How David Gilmour Went From Working for Jimi Hendrix To Playing With Him

Some people say you should never meet your heroes. Well, for David Gilmour of Pink Floyd that could not have been farther from the case. Growing up in Cambridge, Gilmour was and always has been a fan of the late Jimi Hendrix. Particularly, when it came to the way he revolutionized the guitar and paved the way for experimental sounds. Frankly, it was Hendrix’s experimental sounds that allowed Pink Floyd to have a career.

Regardless, in the late ’60s, the two couldn’t be farther apart from one another. At the time Gilmour was an aspiring musician and Hendrix, was Jimi Hendrix, so of course Gilmour was not on his radar. However, that would all change when Gilmour met Hendrix for the second time at a British music festival. It was the second time, because, well, it seems Hendrix didn’t recall who he was after the first time.

David Gilmour & His Sound Mixing Talents

Gilmour told Prog Magazine, “I went down [to the festival] to go to it, and I was camping in a tent, just being a punter” and “I went backstage where our main roadie guy, Peter Watts, was trying to deal with all the mayhem.” After going backstage it became very apparent to Gilmour that the sound engineers needed quite a bit of help with how exactly they were going to produce Hendrix’s sound live. So, Gilmour lent a hand, as he stated, “They were very nervous; they were going to have to mix Hendrix’s sound” and “I did some mixing stuff in those days, and they said, ‘Help! Help!’ So I did.”

So with Gilmour controlling the sticks he of course got the opportunity to meet the man who partially helped birth Pink Floyd. Nothing is known in particular about what was said during their interaction. Although, what it amounted to was a musical partnership that was short-lived, yet incredibly beneficial for Gilmour and Pink Floyd.

Jimi Hendrix’s Second UK Tour

On his second UK tour in 1967, Hendrix and company allowed Gilmour and Pink Floyd to open for him. The tour consisted of 31 shows in 16 cities and included bands The Move, The Nice, and The Outer Limits. The assembling of the bands is often considered to be one of the best of all time given the careers all the openers went on to to have after opening for Hendrix.

Funny enough, Pink Floyd’s set at all of these shows only ranged from about 15 to 20 minutes. Nonetheless, this was an opportunity of a lifetime and it’s all thanks to Gilmour’s mixing skills. Lucky, yes, but that’s what it takes. A little bit of luck and a whole lot of hard work.

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