Tony Visconti has claimed David Bowie felt "intimidated" playing the guitar.
The 72-year-old producer thought the late music legend – who died in January at the age of 68 following a secret cancer battle – was an exceptional guitarist, but he came to notice that he was terrified of playing the string instrument in front of anyone that wasn’t him.
Asked if Bowie was a good guitarist, he said: "He was great. He plays some of the rhythm guitar on a lot of the tracks on ‘Blackstar’. And a little lead guitar, but he did it at home. He felt intimidated about playing the guitar in the studio. One of the reasons why he worked with me was because I was an old friend and he could just take all the time he wanted in the studio. But if there were too many professionals in the room, he felt like he wouldn’t play well."
Meanwhile, Tony – who worked closely with Bowie on his final LP ‘Blackstar’, which was released a few days before his death – also revealed that the ‘Starman’ hitmaker was desperate to get in the studio before he tragically passed away five months ago and they had planned on getting together in February – a month after his death – when he’d finished touring with the Bowie tribute act Holy Holy.
Visconti told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "He told me on the phone that he couldn’t wait to get back in the studio again. I said, ‘I’m on tour with [Bowie tribute act] Holy Holy, but wait till I’m off tour.’ David said, ‘Righty-ho!’ That would have been happening in February."
Visconti does, however, know that Bowie has some unheard material on a recording device, but has admitted he has no "immediate" plans to locate it and get it released.
He shared: "If they would give me access to his little portable recorder at home, I could find them. But I think everyone in the camp, including me, we’re in too much a state of grief now. There’s no immediate need to find these things."
Tony Visconti: David Bowie was ‘intimated’ playing guitar
