Paul McCartney Said Performing With David Gilmour in December 1999 Was a Great Way to See out the 20th Century
Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour have been friends since the 1970s. However, according to Paul, one of their best moments together happened at the very end of the 20th century. After working together, the pair finally performed on the same stage.
Paul McCartney and David Gilmour collaborated many times
The Beatle bassist and the Pink Floyd guitarist became friends in the early 1970s. Paul loved Pink Floyd. The psychedelic rock band released Dark Side of the Moon in 1973, the same year Paul and Wings released Band on the Run.
However, they didn’t get to work together until the late 1970s. Gilmour appeared on a couple of Paul and Wings’ last songs on their final album, Back to the Egg.
The album’s first track, “Reception,” has a “Pink Floyd-esque” intro. Gilmour contributed electric guitar on “Rockestra Theme” and “So Glad To See You Here.”
Later, Pauled asked Gilmour for more great guitar work for his Give My Regards to Broad Street track “No More Lonely Nights.”
In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he asked Gilmour to play on the tune because he thought the guitarist would be a great fit. Paul had seen Gilmour around after the guitarist finished his solo album, About Face.
Gilmour played the tune’s guitar solo. “It sounded like his kind of thing… Dave is a genius of sorts, so I was pulling out all the stops,” Paul wrote. Paul loved what Gilmour did, especially on the album version, which is longer. He went “to town” on it because he had more space to play.
Later, Gilmour lent his talents again to Paul’s “We Got Married” from the former Beatle’s Flowers in the Dirt record.
Paul loved performing with Gilmour in December 1999
Even though they collaborated many times, the first time Paul and Gilmour got to perform together was in 1999. In The Lyrics, Paul wrote that Gilmour played guitar at a show he did at The Cavern Club in December 1999.
The venue is significant as it was where The Beatles often performed in their early days. However, The Cavern Club that Paul and Gilmour performed in was new, down the street from the original.
Paul said playing with his friend was a “pretty good way to see out the 20th century.” We think that’s a pretty good way to see out a century too.
Paul said a Wings tune has a ‘Floydian slip’
Before Paul and Gilmour collaborated for the first time, the Pink Floyd guitarist inspired an aspect of Paul and Wings’ song “The Note You Never Wrote.” In The Lyrics, Paul said the tune has what he and his band called a “Floydian slip.”
Wings’ guitarist, Jimmy McCulloch, did an amazing guitar solo on the tune. Paul thought it was reminiscent of Gilmour’s work. “The arrangement as a whole is kind of dreamy and Floydian,” Paul wrote. “It’s what we call a ‘Floydian slip.'”
Since Dark Side of the Moon inspired Paul and Wings, it “would have been natural” for them to do something in the band’s style after that. Many people did because Dark Side of the Moon was so influential. “Pink Floyd’s world was almost an extraterrestrial world, so it was a nice place to go,” Paul said.
Without Paul and Gilmour’s friendship, fans wouldn’t have gotten their great collaborations in and out of the recording studio. Here’s to hoping more artists will rein in new years with awesome on-stage collaborations.
