As the Summer of Love was beginning to concave in on itself, Pink Floyd was at a crossroads. While they had been responsible for some of the most avant-garde rock music ever to reach the charts on the psychedelic debut record, all was not well with founding member Syd Barrett, who slowly began to lose his battle with his mind during the making of their next record. Once Roger Waters took the reins, another equally gifted musical genius entered the fold with David Gilmour.
Initially brought on as a replacement for Barrett in the studio, Gilmour would soon become an integral part of the group’s songwriting, often penning their most well-known tunes alongside Waters. Although Gilmour had a unique voice to offset the rest of the band, it was his work behind the fretboard where he left his mark.
While he may have been playing the same kind of blues scales that artists like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix were playing around the same time, Gilmour infused his soul into every note that came out of the guitar. When working on a tune like ‘Money’, for instance, Gilmour’s way of expressing himself is evident through each phase of the solo, whether it’s the hard rock groove of the first section or the more subdued sounds of the second half.
Before Gilmour had even found his pathway into Pink Floyd, though, chances are he was going to go down an equally psychedelic road with his outfit. Formed in the mid-1960s while Floyd was still making The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Gilmour had helped form the basis of the band Joker’s Wild.
Compared to where he would end up in Pink Floyd, Joker’s Wild were formed in the same vein as The Beatles, with every member sharing equal time behind the microphone and playing various takes on rock and roll standards. While the band was a decent rock and roll act at the time, Gilmour had no fond memories of the group’s music.
Looking back on his musical development, Gilmour considered the whole project shallow, saying, “It was a vanity project. I booked Regent Sound in Denmark Street. We all headed off to London in our van, did five songs, all having absolutely no idea what we were doing. The songs were all covers from our live set ‘Dont Ask Me Why’, ‘Thats How Strong My Love’, ‘Beautiful Delilah’, ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’, ‘You Don’t Know What I Know’. We had a bit of a following around Cambridge and sold them to friends”.
Despite the lacklustre sales and dismal outlook on the band, Gilmour did have his first flirtations with those who would make him legendary later. Apart from playing alongside up-and-coming artists like Paul Simon, Gilmour also developed a friendship with Hipgnosis around this time, who would go on to create the iconic artwork for Pink Floyd albums like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.
Although Gilmour was more than happy to move into progressive territory with Pink Floyd, he did have a soft spot for that period when he brought out former Joker’s Wild members Rick Wills and Clive Welham on tour to promote his 1978 solo album. It’s easy to see why the band may not have gone the same distance as Pink Floyd, but perhaps the lessons of Joker’s Wild helped inform where Gilmour would take his talents years later.
