David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd back in 1967 and ended up being one of the most important elements of the band’s sound. His guitar playing and singing was crucial for the success of albums like “Dark Side of The Moon” (1973) and “The Wall” (1979), making him one of the most influential guitarists of all time.
Over the decades he had the opportunity to meet and work with many other amazing guitar player. He talked about many of those artists and one of them was The Who’s Pete Townshend.
What is David Gilmour’s opinion on Pete Townshend
David Gilmour and Pete Townshend had been good friends for decades and have a mutual respect for each other. Pete is only one year older than Gilmour but achieved fame earlier in life, so that’s why the Pink Floyd artist said in an interview with French Guitarist magazine back in 2002, that Pete was one of his heroes.
“Pete has always been one of my heroes. When I was very young, I hitchhiked from Cambridge to London to see him play at the Marquee Club. It was the very beginnings of the Who. He is incredible. He rarely plays lead, well, he could very well do …”
“We played back when he had very serious problems with his eardrums. The doctors had recommended him not to play with an amp. So he took an acoustic guitar and hired me to play his usual role.”
Gilmour continued:
“He couldn’t play the loud parts and he gave them to me. He is doing much better today and he went back to electric without problem. So much the better! I can’t imagine Pete without being able to do the mill on his guitar,” David Gilmour said.
Pete Townshend and David Gilmour already recorded together
In the 80s the artists got together and wrote two tracks which ended up being released on Townshend’s solo career album. He recalled that experience in an interview with Mojo back in 2008. “We’d done some recording for ‘The Final Cut’ (Pink Floyd album) at the Eel Pie Studiso (Owned by Townshend) and Pete had told me he had really liked my first (solo) album.”
“I was dumbstruck, but he said he was having difficulty writing music, but had loads of words. I sent over two or three tracks and he came back with lyrics for ‘Love On The Air’ (Released on the 1984 Gilmour solo album “About Face”), ‘All Lovers Are Deranged’ (Also released on Gilmour’s “About Face” and re-recorded by Townshend on his 2001 compilation album “Scoop 3”) and a third one, ‘White City Fighting’, which ended up on his next album,” David Gilmour said.
Besides recording together, both musicians played together live in concert many times too, especially in the 80s. Gilmour and Pete were already inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as members of their bands. But unlike Gilmour, who is often recalled for his guitar playing, Townshend many times is more often seen as a songwriter and The Who‘s mastermind. Gilmour was always more focused on writing the music and left the lyrics to be done by someone else. That’s why Pink Floyd’s lyricis were more done by Roger Waters and the lyrics of his solo career are written by his wife Polly Samson.