Pink Floyd WI: David Gilmour says no.

So in OTL David Gilmour is brought in to Pink Floyd in early 1968, originally to augment the group & cover for an ailing Syd Barrett in concert.

Then, one day (as the story goes), they just decide not to pick Syd up on the way to a gig, and Gilmour becomes his replacement.

But what if Gilmour doesn't join Pink Floyd to begin with (maybe he sees it as a sinking ship)? Or, out of respect for Syd he quits when faced with replacing his old friend?
 
When Gilmour was brought on as I understand the situation the idea wasn't even that he would replace Barrett in the touring lineup-the first idea Pink Floyd had was that Gilmour would augment the touring lineup. Barrett would still be on stage-but Gilmour would be there too making sure that someone played the guitar on stage in case Barrett didn't-which was becoming more and more the case. Obviously that didn't work-and Gilmour became the main touring guitarist-and then a crucial member of the band in the studio.

I know you've mentioned the possibility of someone else taking the Gilmour role-but I'd imagine that finding someone who is willing to accompany the Floyd and is not someone who would reject the kind of supportive role Gilmour was intended to have out of hand would prove difficult. I could see Pink Floyd continuing to do what they did before Gilmour joined-asking whoever was available to join them on stage during live performances. When it comes time to record they could hire in some anonymous session man.

Of course without Gilmour-whatever happens to the band-it will be a different band if the Floyd can even survive Barrett's breakdown here-which they might not. If Gilmour isn't willing to join them-that might send a signal to other guitarists that the band is a sinking ship and that it doesn't make sense to become attached to it.
 
It's an interesting POD given that at the time David joined, the two strongest musicians/songwriters in the group were Barrett and Richard Wright.

I'd imagine that in the absence of the Waters/Gilmour songwriting axis (and indeed maybe no regular guitarist, just a series of changing guests), Pink Floyd may become even more keyboards-centred?
 
I just had a crazy idea of Eric Clapton joining Pink Floyd.

Hmm.. interesting. If he joins in 1968 it butterflies away Blind Faith.. and either Pink Floyd would have to be rootsier or Clapton still slightly inclined to psychedelia/prog for it to work.

Another couple of ideas I had for a long time are either a (pre Space Oddity) David Bowie to join, or Kevin Ayers (ex-Soft Machine) as they bring some songwriting chops.

Bonus if Kevin Ayers joining also means Mike Oldfield joins Pink Floyd a wee while later.. in OTL Oldfield was in Ayers band before Tubular Bells made him a solo star. A Pink Floyd album incorporating some Ayers songs and bits or Tubular Bells maybe?
 
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When Gilmour was brought on as I understand the situation the idea wasn't even that he would replace Barrett in the touring lineup-the first idea Pink Floyd had was that Gilmour would augment the touring lineup. Barrett would still be on stage-but Gilmour would be there too making sure that someone played the guitar on stage in case Barrett didn't-which was becoming more and more the case. Obviously that didn't work-and Gilmour became the main touring guitarist-and then a crucial member of the band in the studio.

I know you've mentioned the possibility of someone else taking the Gilmour role-but I'd imagine that finding someone who is willing to accompany the Floyd and is not someone who would reject the kind of supportive role Gilmour was intended to have out of hand would prove difficult. I could see Pink Floyd continuing to do what they did before Gilmour joined-asking whoever was available to join them on stage during live performances. When it comes time to record they could hire in some anonymous session man.

Of course without Gilmour-whatever happens to the band-it will be a different band if the Floyd can even survive Barrett's breakdown here-which they might not. If Gilmour isn't willing to join them-that might send a signal to other guitarists that the band is a sinking ship and that it doesn't make sense to become attached to it.

At the time, the go-to session guitarist in/around London was a certain Jimmy Page (and if you needed bass, keyboards, or a whole range of other interesting instruments, then John Paul Jones was the man to go for).
 
At the time, the go-to session guitarist in/around London was a certain Jimmy Page (and if you needed bass, keyboards, or a whole range of other interesting instruments, then John Paul Jones was the man to go for).

By late 1967, Jimmy Page was in the Yardbirds. However if he gets a bit of session work with Pink Floyd in the early sessions for Saucerful of Secrets (maybe during a gap in the Yardbirds schedule), he may find their post-Syd direction attractive - especially compared with trying to pigeonhole the Yardbirds blues into their producer Mickie Most's pop leanings.
 
I wonder in the absence of Gilmour whether Pink Floyd would try to wrap up the sessions that led to A Saucerful of Secrets a little earlier. Perhaps they would hire some anonymous session man to finish out Set Controls for the Heart of the Sun, agree to put Vegetable Man and Scream Thy Last Scream along with a handful of the instrumental pieces they recorded with Barrett on the new record and then cobble together the best album they can. Not sure what they'd call the album because A Saucerful of Secrets the song wouldn't exist.

On tour they continue doing what they did since Barrett's breakdown. They invite other guitarists to augment and ultimately replace him in live performances.

In that scenario the moment of truth could the summer of 1968 rather than January depending on how much Barrett is involved in the production end of the hypothetical album. It's possible considering his condition his involvement could be relatively minimal-and perhaps not enough to convince Pink Floyd that the Brian Wilson option is unworkable.

After the album is finished-the band and Barrett head off in different directions-but Barrett isn't officially fired. When the band returns to the studio in the summer of 1968 he's still nominally a member. That's historically the time when the Jenner produced sessions happened. It's possible that Barrett, with considerable help from the band, might be able to record a couple of songs. But, just as Barrett abruptly quit the Jenner sessions-he abruptly stops appearing at the 1968 Pink Floyd sessions. Eventually as happened historically Barrett is institutionalized.

I'm not sure how the Floyd would react to Syd's disappearance in that scenario. Would they figure out a way to finish the album? Would they split up? Would they angrily blame Barrett for abandoning them even after they hear he's in an institution in Cambridge-meaning they won't help him when he marginally recovers enough to want to return to music-which in turn means that Barrett may only release one solo album if that rather than the 2 he managed historically?
 
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As far as an alternate new guitarist-there's always David O'List who had played with them in 1967. Anyone familiar with him or The Nice?
 
As far as an alternate new guitarist-there's always David O'List who had played with them in 1967. Anyone familiar with him or The Nice?

Yeah, he's one of those "nearly men" in rock.. was around in the Nice, but didn't stick around when Keith went and formed ELP.. then was in Roxy Music early on (appeared on theirfirstBC session) and left before they recorded their debut album, but not too familiar with his work beyond that. He filled in for Syd a few times in OTL late 1967, so could be an option for replacing Syd.

He strikes me as being a different style to Gilmour - more at the spiky end of art rock, rather than deep bluesy solos. Is he much of a songwriter?
 
I'm embarrassed to say that you know more about David O'List than I do. I don't know if he was a songwriter or not.

If Gilmour had refused you'd need someone comfortable with a relatively minor position in Pink Floyd-not someone who everyone knows will take over the band by his inclusion. Since the idea is that they need to augment rather than replace Syd Barrett you'd need someone who's willing to serve in that role. Finding someone with that kind of humility in the London music scene would be difficult.

Also it should be noted that Gilmour wasn't just a guitarist-he was a vocalist as well. Not every guitarist is going to want to sing lead which further alters the dynamic of alt-Pink Floyd. Either Roger Waters will end up singing lead-or the duties could end up being shared between him and Richard Wright.
 
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