Two bits of David Gilmour news for
you today. First off, the Dutch Radio 2 channel today broadcast a
fascinating interview with David, recorded just before his concert of
20 March in Amsterdam.
They have made the interview available to download on their website - schiffersfm.radio2.nl,
in two versions - the 9 minute version aired on the radio, complete
with plenty of music from the album (select "korte versie"), and the
chiefly unedited, raw interview with David lasting nearly 16 minutes
(select "lange versie").
|
Chris Rea (right), with Mark Cunningham
© TPi 2006 |
It is a revealing interview, with
David talking about the shows, and ends with him being asked about the
release of Pink Floyd's PULSE on DVD. Whilst the official date remains
at September 18th/19th for this, David said that it was his "desire and
hope" that it could come out in June. Remember, it is just his wish
that it comes out then, and not guaranteed by any means!
Our thanks to Beert Bierma for the information.
In other news, our friend Mark
Cunningham, who runs the excellent Total Production International
magazine, caught up with guitarist and singer/songwriter Chris Rea
backstage at the Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, on March 22nd - two
days after David played there. Chris is sadly on his farewell tour -
recent health problems have made it impossible to carry on touring.
Chris and David have collaborated
on projects in the past - including the "Spirit Of The Forest" album.
In the interview, he talks of David in glowing terms. Here's an extract
from the interview, that Mark kindly sent over:
Mark Cunningham: In a way, I suppose this decision to end your touring career as we know
it could be quite liberating...
Chris Rea: It is and it isn't
because my brain is still 20 years old. If I was 100% fit (well I am
very fit in the cardio-vascular sense) and I had my pancreas back, I'd
still be gunning for the ambition of being a Pink Floyd. I started all
that with The Road To Hell with all the effects. I took out six towers
in Wembley when we did Road To Hell, with all the cars and the rain and
the cube, and I love all that to bits.
MC: Incidentally, Phil Taylor and David Gilmour send their regards. They were here two night ago...
CR: Oh great. I've always flown a
flag for David, even when he was very unfashionable as a blues
guitarist. I think he's one of the best, I really do. What I love about
Gilmour is he takes it somewhere else. OK, you can tell what his
favourite 10 records were when he was young but he's taken it into
another new area. I get very bored with these blues club things where
everyone's just copying Albert King, note-for-note, and there's
discussions about how someone might have missed one of the notes. It
gets like the Olympic Games!
MC: But you've taken the blues to different places yourself...
CR: I have but I'm not as sassy
as David. I'm not David Gilmour! My first hit record was sat at a grand
piano with a horrendous mix of a song that was meant to be for Al
Green. So I'm very philosophical and when I look at how I began I'm
actually quite lucky to be still performing today. Many of the people
who started the same time as me are now gone. It's very hard to get to
that top shelf, especially with the Gilmours, Claptons and Van
Morrissons, and nowadays you need money to do that. When I talk to
these guys as pals, you find out they're almost re-investing to
continue in music. You know, they're all fuckin' rich bastards so I'm
not going to feel sorry for them or anything!
Our thanks to Mark for sending
over the interview, and we hope you enjoyed this segment! For those
who've not discovered Chris's music, there are some wonderful albums in
his catalogue. For Floyd fans, the aforementioned "Road To Hell" album
is a good place to start...
|