger" video |
Gilmour is known in industry circles for discovering Kate Bush and playing a role in jump-starting her career. Gilmour's initial musical contribution to Bush's career was a 1973 song called "Passing Through Air." In 1982, Gilmour contributed backing vocals to a song called "Pull Out the Pin" on The Dreaming. In 1989, Gilmour played guitar on The Sensual World album on the songs "Love and Anger" and "Rocket's Tail." Gilmour appeared with Bush in the promotional video for "Love and Anger." Gilmour also appeared with Kate Bush on March 28, 1987 at The Palladium in London for Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Third Ball, performing the song "Running Up That Hill."
Durga McBroom, Sam Brown, and Vicki Brown are known as backing vocalists during Pink Floyd's 1987-94 performances. What's not known is the extent of Gilmour's contributions to their solo projects. McBroom formed a band called Blue Pearl and released an album entitled Naked in 1990. Gilmour played on two songs: "Running Up That Hill" and "Alive." He also appeared in a music video for the song "Alive." McBroom's Naked album also featured a guest appearance by Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright.
Sam Brown released two albums that included contributions from Gilmour. Her 1988 release, Stop, featured Gilmour's guitar playing on the tracks "This Feeling" and "I'll Be in Love." In 1990, Gilmour would contribute backing vocals to a song called "Troubled Soul" on her April Moon album.
Sam's mother, Vicki Brown, who performed with Pink Floyd at the Knebworth festival on June 30, 1990, also released two albums that featured contributions from Gilmour. On her 1989 album Lady of Time, Gilmour guests on the track, "Can't Let Go." He contributed a track to her 1990 release About Love and Life entitled "I'll Always Be Waiting".
In 1986, classical acoustic guitarist Liona Boyd released an album titled Persona. Gilmour contributed to three tracks on this LP. He appears on the songs "L'Enfant," "Sorceress", and "Persona."
 David Gilmour onstage with Kate Bush |
Gilmour also contributed to Grace Jones' 1985 release, Slave to the Rhythm. He played on the title track as well as on a song called "The Fashion Show."
Kirstie MacColl's 1989 album Kite featured Gilmour on two tracks: "No Victims" and "You and Me Baby."
Terri Nunn, lead singer for the band Berlin, has stated that in her opinion, Gilmour is the world's best guitar player. Gilmour's appearance on Berlin's 1986 release Count 3 and Pray had to play a large factor in forming her opinion. Gilmour plays a solo on the song "Pink and Velvet" that reminds one of his classic outro solo on "Comfortably Numb." Nunn told the Berlin Fan Page, "He did 3 hours worth of solos for my song, 'Pink and Velvet' and when he stopped I asked him to marry me. No musician before or since has ever put me in a state like that for that long."