Roger Waters recently responded to the rumors about his ‘hatred’ of David Gilmour’s guitar work and corrected the common ‘misconception’ about the guitarist’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ solo, while answering fan questions on YouTube.
The first question came from a fan named Mitch Cohen, who asked:
“While in the studio during the recording of ‘the Wall,’ did you ever interject your opinions and criticisms on David’s solos? I have always wondered if you left that alone and let him have free reign.”
Roger’s answer was a bit lengthy, as he openly answered:
“Of course, I expressed my opinions because I was producing the records, and so was he. And so was… Who else? Ezrin. [continues thinking] ‘The Wall…’ Who was it? Ezrin and James Guthrie! So, we all stick our oar in. However, we did, sometimes, leave him alone to do a few takes few takes. When you read my memoir, you can read about various people’s stories about what happened.”
However, then things took a turn and Waters started to criticize producer Bob Ezrin for ‘lying’ about his time in the studio:
“Ezrin has lied through his f*cking teeth about [things] for years and years. It’s wonderful people talk about the solo at the end of ‘Comfortably Numb,’ for instance, and if I’m getting this wrong James Guthrie will correct me…”
He further continued by ‘correcting’ the ‘lie’ regarding Dave’s last solo in ‘Comfortably Numb:’
“Ezrin waxes eloquent in interviews that he’s done since… [He speaks] about how incredible it was that David did it [the solo at the end of ‘Comfortably Numb’] in one take; and how moving it is and universal and blah, blah, blah, and blah, blah, blah and on and on and on! The only problem with that story is, he wasn’t there. Bob Ezrin wasn’t in the studio when David did that. Guthrie was there.”
Waters revealed what ‘really’ went down during the recordings:
“James Guthrie and David did umpteen takes and then he [David] went away, and James Guthrie edited the best bits of all the takes and stuck it together.”
He then made it clear whether he hated Gilmour’s solos, in any way:
“By the way, there is an implication in this question that I’m critical of David’s [solos]. I like all [of] Gilmour’s solos. I say so often. I say so. I believe in the sleeve notes on the new record… There’s nothing wrong with David’s solos.”
Roger continued by praising his former bandmate and rival’s works:
“There’s nothing wrong with his solos on ‘The Wall’ or his solos on ‘Animals’ or his solos on ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ or ‘Wish You Were Here’ or ‘the Final Cut’ or any of the work I did with him. I’m a fan. They’re great.”
You can view the video below.
