The songwriter that David Gilmour said is brilliant

David Jon Gilmour was born in Cambridge, England in 1946 and later on adopter the artistic name of David Gilmour, starting his musical career in 1963 and being asked to join Pink Floyd a few years later in 1967. He was a crucial part of the band’s songwriting and sound, helping them to become one of the best-selling groups in the history of music, with an estimated amount of more than 250 million records sold worldwide.

Although Floyd was a Progressive Rock group, Gilmour always had a broad musical taste and over the decades talked a lot about many other artists. He even mentioned one that in his opinion is brilliant.

The songwriter that David Gilmour said is brilliant

Rock and Roll music started in the 50s but really evolved with many different bands and sub-genres in the 60s, when groups were more open to try new things when composing. The peak of those experimentions happened after the mid-60s when different groups who were already famous took things one step-further.

Those new sounds were crucial to inspire groups like Pink Floyd and make them understand that there were no rules when composing a song. The bands could do anything they wanted in the studio. As his bandmates, Gilmour understood that message and was a huge fan of many groups that appeared a few years before Floyd and were not afraid to experiment.

One of them was The Beach Boys, which first started as a Surf Rock group. But they shocked the world when they released their groundbreaking album “Pet Sounds” in 1966. As pointed by Brian Wilson‘s official website, David Gilmour is a huge fan of the American group. He even talked about the brilliance of Wilson’s songwriting.

“Even in those very early days of the Beach Boys, songs like ‘In My Room’ and ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ were giving indications that Brian Wilson wanted to paint with a much more colorful palette than was offered by the surf music that he was so adept at.”

He continued:

“His brilliance leapt from strength to strength over a very short period. In a little over four years, he mastered the art of songwriting, record production, orchestral arrangements. (Besides) every form of studio trickery to culminate with the wonderful songs on Pet Sounds,” David Gilmour said.

David Gilmour revealed once which is one of his favorite Beach Boys songs

Gilmour has always been a huge fan of the Beach Boys and he even covered many of their songs when he was a member of another band before Pink Floyd. In an interview with BBC Radio 2 in 2006, he revealed that “God Only Knows” is one of his favorite songs of all time. That track curiously is also Paul McCartney‘s favorite of them.

(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) “I love the Beach Boys. My early band in Cambridge when I was a teenager, we did a lot of Beach Boys songs. But I didn’t wanna play one of the the too surfy ones. I just love the place that Brian Wilson got to. (When he came out) of all that Surf Music. Some of these moments are just sublime. ‘God Only Knows’ is one of the best things. It’s so beautifully constructed. So meaningful as well,” David Gilmour said.

He inducted Brian Wilson into the United Kingdom music Hall of Fame

Although the UK Music Hall of Fame was made to celebrate the career and influence of British artists, they also honored many musicians who weren’t born there. Those musicians were an inspiration for the music made in the United Kingdom. One of them was the legendary Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson. It was in 2006 that he was inducted by David Gilmour.

During his speech, the guitarist recalled how he performed their songs in the early days. He also talked about how inspired he was by their music (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). “The first band I actually formed when I was a young lad was with some like-minded souls from my hometown. We wanted to sing harmony.”

He continued:

“So the harmony we wanted to sing was The Beach Boys harmony. Also that love of singing harmony remains with me today. The man who is the main inspiration for that love is the man we are honoring here tonight, Brian Wilson.”

“Even in those very early days of The Beach Boys. Songs like ‘In My Room’ and ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ were giving indications that Brian Wilson painted with a much more colorful palette than was offered by the Surf Music that he was so adept at,” the Pink Floyd musician said.