David Gilmour’s Beatle wish.

I knew that David Gilmour was a fan and friend to The Beatles, but I never knew that he loved the Fab Four that much.  You would think that he would be enamored with someone more “out there.”  Sun Ra comes to mind.  Someone a little more spacey.  I guess for as psychedelic as Gilmour was in Floyd’s hey day, he’s that much a rocker at heart.

I guess this simply reinforces the ground-breaking nature of The Beatles.  You sometimes forget how many rules they broke.  How “out there” they really pushed the envelope.  How different their early rocker image was to mainstream society.  You kind of take these things for granted with hindsight.

It’s cool to hear that one of the most innovative rock guitarists wanted to be in The Beatles.  But then again, didn’t we all want to be in The Beatles at some point.

• Check out this in-depth website detailing all of the Beatle/Pink Floyd connections.  It’s cool to see the intersections that these two giant rock groups  hav e had throughout their careers.

This is probably as close to being a Beatle as David Gilmour gets.  Playing “I Saw Her Standing There” with Paul McCartney at the Cavern Club a few years back.

Here’s what we’ve read.

Pink Floyd star David Gilmour wishes he had been a Beatle.

The legendary guitarist, who achieved global stardom in the psychedelic band, has revealed the Fab Four have always been his favourite group, and admits he would have given anything to join his 60s contemporaries.

 Speaking at the premiere of his new live DVD ‘Remember That Night – Live At The Royal Albert Hall’ in London’s Leicester Square last night (06.09.07), Gilmour said: “I really wish I had been in The Beatles. I was always a massive fan. The Beatles taught me how to play guitar, I learnt everything. The bass parts, the lead, the rhythm, everything. They were fantastic.”

Gilmour – who became Pink Floyd’s joint vocalist and lead guitarist after founder Syd Barrett was dropped from the band in 1968 – also revealed he is in awe of 60s British group The Kinks.

However, Gilmour, 61, insists he doesn’t only listen to music from the past, because his children keep him up to date with the latest sounds.

The musician explained: “For me, the perfect pop song is ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by the Kinks. I would have loved to have written that.

“One new song I really like though is Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’. Me and the band often play that in sound check. My children introduce me to new music, which is great because I can’t really keep track of it all.”

Gilmour has four grown-up children, Alice, Clare, Sara and Matthew, from his first marriage to Ginger.

He also has three children, Joe, Gabriel and Romany, from his second marriage to Polly Samson.

Gilmour has adopted Polly’s son Charlie from a previous relationship.

Source: Monsters and Critics