During his days with The Beatles, Paul McCartney had one of the most reliable guitarists in the game to serve his songwriting with a perfect foil. “George was the best guitarist in the group. I mean, we were all pretty good, but George was lead guitar,“ Macca admitted. “John would take turns because John was good too. He had a more primitive style, but George was more technical, more practical, and we all thought he was a great guitar player. The nice thing was that he didn’t really emulate anyone.”
Everyone in music emulates another artist to some degree – unless they’ve invented their own instrument – but The Beatles showed how trying to be original as sincerely as possible is a pinnacle that can push art to new heights. With Harrison being a central force for this within the band, McCartney’s love for musical inventiveness and idiosyncratic sounds grew. Thus, when he moved into his solo work, he was also looking to recruit someone similar to Harrison’s singularity, if that’s not too much of a paradox on paper.
When he was looking for a guitarist for the track ‘Rockestra Theme’, he decided that the strangely mercurial power of David Gilmour was what was needed. McCartney has always held the Pink Floyd man in high regard. “David Gilmour plays the solo on the record. I’ve known him since the early days of Pink Floyd. Dave is a genius of sorts, so I was pulling out all the stops,“ he writes regarding the track in his book, The Lyrics.
“I admired his playing so much,“ The Beatles glowingly continues. “I’d seen him around; I think he’d just done his solo About Face album. So I rang him up and said, ‘Would you play on this?’ It sounded like his kind of thing.” Thankfully, the love-in was mutual, with Gilmour even saying that he would’ve loved to have made the Fab Four the Fab Five.
He’s also cited them among his favourite tracks, telling BBC Radio 2: “I was an absolute mad Beatles fan. ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’ is, I think, John Lennon’s first moment of being influenced by Bob Dylan. It’s very much in the Bob Dylan vein. So it’s just one example of hundreds of things I could choose. Anything by The Beatles, really. Fantastic song.”
So, when McCartney came calling and started dropping praise as lofty as the G word, Gilmour snapped his hand off to be part of things. The duo have since worked together on McCarney’s efforts, Give My Regard To Broadstreet from 1984, his eighth solo album Flowers In The Dirt from 1989, and most recently, Run Devil Run from 1999. They’ve also duetted live together on several occasions, which Gilmour has called ”unforgettable”.
Once again, it has been mutual. The pair played together at the Cavern Club in December 1999 – one of the most I wish I was there concerts ever – and Macca later said that playing with his pal from Pink Floyd, a band he loved (largely because of Gilmour), was a “pretty good way to see out the 20th century” in his typically dry, understated tones.
