who played fretless on Dark Side of the Moon?

[Matt R Miller]

My friend and I have a bet. Who played fretless bass on the album: David Gilmour or Roger Waters?

[rontalsaurus]

I have no way of confirming it for you, but I'm pretty sure David Gilmore played the fretless parts for most of Pink Floyd's stuff that called for fretless (Hey You, for instance).

[Creeping-Death]

From what I red, Roger Waters refused to play fretless

[Matt Till]

Refused, Wasn't good enough, what's the diff.

[superbassman2000]

i am very sure that David Gilmour played it

[SnakeAnthony]

Yeah, Gilmour did all of the fretless stuff. I'm sure Waters could have done it had he shut up and tried. Hell, I can play the Dark Side stuff on a fretless, its no big deal.

[Audiophage]

I'm pretty sure that no one played fretless on "Dark Side of the Moon". Now, if you're talking about "The Wall" then that would be David Gilmour.

[Peter McFerrin]

I have a nagging suspicion that Tony Levin actually played the fretless parts on The Wall, given that it was produced by Bob Ezrin and TLev had done good work for him on the first Peter Gabriel album. The fact that the bass solo sections of "Hey You" sound suspiciously like those on King Crimson's "VROOOM" kinda adds to the case.

There's absolutely no way to verify this; even asking Levin himself wouldn't work, because he conceivably could have been forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Maybe I'm just a paranoid lunatic.

[zombywoof5050]

I don't know about any of what's been said, but Levin most certainly did play bass (some of it fretless) on "Momentary Lapse Of Reason".

[fraublugher]

Originally Posted by Peter McFerrin

I have a nagging suspicion that Tony Levin actually played the fretless parts on The Wall, given that it was produced by Bob Ezrin and TLev had done good work for him on the first Peter Gabriel album. The fact that the bass solo sections of "Hey You" sound suspiciously like those on King Crimson's "VROOOM" kinda adds to the case.

There's absolutely no way to verify this; even asking Levin himself wouldn't work, because he conceivably could have been forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Maybe I'm just a paranoid lunatic.

i was asked to sign a non-disclosure for a fruitcake drama band once , it might not be as unlikely as you think.

[TheJimster]

David Gilmour!! I know I saw him in Pulse. Especially in Breathe and i'm pretty sure he played fretless in the contadictory bassline in Any Colour you like.

[Juneau]

Gilmore for sure played fretless on Hey You from The Wall at least. Im not sure of other recordings.

[Yvon]

I read somewhere, I'm pretty sure it was guitar player when they did a transcription of hey you, many many years ago, that Bob Ezrin played the fretless bass on that song.

[Juneau]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_You

According to Wiki, it was Gilmore on Hey You. I know Wiki is not 100% accurate, but I've heard that from several sources.

Actually, straight from Gilmore himself:

http://www.pinkfloyd-co.com/band/int...djg/djg92.html

CD: Did you play the fretless bass on "Hey You"?

DG: Yeah. Hmm. Roger playing fretless bass? Please! (laughs)

[Juneau]

Originally Posted by SnakeAnthony

Yeah, Gilmour did all of the fretless stuff. I'm sure Waters could have done it had he shut up and tried. Hell, I can play the Dark Side stuff on a fretless, its no big deal.

Apparently, Gilmore says he played a lot of the studio recordings on fretted bass himself as well cause he could pick it up quicker than Roger. That interview I posted was an interesting read

[mvw356]

a lot of session musicians played on the wall (apparently), such as jeff porcaro (drums on mother) , lee ritenour (guitar intro on hey you, good bye blue sky and that acoustic guitar track, can't remember the name). also michael kamen played most of the acoustic piano. none of them got credit for it though.
so it would be conceivable that tony levin played somethign on that album too.

[Juneau]

According to Tony, he only played on Momentary Lapse of Reason:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/about/ask...anscript.shtml

[Kmrumedy]

I have found that interview with David Gilmour:

“M: Was Roger an effective bassist back then?
G: He had developed his own limited, or very simple style. He was never very keen on improving himself as a bass player and half the time I would play the bass on the records because I would tend to do it quicker. Right back to those early records; I mean, at least half the bass on all the recorded output is me anyway.
M: This is not a widely acknowledged fact.
G: Well, I think it's been said, but it's certainly not something we go around advertising. Rog used to come in and say "Thank you very much" to me once in a while for winning him bass-playing polls.
M: Did you play the fretless bass on "Hey You"?
G: Yeah. Hmm. Roger playing fretless bass? Please! [laughs]”
Musician, August 1992.

And the answer from Roger Waters:

"Dave and I never wrote together. I don't ever remember writing with Dave. Sometimes he'd bring in a chord sequence and I'd the make a song out of it. Or he'd bring a guitar riff in and I'd make a song out of it, like 'Wish You Were Here.' I love that riff, it's fantastic. But we never wrote together, ever. Never. And Dave was never interested in drama, ever. In my experience. He never showed any interest at all, ever, in drama. Of any kind. Certainly not.
[...]
I was never a bass player. I've never played anything. I play guitar a bit on the records and would play bass, because I sometimes want to hear the "sound" I make when I hit a string on a bass with a pick or my finger; it makes a different sound than anybody else makes, to me. But I've never been interested in playing the bass. I'm not interested in playing instruments and I never have been."
Musician, December 1992

[zongeek]

It's either because I'm stubborn, in denial or hopeful, but I have to believe in my heart of hearts that Roger played all the bass and some guitar all the way until DSOTM. After that I think he still did his share, but anything that required a lot of 'technical talent" (fretless or even riffs like "Young Lust") I have a feeling Gilmour did it.

[fretless Bob]

i read a recent interview with David Gilmour and he said that Roger waters couldnt of done it if he had tried, so to answer your question, it was Gilmour


Dave