Douglas Adams, the much-missed creator of The Hitchhiker's
Guide To The Galaxy, would have been 60 years old
today, and his birthday was marked by a lengthy comedy
and music gala staged at the former Hammersmith Odeon,
now the HMV Apollo. David joined the musical lineup for
the last portion of the show, which included the musicians
Adams described as his 'dream band', many of whom used
to perform at Douglas Adams' home: David and Robbie McIntosh
(vocals, guitars); Gary Brooker (vocals, keyboards); Paul
'Wix' Wickens (keyboards); Jody Linscott (percussion);
Dave Bronze (bass); Paul Beavis (drums); and Margo Buchanan,
also on vocals and guitar.
After a three-hour show of comedy sketches, filmed inserts,
interviews and reminiscences, drawing on all aspects of
Adams' career, Robbie McIntosh opened the musical segment
with a solo acoustic instrumental and a further original
song, Scarecrow, backed by the band, minus David.
Margo Buchanan sang her own Rockstar and Etta James'
I Just Wanna Make Love to You, and Procol Harum's
Gary Brooker led the ensemble in an emotive version of
Procol's A Salty Dog, title track of their third
album.
Margo then introduced David, who performed the apposite
Wish You Were Here to a rapturous reception, which
was followed by Gary Brooker's rendition of Chuck Berry's
Too Much Monkey Business, with rousing solos from
both lead guitarists. Last song of the night was also
the most emotional, as Gary Brooker played and sang A
Whiter Shade Of Pale, in which David's solo tore the
roof off the hall. The whole affair was all the more impressive
because, as we were assured by the closing announcement,
it was all done with no rehearsal whatsoever.
The event was in aid of Save The Rhino; for more
information about the event and the long lineup of performers,
click here.
For information on Save The Rhino, click here.
Tuesday 6th March 2012 A Tribute To Robert Sherman
We are sad to report the death of songwriter Robert B. Sherman, who, with his
brother Richard M. Sherman, wrote Hushabye Mountain, performed by David
as part of his 2001/2002 concerts. As a tribute to Robert Sherman, please see
the clip below of David performing the song from the DVD David Gilmour In Concert.
Robert and Richard Sherman began writing songs together
in 1951 on a challenge from their father, Tin Pan Alley
songwriter Al Sherman. After their initial success, the
brothers were hired as staff songwriters by Walt Disney
Studios, for whom they wrote more motion-picture musical
scores than any other songwriters in the history of film.
In 1965, the Sherman Brothers won two Academy Awards for
Mary Poppins, which includes the songs Feed
The Birds, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,
and the Oscar-winning Chim Chim Cher-ee, going
on to score many more accolades, awards, nominations and
gold and platinum albums.
Hushabye Mountain appears twice in the movie of
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and has been covered by,
amongst others, Richard Hawley, Tony Bennett, and Julie
London.
Tuesday 6th March 2012 Remember That Day
Hard
to believe, but it was six years ago today that David's
album On An Island was released in the UK, entering
the charts at No. 1 (and No. 6 in the US). To commemorate
that, we have arranged via EMI UK (and Sony in North America)
a free download and streaming of A Pocketful Of Stones,
written by David with lyrics by Polly Samson.
One of the most beautiful tracks on the album, it features Polish
classical/jazz musician Leszek Mozdzer on piano, Alasdair Malloy
on glass harmonica and David on guitars, percussion, Hammond organ
and bass, as well as vocals.
If you heard it, we hope you enjoyed it. It was only available
until 11.59pm (UK) on Wednesday 7th March.
Thursday 30th June 2011 Have A Guitar – David,
Roger and Nick Sign 'Time' Guitar For Crisis
David
has long supported UK homeless persons' charity Crisis,
and, as well as Roger Waters and Nick Mason, has signed
a specially painted guitar to raise funds for them.
Ian Emes created the spectacular animated clocks on
Pink Floyd's 'Time' screen film, and kindly agreed to
revisit the images by painting them on to a guitar to
be auctioned. The painted Fender American Standard Stratocaster
guitar has been signed by David and Roger, and, although
Nick's signature will be added on Monday 4th July, it
is for sale now on the Charity Buzz auction Web site
with all proceeds going directly to Crisis.
Click here to be taken directly to the guitar; the
auction opened today and closes on Thursday 14th July
at 2.45PM Eastern Time, (7.45PM GMT). If you wish to
make a separate donation to Crisis, their Web site is
here.
Thursday 23rd June 2011 David Gives It The Old One-Two
Singer Judith Owen was performing recently at the Tabernacle
in London's Notting Hill Gate for 5 x 15, and
had a little difficulty with her microphone. At her
request for assistance, a gallant member of the audience
jumped up onstage to fix it for her, and was revealed
to be none other than David, who does have some years
of expertise in that department. Click here
for the story, as covered by the London Evening Standard.
5 x 15 is a series of events, featuring five
performances on each occasion with only two rules: they
should be unscripted and last no longer than 15 minutes.
More info can be found here.
Tuesday 17th May 2011 Another Clip From The Wall
Many thanks again to the Roger Waters organisation
because we have another video clip from last Thursday,
12th May (see story below).
This time, it's the 'Wall' show closer,
Outside The Wall, featuring David and Nick
Mason joining Roger and the Bleeding Heart Band, a fitting
end to an emotional evening.
Special thanks to Sean Evans for his work on the clip,
and to his producer, Clare Spencer at Grasshopper Films.
Thursday 12th May 2011 David Scales The Wall Again
Back in July of last year, David joined Roger Waters
in singing some songs together for the Hoping Foundation,
an event that raised thousands of pounds for charity.
In the spirit of the occasion Roger agreed to add To
Know Him Is To Love Him to their set, and David agreed
to play Comfortably Numb on one of Roger's performances
of The Wall.
Thursday was that night. A capacity audience at London's
O2 Arena was amazed to see David appear atop the wall,
recreating his parts from the classic album while adding
his own unique sound and style, to the delight of the
crowd.
That wasn't all. At the end of the show, Roger gave
a gracious introduction to David, and then Nick Mason,
who joined David and Roger in Outside The Wall, with
the band. Roger played trumpet, David mandolin, and
with Nick on tambourine the ensemble trooped offstage,
leaving a hall ringing with cheers.
A clip from the night can be seen above.
Click here
to see stills from the performance that have, in addition to
the video footage, been kindly provided by Sean Evans.
Tuesday 10th May 2011 Polly Shortlisted For Short
Story Prize
Polly Samson's stature as a masterful short story writer
continues to grow, with the news that she has been shortlisted
for the Edge Hill University Short Story Prize 2011
for Perfect Lives.
Now in its fifth year, it is the UK's only literary
award that recognises a published collection of short
stories. The prize is open to anyone, and the shortlist
is a mix of both well-known short story writers and
newcomers. Alongside Polly, whose Perfect Lives
was recently published in paperback to overwhelmingly
positive reviews, are Graham Mort (Touch), Michele
Roberts (Mud: Stories of Sex and Love), Helen
Simpson (In-flight Entertainment), and Tom Vowler
(The Method and Other Stories).
Ailsa Cox, the competition co-ordinator at Edge Hill
University, said: "A good short story is intense and
exciting, sometimes sad and often very comic. The five
collections all have these vital ingredients –
so I predict that judging will be difficult this year".
The judging panel this year includes: scriptwriter and
short story author Jeremy Dyson; author, presenter and
journalist Stuart Maconie; and Marcus Gipps, previously
of Blackwell books, now an editor at Gollancz.
The winner will be announced at the award ceremony,
to be held in London in July, and in the meantime many
congratulations must go to Polly for her nomination.
Wednesday 1st September 2010 Update: Hoping Video On This
Site.
The Hoping Foundation have reported a good response
to the David and Roger live performance video from July
10th (see story below) and have kindly allowed us to
run it here as well. The video is 28 minutes long, so
we hope you enjoy it. If you can, please make a
donation
to help children via the Charity.
Saturday 21st August 2010 Metallic Spheres Update –
Date Confirmed and EPK
Sony Music have now confirmed the release date of the
Metallic Spheres album as 12th October
in North America (11th October in the UK). The first
EPK of the album, directed by filmmaker Gavin Elder,
has now been made available – please click here.
It features Orb members Martin 'Youth' Glover and Alex
Paterson, plus footage of David contributing electric
guitar and lap steel guitar during the album sessions
at Youth's studio.
Wednesday 18th August 2010 October Orb Album 'Metallic
Spheres' Features David
David's
2009 jam session with ambient collective The Orb has
grown into an album, Metallic Spheres, to be
released via Columbia/Sony Records in October. David's
contribution to the charity song Chicago, in
aid of Gary McKinnon, sparked the interest of producer
Youth (Martin Glover), who remixed the track and invited
David to his studio for a recording session. With additional
contributions from Orb co-founder Alex Paterson, the
album took shape from 2009 into 2010, eventually becoming
Metallic Spheres, to be released by The Orb
featuring David Gilmour.
Metallic Spheres is designed to be heard in two
parts – 'Metallic Side' (24'48"), and 'Spheres
Side' (25'09") – each 'side' containing five movements.
The album features David's guitar and lap steel guitar,
plus some of his vocals from Chicago; Alex Paterson
contributes sound manipulation, keyboards and turntables,
while Youth adds bass and keyboards and handles the
production.
The album will be available in various formats: CD;
digital download; and 180-gram vinyl LP. There will
also be a 2-CD version, including an extra disc, featuring
an alternative mix of the album in the new 3D60™
process, which creates a 360-degree sound experience
when heard on headphones, using stereo tracks without
the need for any special audio equipment. For a demo
of the 3D60™ process, please go to www.3D60.co.uk.
Longtime Orb collaborator Simon Ghahary has created
the artwork, continuing in The Orb's spatial style,
and, as with the Chicago single, all artist royalties
will go to helping Gary McKinnon fight his extradition.
We will bring you more details of the album, plus some
of Simon's graphics, as we get closer to release date.
Monday 16th August 2010 Update: Hoping Video Live Now.
The Hoping Foundation have brought forward their plans
to show the whole David and Roger live performance of
10h July (see story below) and it is live now on their
site. Click here
to see the video, and please, if you can, make a donation
to help children via the Charity.
Saturday 14th August 2010 David Executive Producer On
New Syd Barrett Compilation
David
of course produced Syd Barrett's original solo albums
(The Madcap Laughs was co-produced with Roger
Waters) and he is now Executive Producer of a new compilation
album, combining for the first time Syd songs from his
time in Pink Floyd with solo tracks.
An Introduction To Syd Barrett is released by
EMI/Harvest on Monday 4th October, and features five
new 2010 remixes, done at Astoria studio by Andy Jackson
and Damon Iddins. David collaborated on the mixes of
Syd's solo songs Octopus, She Took A Long
Cool Look, Dominoes, and Here I Go,
adding to Here I Go a bass guitar, an instrument
lacking on the original recording. Pink Floyd's Matilda
Mother also gets a new mix, in the version containing
verses by both Syd and poet Hilaire Belloc.
Brand-new artwork has been provided by long time Pink
Floyd associate Storm Thorgerson and his estimable studio.
Tracklisting is: Arnold Layne; See Emily Play; Apples
And Oranges (Stereo version); Matilda Mother (2010 Mix);
Chapter 24; Bike; Terrapin; Love You; Dark Globe; Here
I Go (2010 Remix); Octopus (2010 Mix); She Took A Long
Cool Look (2010 Mix) (aka She Took A Long Cold Look);
If It's In You; Baby Lemonade; Dominoes (2010 Mix);
Gigolo Aunt; Effervescing Elephant; and Bob Dylan Blues
– all of them remastered from the original analogue
masters by Andy Jackson.
An extra track for CD and iTunes buyers is the previously-unreleased
20-minute instrumental Rhamadan, again mixed
by Andy Jackson and Damon Iddins.
Friday 13th August 2010 Preview of Kiddington Performance
Here's a short clip of David and Roger playing together
at the Hoping Foundation's fundraising gig in Oxfordshire
on the 10th July. The full 28 minutes will be available
on the Hoping Foundation Website
from 5pm on Monday. Please, if you can, make a donation,
however large or small, to Hoping and help the charity
to continue their work with Palestinian children who
are caught in a very dark situation through no fault
of their own.
Sunday 11th July 2010 David Gilmour & Roger Waters:
Kiddington, Oxfordshire, England.
At
a charity event yesterday, organized by Bella Freud
and Karma Nabulsi and hosted by Jemima Khan under the
banner of Hoping (Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the
Next Generation) to raise funds for the Children
of Gaza, Nick Cave and Tom Jones kicked off the evening's
fundraising.
Then David Gilmour and Roger Waters took to the stage
before 200 guests to perform four songs together with
Guy Pratt (bass and acoustic guitar), Harry Waters (keyboards),
Andy Newmark (drums), Chester Kamen (guitar), and Jonjo
Grisdale (keyboards).
The
performance was geared to an auction for each song which
was launched with To Know Him Is To Love Him
(written by Phil Spector), regularly featured in Pink
Floyd sound checks many years ago, followed by Wish
You Were Here, Comfortably Numb, and the
closer with full audience participation of Another
Brick In The Wall (Part 2).
The auctions for the evening raised £350,000 for
the charity. You can make a donation here.
Sunday 4th July 2010 Another Clip For The Hol
Apparently it's a Public Holiday in the USA today for
some reason or other, and here's another reason to celebrate:
a new video clip.
Continuing the series of clips by film-maker Gavin Elder,
constructed from the static security cameras in David's
Astoria studio, today we have David creating This
Heaven, from the On An Island sessions. Click
on the 'Play' icon on the screen, above right, to reveal
all.
Hope you enjoy it, and happy Independence Day!
Friday 18th June 2010 Let's Play Together –
David and Jools Join Al Green on UK TV
UK viewers should enjoy the Jonathan Ross show tonight,
because the legend that is Al Green is performing Let's
Stay Together. Equally legendary is his backing
band, specially recruited for the occasion as a one-off
preview for Al's tour. Jools Holland kindly stepped
into the breech to provide the core of his Rhythm &
Blues Orchestra, and invited David to play guitar. The
full lineup is: David – guitar; Jools Holland –
piano; his brother Christopher – organ; Gilson
Lavis – drums; Lisa Grahame and Phil Veacock –
saxes; Chris Storr – trumpet; and Al's Musical
Director, Barry Campbell, on bass.
The Reverend Al chats to Jonathan on the couch while
the musicians are restricted to the Green Room, but
even so, music fans should get a thrill from tonight's
performance. It's on BBC One in the UK at 10.35pm.
Al Green is on tour, without Jools and David but with
co-headliner Michael McDonald, from June 22 to 27, taking
in Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Bournemouth and
London. Click here
for tickets.
Friday 21st May 2010 Gavin Elder Creates Clips From
Astoria Cameras
You will know film-maker Gavin Elder's work from the
Live In Gdańsk DVD and the documentary shoots
he has done for David in recent years. Having been given
access to the many miles of tape shot by the static
security cameras in David's Astoria studio, he has created
movie magic out of the film shot at the On An Island
sessions. Click on the video player's start button (below,
right) and you will see the first clip: A Pocketful
Of Stones.
We hope to bring you more songs in the future, and that
you enjoy this in the meantime.
Wednesday 13th January 2010 Update: David's Mermaid
Concert Rerun 23rd January
BBC
Radio 2 in the UK have now confirmed their broadcast
time for David's Mermaid Theatre show: it will
be on Saturday 23rd January at 10pm. David's
show from London's Mermaid Theatre was first transmitted
in March 2006 and will be one of Radio 2's repeated
broadcasts in the run up to February's BRIT Awards,
to celebrate notable British songwriters and performers.
The show was the first public performance by the On
An Island band and was a great experience for those
lucky enough to attend; songs included Castellorizon,
On An Island, Take A Breath, Wearing
The Inside Out, Shine On You Crazy Diamond,
and Comfortably Numb.
Novelist
Polly Samson, (the 'On An Island' and 'The Division
Bell' lyricist), has her collection of short stories,
entitled Perfect Lives, out in hardback in the USA
and paperback in the UK.
You can order Perfect Lives in the USA here and in the UK here, where you can also enjoy a video,
directed by Gavin Elder, of Polly talking about
the book and reading some extracts.
Polly's story Ivan Knows was the runner-up
in the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Competition,
earning these comments from the judges: 'A
child's perspective is difficult to execute well
in fiction but this story pulls it off without a
drop of sentiment. Touching and well-sustained...a
pleasure to read, combining a portrait of character
and relationships with more than a hint of magic
and wonder'. You can read more here.
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