“A kid came in, plugged into an amp and started. It was extraordinary. I went out the next day to find records by this character, 'Jimi Hendrix…'”: David Gilmour on the first time he saw Hendrix play – in the company of the Beatles and Rolling Stones

Jimi Hendrix is one of the most influential guitarists to ever have lived, and his playing has inspired just about everyone who has ever picked up the electric guitar.

That goes for pros, too, with seasoned veterans and emerging guitar stars alike – from Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page to Melanie Faye and Mateus Asato – all citing Hendrix as a key influence.

David Gilmour is another guitar legend to have been shaped by Hendrix. In fact, Hendrix was such an informative force on his own playing that Gilmour remembers the first time he ever heard him play.

Speaking to Rick Beato, Gilmour remembers, "When I was living in London and I was completely broke – and this was long before I joined Pink Floyd – there was a club in South Kensington called Blazes.

“If you were a member of that club, and it cost five pounds or something to be a member, you could go free from Monday to Thursday, or Tuesday to Thursday, so I'd go there quite a lot, because it was free.

“One night, I went in there, and it was rammed with people, all the Beatles and all the Stones were in there. I thought, 'This is a bit unusual.' A kid came in with a guitar case, got up on the stage, opened his guitar case and put it on the wrong way round, plugged into an amp and started. The entire place was just jaws dropped. It was absolutely extraordinary.”

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Gilmour wasted no time in trying to track down more of this mystery guitar player’s music, though he hit a bit of a sticking point: Hendrix was so early on in his career that his music wasn’t available.

As Gilmour remembers, “I went out the next day trying to find records by this character, Jimi Hendrix, and those James Hendricks of Hendrix, Lambert and Ross he didn't exist.”

He clearly knew he’d witnessed something special, though, and it wasn’t long before the world had cottoned on to the fact they were witnessing the rise of one guitar’s true pioneers and innovators.

“As soon as Jimi Hendrix came along, I thought, ‘Yes, Jimi, I want a slice of that,’” Gilmour says.

In a previous chat with Beato, Gilmour discussed the origins of his own guitar technique and style, which has since been held up as the gold standard for ‘feel’ playing.