All About Eve and Regan And Bricheno singer Julianne Regan has been talking to Prog about how David Gilmour ended up playing on All About Eve's third album, 1991's Touched By Jesus, featuring on two tracks, Are You Lonely and Wishing The Hours Away (the latter of which you can listen to below).
Gilmour graces the front cover of the new issue of Prog Magazine, in which he discusses his upcoming solo album Luck And Strange, which is released through Sony Musc on September 6. We also ask 30 of his peers, collaborators, fellow musicians and fans in the prog world, including Julianne, to pick their favourite David Gilmour performance.
"I'd loved Pink Floyd since the age of 12," enthuses Regan. "I even saw them play Wembley Stadium in August 1988, relishing the intro to Shine On You Crazy Diamond as the sun slowly sank in the evening sky, anticipating those four notes, the ones that shimmer in, just short of the four-minute mark.
"In 1990 I wrote a letter to David Gilmour - best fountain pen, brown ink, cream paper - to ask if he'd produce our third album. Unfortunately, he was too busy, but said he'd be happy to guest on it. A month into our recording sessions, he drove down to Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey, with a Strat, Gallien-Krueger amp, and his guitar tech. He mentioned that had he known how vast the lawn was, he might've arrived in his Cessna. That would have been an exciting cherry on an already exciting cake.
"Like a kid at Christmas, I'd not slept much the night before. I made him a cup of tea, my hands shaking as I handed it over. Echoes of Julie Walters in the Two Soups sketch. Fortunately, he had an infectiously soothing air of calm, which set me somewhat at ease. Throughout the entire day, he was kind, patient and self-deprecating, suffering clumsy questions, for example about Syd Barratt or Roy Harper, with good grace.
"During the recording, naturally we gave him carte blanche, yet he was responsive to any slight and infrequent direction, which was incredible given his transcendent skills and experience. Clearly, he wanted it to be right for us; he wanted us to be happy.
"Listening to the tracks on which he played - Are You Lonely and Wishing The Hours Away - I'm still enchanted by the dimensionality and almost surfeit of beauty he added, particularly towards the end of the latter. It's a fade out that really should never end, every atom of cochlea straining to catch each dying note.
"Having David Gilmour play on our album was genuinely a highlight of my musical life, and that he turned out to be so congenial, made the experience even more treasurable. I'm not sure that I ever thanked him enough, so on the off chance that he reads this, David, thank you so very, very much. It meant the world, and still does."
Also in the new issue, Thijs van Leer tells us all about the new Focus album 12: Gryphon recall 1974, a year that saw them release two great albums and tour with Yes; Fairport Convention’s Dave ‘Peggy’ Pegg looks back over his career; and we track down former ELO bass player Michael de Albuquerque.
The new issue of Prog is in the shops now. Or you can buy it online.
Julianne Regan and Tim Bricheno's Apparitions album is out now.
