Roger Waters was Pink Floyd’s bassist. But David Gilmour played bass on two of the band’s most famous 1977 songs

David Gilmour said he played bass on two tracks from Pink Floyd’s 1977 album *Animals*, despite Roger Waters being the band’s usual bassist. His account shows that the band’s members sometimes switched instrumental roles to suit the music, even as tensions between Gilmour and Waters were building.

Gilmour said Waters played bass on ‘Dogs’, while he played on ‘Sheep’ and ‘Pigs’. On ‘Sheep’, he explained, he took over because Waters wanted to play rhythm guitar; the song had previously been performed live as ‘Raving and Drooling’. Gilmour also disputed a 1998 report that he had called Waters’ bass playing “horrible”, saying Waters could be a good player but sometimes asked him to take over.