Richard Wright (musician)
Encyclopedia
Richard William Wright (28 July 1943 – 15 September 2008) was an English pianist
, keyboardist
and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd
. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound. Wright frequently sang background and occasionally lead vocals
on stage and in the studio with Pink Floyd (most notably on the songs "Time
", "Echoes
", "Wearing the Inside Out
", "Astronomy Domine
" and "Matilda Mother
").
Though not as prolific a songwriter
as his bandmates Roger Waters
and David Gilmour
, he wrote significant parts of the music for classic albums such as Meddle
, The Dark Side of the Moon
and Wish You Were Here, as well as for Pink Floyd's final studio album The Division Bell
.
at Unigate Dairies
, grew up in Hatch End
, North London
and was educated at the Haberdashers' Aske's School
.
Wright taught himself to play guitar at age 12, as well as play trumpet and piano, and took private lessons in musical theory and composition at the Eric Gilder School of Music
. Uncertain about his future, he enrolled at Regent Street Polytechnic in 1962. There he met fellow band members Roger Waters
and Nick Mason
, was a founding member of The Pink Floyd Sound (as they were then called) in 1965, and also participated in its previous incarnations, Sigma 6 and The (Screaming) Abdabs. Although Mason and Waters were competent students, Wright found architecture of little interest and after only a year of study moved to the London College of Music
.
In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright was a prominent musical force in the group (although not as much as Syd Barrett
, the band’s chief songwriter and front man at the time) and he wrote and sang several songs of his own during 1967–1968. While not credited as a singer on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
, he sang lead on Barrett-penned songs like "Astronomy Domine
" and "Matilda Mother
", as well as notable harmonies on "The Scarecrow
" and "Chapter 24". Examples of his early compositions include "Remember a Day
", "See-Saw
", "Paint Box
" and "It Would Be So Nice
". As the sound and the goals of the band evolved, Wright became less interested in songwriting and focused primarily on contributing his distinctive style to extended instrumental compositions such as "Cirrus Minor
", "Interstellar Overdrive
", "A Saucerful of Secrets
", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene
", "One of These Days" and to musical themes for film scores (More, Zabriskie Point
and Obscured by Clouds
). He also made essential contributions to Pink Floyd's long, epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother
", "Echoes
" (on which he harmonized with Gilmour for the lead vocals) and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond
". His most commercially popular compositions are "The Great Gig in the Sky
" and "Us and Them" from 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon
. He also contributed significantly to other mid-period Floyd classics like "Breathe" and "Time", singing lead vocals on alternate verses of the latter with David Gilmour.
Wright recorded his first solo project, Wet Dream
, and released it in September 1978 with minimal commercial success. Battling both personal problems and an increasingly rocky relationship with Roger Waters, he was forced to resign from Pink Floyd during The Wall
sessions by Waters, who threatened to pull the plug on the album's tapes if Wright did not leave the band. However, he was retained as a salaried session musician
during the subsequent live concerts to promote that album in 1980 and 1981. Ironically, Wright became the only member of Pink Floyd to profit from those hugely spectacular shows, since the net financial loss had to be borne by the three remaining "full-time" members. He was the only member of the band not to attend the 1982 premiere of the film version of The Wall
. In 1983, Pink Floyd released the only album on which Wright does not appear with The Final Cut
.
) called Zee. They signed a record deal with EMI Records
and released only one album, Identity, which was a commercial and critical flop. Wright worked as a salaried musician alongside Pink Floyd
, following Waters' departure. Because of legal and contractual issues from this "hired gun" status during The Wall world tour, his photo was not included in the 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason
and his name was listed in smaller letters than Mason and Gilmour. In 1994, by which time his reinstatement in the band had become official, he co-wrote five songs and sang lead vocals on one song ("Wearing the Inside Out
") for the next Pink Floyd album, The Division Bell
. This recording provided material for the double live album and video release P*U*L*S*E in 1995. Wright, like Nick Mason, performed on every Pink Floyd tour.
In 1996, inspired by his successful input into The Division Bell, Wright released his second solo album, Broken China
, including contributions from Sinéad O'Connor
on vocals, Pino Palladino
on bass, Manu Katché
on drums, Dominic Miller
(known from his guitar work with Sting) and Tim Renwick
, another Pink Floyd associate, on electric guitar. Broken China
marked a new phase in Richard Wright's artistic development and playing style, with extensive use of computer-based recording and production techniques, assisted by Anthony Moore
with whom he co-wrote the album's lyrics.
On 2 July 2005, Wright, Gilmour and Mason were joined by Waters on stage for the first time since the Wall concerts for a short set at the Live 8 concert in London
. This would be the final time that all four of (post-Barrett) Pink Floyd's members performed together. Wright underwent eye surgery for cataracts in November 2005, preventing him from attending Pink Floyd's induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame
.
Wright contributed keyboards and background vocals to David Gilmour's solo album, On an Island
, and performed with Gilmour's touring band for over two dozen shows in Europe
and North America
in 2006. On stage with Gilmour he performed on Hammond organ
, piano, electric piano, Kurzweil K2600 workstation, and even his long-inactive Farfisa
organ, which was used for performing "Echoes" and two of Pink Floyd's and Syd Barrett's older songs that Gilmour chose to revisit in his recent concerts. He also provided backing vocals and lead vocals (notably on "Echoes", "Time", "Comfortably Numb
", "Wearing the Inside Out" "Astronomy Domine
" and "Arnold Layne
" – the latter released as a live single). He declined an offer to join Roger Waters and Nick Mason
on Waters' The Dark Side of the Moon Live
tour in order to spend more time working on a solo project.
On 4 July 2006, Wright joined Gilmour and Mason for the official screening of the P•U•L•S•E DVD. Inevitably, Live 8
surfaced as a subject in an interview. When asked about performing again, Wright replied he would be happy on stage anywhere. He explained that his plan was to "meander" along and said about playing live:
Wright's final vocal performance took place at "The Madcaps Last Laugh" a tribute concert at The Barbican
in London on 10 May 2007. It was organised by Joe Boyd
in the memory of Syd Barrett
who had died the previous July. Boyd rounded up many musical guests all paying their tributes to Syd including Captain Sensible
, Chrissie Hynde
, Damon Albarn
, Kevin Ayers
, Kate McGarrigle
with Martha Wainwright
and Lily Lankin, Mike Heron
, Nick Laird Clowes, Vashti Bunyan
, Robyn Hitchcock
and performing solo, Roger Waters
.
Pink Floyd
featuring David Gilmour
, Nick Mason
and Richard appeared at the end of the show as surprise guests where they performed the song that had started it all, "Arnold Layne
" with Wright on lead vocals.
Wright's final live performance was as part of David Gilmour's band at the premiere of Gilmour's concert DVD Remember That Night
. It took place on 6 September 2007 at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. After an edited version of the film had been shown, the band took to the stage to jam and Wright played keyboards.
, a session musician who has played bass for Pink Floyd
and bandmate David Gilmour
since Roger Waters
' exit.
In his later years, Wright lived in France and spent time on a yacht he owned in the Virgin Islands
.
His death occurred one week before the release of David Gilmour
's Live in Gdańsk
CD, on which he appeared. The album is the final Pink Floyd
-related project to include Wright.
Former bandmate Roger Waters' website was replaced with a photograph of an array of candles and poppies against a black background; one of the screen images used for the song "Wish You Were Here" in his "Dark Side of the Moon Live" Tour.
Waters issued a statement:
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason told Entertainment Weekly
:
On 23 September 2008, David Gilmour performed "Remember a Day
", a Wright composition from Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets
(1968
), on a live broadcast of Later... with Jools Holland on BBC Two
as a tribute to Wright. In an interview later on in the show, Gilmour had said that Wright had intended to perform with him that day, but had sent Gilmour an SMS message
a couple of weeks before his death to advise him that he would not be well enough to attend. This was the first live performance of the song by any member of the band.
On 15 September 2008, Elton John
, while playing a concert in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan dedicated the song "Believe" to Wright who had died earlier that day.
, neoclassical
and experimental music
influences, which complemented the simple harmonic
structures of the more blues
and folk
-based songs of Roger Waters and David Gilmour. As a keyboardist, he was more interested in complementing each piece with organ or synthesizer layers and tasteful piano or electric piano passages. Unlike his contemporaries Rick Wakeman
, Tony Banks
or Keith Emerson
, he opted for solo playing only occasionally, notably in "Atom Heart Mother", "Echoes", "Any Colour You Like
", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" Parts 1–5 and 6–9, "Welcome to the Machine
", "Dogs", "Run Like Hell
" and "Keep Talking
". Wright was known for his ghostly, atmospheric textures such as the Leslie piano arpeggios at the beginning of "Echoes", the echoed Farfisa Organ in the live versions of "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
", the distinctive Minimoog
solos in "Any Colour You Like" and, more famously, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the Wurlitzer
passages in "Money
", "Time
" and "Sheep
". In "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Sysyphus
" he experimented with 'treated piano
'. "Sysyphus" also made extensive use of Mellotron
sounds, something of a rarity in the Pink Floyd canon. Wright also used modal
scales in "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and "Matilda Mother
".
organ as his main instrument onstage (in addition to piano
and Hammond Organ
in the studio). For a brief period in 1969, Wright played vibraphone
on several of the band's songs and in some live shows, and he even played trombone
on "Biding My Time" (also dating from this experimental period). During the formative years of Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett, Wright relied heavily on his Farfisa organ, fed through a Binson Echorec
platter echo
, to achieve distinctive sounds that helped the band gain their "psychedelic rock
" edge. He used a mellotron
on "See-Saw
", "Atom Heart Mother
", and "Sysyphus
" on Ummagumma
. He started using a Hammond organ
regularly on stage thereafter, and a grand piano later became part of his usual live concert setup when "Echoes
" was added to Pink Floyd's regular set-list. For tours in the 1970s centering around The Dark Side of the Moon
, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall
, the Farfisa was dropped (although it was brought back when Wright toured with David Gilmour
on his On An Island tour), and an array of other instruments were added to the lineup, such as: Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hohner
electric piano
s, VCS 3
, Minimoog
, ARP String Ensemble
and Prophet 5
synthesizer
s. From 1987 Wright favoured Kurzweil
digital synthesizers for reproducing his analogue synthesizer sounds, even though he still used his favourite Hammond
C-3 organ. The one that he used with Pink Floyd at Live 8 and with David Gilmour, however, was a "portablized" version (stripped of unnecessary weight and put into a more compact casing by Keyboard Products of Los Angeles, Ca.). Throughout his career, Wright was also a proficient multi-instrumentalist. He also played violin
, bass
, guitar
, saxophone
, and drums, amongst others.
,
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound. Wright frequently sang background and occasionally lead vocals
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
on stage and in the studio with Pink Floyd (most notably on the songs "Time
Time (Pink Floyd song)
"Time" is the fourth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, and the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band...
", "Echoes
Echoes (Pink Floyd song)
"Echoes" is a song by Pink Floyd including lengthy instrumental passages, sound effects, and musical improvisation. Written in 1970 by all four members of the group , "Echoes" provides the extended finale to Pink Floyd's album Meddle...
", "Wearing the Inside Out
Wearing The Inside Out
"Wearing the Inside Out" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell. It is the first Pink Floyd song since "Time" from The Dark Side of the Moon where Richard Wright sings lead, as well as his final lead vocal on a Pink Floyd album....
", "Astronomy Domine
Astronomy Domine
"Astronomy Domine" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. The song, written and composed by original vocalist/guitarist Syd Barrett, was the first track featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn . The lead vocal was sung by Barrett and keyboard player Richard...
" and "Matilda Mother
Matilda Mother
"Matilda Mother" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn...
").
Though not as prolific a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
as his bandmates Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
and David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
, he wrote significant parts of the music for classic albums such as Meddle
Meddle
Meddle is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in October 1971.The album was recorded at a series of locations around London, including Abbey Road Studios...
, The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
and Wish You Were Here, as well as for Pink Floyd's final studio album The Division Bell
The Division Bell
The Division Bell is the fourteenth and last studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in the United Kingdom by EMI Records on 28 March 1994, and in the United States by Columbia Records on 4 April....
.
Early life and career
Wright, whose father was head biochemistBiochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
at Unigate Dairies
Unigate
Uniq plc is a British food manufacturer. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
, grew up in Hatch End
Hatch End
Hatch End is a place in the London Borough of Harrow, located north west of Charing Cross in Central London. The suburb is part of the Pinner post town.-Attractions:...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
and was educated at the Haberdashers' Aske's School
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School is a British independent school for boys aged 4–19. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Haileybury Group....
.
Wright taught himself to play guitar at age 12, as well as play trumpet and piano, and took private lessons in musical theory and composition at the Eric Gilder School of Music
Eric Gilder (musicologist)
Eric Gilder was an English musicologist. He was a composer, teacher, conductor and pianist.-Brief biography:...
. Uncertain about his future, he enrolled at Regent Street Polytechnic in 1962. There he met fellow band members Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
and Nick Mason
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. He was the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1965...
, was a founding member of The Pink Floyd Sound (as they were then called) in 1965, and also participated in its previous incarnations, Sigma 6 and The (Screaming) Abdabs. Although Mason and Waters were competent students, Wright found architecture of little interest and after only a year of study moved to the London College of Music
London College of Music
The London College of Music is a music school which is part of the University of West London in England.The LCM was founded in 1887 and existed as an independent music conservatoire based at Great Marlborough Street in central London until 1991...
.
In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright was a prominent musical force in the group (although not as much as Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
, the band’s chief songwriter and front man at the time) and he wrote and sang several songs of his own during 1967–1968. While not credited as a singer on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut album by the English rock group Pink Floyd, and the only one made under founding member Syd Barrett's leadership. The album contains whimsical lyrics about space, scarecrows, gnomes, bicycles and fairy tales, along with psychedelic instrumental songs...
, he sang lead on Barrett-penned songs like "Astronomy Domine
Astronomy Domine
"Astronomy Domine" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. The song, written and composed by original vocalist/guitarist Syd Barrett, was the first track featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn . The lead vocal was sung by Barrett and keyboard player Richard...
" and "Matilda Mother
Matilda Mother
"Matilda Mother" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn...
", as well as notable harmonies on "The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow (Pink Floyd song)
"The Scarecrow" is a song on Pink Floyd's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn , though it first appeared as the B-side of their second single "See Emily Play" two months before...
" and "Chapter 24". Examples of his early compositions include "Remember a Day
Remember a Day
"Remember a Day" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets . The song, written and sung by Richard Wright, was recorded in October 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios in London, England...
", "See-Saw
See-Saw (song)
"See-Saw" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1968 album A Saucerful of Secrets. It is the third Pink Floyd song written solely by Richard Wright, and the second on the album as such, and features Wright on vocals...
", "Paint Box
Paint Box (song)
"Paint Box" is a song by psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, written and sung by keyboardist Richard Wright. It was first released in 1967 as the B-side to the single "Apples and Oranges"....
" and "It Would Be So Nice
It Would Be So Nice
"It Would Be So Nice" is a 1968 song by the rock band, Pink Floyd, written by Richard Wright. It was released as the fourth single by the group. The song was left out of the 1971 collection Relics and prior to the release of The Early Singles in 1992 with the box set Shine On it was only available...
". As the sound and the goals of the band evolved, Wright became less interested in songwriting and focused primarily on contributing his distinctive style to extended instrumental compositions such as "Cirrus Minor
Cirrus Minor (song)
"Cirrus Minor" is a song written and performed by the progressive/psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. It is the first track on their 1969 album Soundtrack from the Film More.-Overview:...
", "Interstellar Overdrive
Interstellar Overdrive
"Interstellar Overdrive" is a psychedelic composition written by Pink Floyd in 1966, which appears on their 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn at almost ten minutes in length. An earlier, longer recording, 16:52, can be heard on the soundtrack to the film Tonite Let's All Make Love in...
", "A Saucerful of Secrets
A Saucerful of Secrets (song)
"A Saucerful of Secrets" is a multi-part instrumental composition by the rock band Pink Floyd from the album A Saucerful of Secrets, released in 1968. The track lasts 11:52 and was composed by band members Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason, and David Gilmour...
", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene
Careful with That Axe, Eugene
"Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is an instrumental song by the British band Pink Floyd. The studio recording was originally released as the B-side of their single "Point Me at the Sky" and is also featured on the Relics compilation album; live versions can also be found on Ummagumma and in the film...
", "One of These Days" and to musical themes for film scores (More, Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point (album)
Zabriskie Point is a soundtrack album to the Michelangelo Antonioni film of the same name. It was originally released in January 1970 and is composed of songs from various artists. A 1997 re-release includes four bonus tracks each from Jerry Garcia and Pink Floyd that were used in the film, but not...
and Obscured by Clouds
Obscured by Clouds
-Singles:*"Free Four"/"Stay" *"Free Four"/"The Gold It's in the..." -Personnel:Pink Floyd*David Gilmour – guitars, vocals, pedal steel guitar, VCS3*Nick Mason – drums, percussion...
). He also made essential contributions to Pink Floyd's long, epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother
Atom Heart Mother (suite)
"Atom Heart Mother" is a six-part suite by progressive rock band Pink Floyd, composed by all members of the band and Ron Geesin. It appeared on the Atom Heart Mother album in 1970, taking up the whole first side of the original vinyl record...
", "Echoes
Echoes (Pink Floyd song)
"Echoes" is a song by Pink Floyd including lengthy instrumental passages, sound effects, and musical improvisation. Written in 1970 by all four members of the group , "Echoes" provides the extended finale to Pink Floyd's album Meddle...
" (on which he harmonized with Gilmour for the lead vocals) and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part Pink Floyd composition written by Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour. The song is a tribute to former band member Syd Barrett, although it was not originally explicitly written with him in mind. It was first performed on their 1974 French...
". His most commercially popular compositions are "The Great Gig in the Sky
The Great Gig in the Sky
"The Great Gig in the Sky" is the fifth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. It features voice instrumental music by Clare Torry.-Composition:...
" and "Us and Them" from 1973's The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
. He also contributed significantly to other mid-period Floyd classics like "Breathe" and "Time", singing lead vocals on alternate verses of the latter with David Gilmour.
Wright recorded his first solo project, Wet Dream
Wet Dream (album)
Wet Dream was the first solo album from Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, released in 1978. The album went virtually unnoticed at the time...
, and released it in September 1978 with minimal commercial success. Battling both personal problems and an increasingly rocky relationship with Roger Waters, he was forced to resign from Pink Floyd during The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
sessions by Waters, who threatened to pull the plug on the album's tapes if Wright did not leave the band. However, he was retained as a salaried session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
during the subsequent live concerts to promote that album in 1980 and 1981. Ironically, Wright became the only member of Pink Floyd to profit from those hugely spectacular shows, since the net financial loss had to be borne by the three remaining "full-time" members. He was the only member of the band not to attend the 1982 premiere of the film version of The Wall
Pink Floyd The Wall (film)
Pink Floyd—The Wall is a 1982 British live-action/animated musical film directed by Alan Parker based on the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roger Waters. The film is highly metaphorical and is rich in symbolic imagery and sound...
. In 1983, Pink Floyd released the only album on which Wright does not appear with The Final Cut
The Final Cut (album)
The Final Cut is the twelfth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in March 1983 by Harvest Records in the United Kingdom, and several weeks later by Columbia Records in the United States. A concept album, The Final Cut is the last of the band's releases to...
.
Later life and career
During 1984, Wright formed a new musical duo with Dave Harris (from the band FashionFashion (band)
Fashion were a British New Wave band consisting of Dee Harris, Al 'Luke Sky' James, Alan Darby, John Mulligan, Marlon Recchi, and Dik Davis.The band had two or three eras...
) called Zee. They signed a record deal with EMI Records
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
and released only one album, Identity, which was a commercial and critical flop. Wright worked as a salaried musician alongside Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, following Waters' departure. Because of legal and contractual issues from this "hired gun" status during The Wall world tour, his photo was not included in the 1987 album A Momentary Lapse of Reason
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
A Momentary Lapse of Reason is the thirteenth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK and US in September 1987. In 1985 guitarist David Gilmour began to assemble a group of musicians to work on his third solo album...
and his name was listed in smaller letters than Mason and Gilmour. In 1994, by which time his reinstatement in the band had become official, he co-wrote five songs and sang lead vocals on one song ("Wearing the Inside Out
Wearing The Inside Out
"Wearing the Inside Out" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell. It is the first Pink Floyd song since "Time" from The Dark Side of the Moon where Richard Wright sings lead, as well as his final lead vocal on a Pink Floyd album....
") for the next Pink Floyd album, The Division Bell
The Division Bell
The Division Bell is the fourteenth and last studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. It was released in the United Kingdom by EMI Records on 28 March 1994, and in the United States by Columbia Records on 4 April....
. This recording provided material for the double live album and video release P*U*L*S*E in 1995. Wright, like Nick Mason, performed on every Pink Floyd tour.
In 1996, inspired by his successful input into The Division Bell, Wright released his second solo album, Broken China
Broken China
Broken China is a progressive rock solo album by Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright.- Overview :The album is a four-part concept album which documents Wright's then wife Mildred's battle with depression, and is very much like a classic Pink Floyd concept album in its structure and overall feel...
, including contributions from Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
on vocals, Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
on bass, Manu Katché
Manu Katché
Manu Katché is a French musician of Ivorian origin, born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés on 27 October 1958. He is a drummer and songwriter.-Career:Session musician...
on drums, Dominic Miller
Dominic Miller
Dominic Miller is an Argentine-English guitarist who toured and recorded with World Party and King Swamp, worked on Phil Collins' solo album ...But Seriously and played guitar on every Sting album and tour since 1990...
(known from his guitar work with Sting) and Tim Renwick
Tim Renwick
Timothy John Pearson 'Tim' Renwick is an English guitarist.-Career:Renwick started playing guitar in the 1960s. He performed with many bands, including Little Women, Wages of Sin, Junior's Eyes, The Hype, Quiver and Lazy Racer...
, another Pink Floyd associate, on electric guitar. Broken China
Broken China
Broken China is a progressive rock solo album by Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright.- Overview :The album is a four-part concept album which documents Wright's then wife Mildred's battle with depression, and is very much like a classic Pink Floyd concept album in its structure and overall feel...
marked a new phase in Richard Wright's artistic development and playing style, with extensive use of computer-based recording and production techniques, assisted by Anthony Moore
Anthony Moore
Anthony Moore is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, including Flying Doesn't Help and World Service .As a lyricist, Moore has collaborated with Pink Floyd on...
with whom he co-wrote the album's lyrics.
On 2 July 2005, Wright, Gilmour and Mason were joined by Waters on stage for the first time since the Wall concerts for a short set at the Live 8 concert in London
Live 8 concert, London
The main Live 8 concert was held at Hyde Park, London, England on 2 July 2005, in front of over 200,000 people. The show's logistics were managed by famed promoter Harvey Goldsmith.The event is also referred to as "Live 8 London" or "Live 8 UK"....
. This would be the final time that all four of (post-Barrett) Pink Floyd's members performed together. Wright underwent eye surgery for cataracts in November 2005, preventing him from attending Pink Floyd's induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame
UK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The Hall of Fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five more members selected by a public televote, two from each...
.
Wright contributed keyboards and background vocals to David Gilmour's solo album, On an Island
On an Island
On an Island is the third solo album by David Gilmour, best known as vocalist and lead guitarist for Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK on 6 March 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the United States the following day. It was Gilmour's first new solo album in 22 years...
, and performed with Gilmour's touring band for over two dozen shows in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 2006. On stage with Gilmour he performed on Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, piano, electric piano, Kurzweil K2600 workstation, and even his long-inactive Farfisa
Farfisa
Farfisa is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy.The Farfisa brand name is commonly associated with a series of compact electronic organs, and later, a series of multi-timbral synthesizers. At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments, in...
organ, which was used for performing "Echoes" and two of Pink Floyd's and Syd Barrett's older songs that Gilmour chose to revisit in his recent concerts. He also provided backing vocals and lead vocals (notably on "Echoes", "Time", "Comfortably Numb
Comfortably Numb
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, which first appears on the 1979 double album, The Wall. It was also released as a single in the same year with "Hey You" as the B-side. It is one of only three songs on the album for which writing credits are shared between Roger...
", "Wearing the Inside Out" "Astronomy Domine
Astronomy Domine
"Astronomy Domine" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. The song, written and composed by original vocalist/guitarist Syd Barrett, was the first track featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn . The lead vocal was sung by Barrett and keyboard player Richard...
" and "Arnold Layne
Arnold Layne
David Gilmour, during his solo tour promoting On an Island, unexpectedly added the song to the setlist near the end of the American tour on the 17 April 2006 show at the Oakland Paramount Theatre...
" – the latter released as a live single). He declined an offer to join Roger Waters and Nick Mason
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. He was the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1965...
on Waters' The Dark Side of the Moon Live
Roger Waters - The Dark Side of the Moon Live (2006 tour)
-Tour dates:Waters announced to fans that he would be performing 62 more dates worldwide in 2007. The tour resumed in late January and February with shows in Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, and China...
tour in order to spend more time working on a solo project.
On 4 July 2006, Wright joined Gilmour and Mason for the official screening of the P•U•L•S•E DVD. Inevitably, Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
surfaced as a subject in an interview. When asked about performing again, Wright replied he would be happy on stage anywhere. He explained that his plan was to "meander" along and said about playing live:
Wright's final vocal performance took place at "The Madcaps Last Laugh" a tribute concert at The Barbican
The Barbican
Barbican is a type of fortified building.Barbican may also refer to:*Willoughby House, also known as the Barbican, London* Barbican , a mutant in the Marvel Comics Universe* Barbican , a thoroughbred horse...
in London on 10 May 2007. It was organised by Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
in the memory of Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
who had died the previous July. Boyd rounded up many musical guests all paying their tributes to Syd including Captain Sensible
Captain Sensible
Captain Sensible is a singer, songwriter, guitarist who grew up in Croydon, England, and co-founded the punk rock band The Damned in 1976. After leaving the band, he reinvented himself as an alternative pop singer with a rebellious, self-conscious image...
, Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
, Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
, Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
, Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle
Kate McGarrigle, CM was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle....
with Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of American folk singer and actor Loudon Wainwright III and Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle...
and Lily Lankin, Mike Heron
Mike Heron
Mike Heron is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
, Nick Laird Clowes, Vashti Bunyan
Vashti Bunyan
Vashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter. In 1970, Bunyan released her first album, Just Another Diamond Day. The album sold very few copies, and Bunyan, discouraged, abandoned her musical career...
, Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
and performing solo, Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
.
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
featuring David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
, Nick Mason
Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. He was the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1965...
and Richard appeared at the end of the show as surprise guests where they performed the song that had started it all, "Arnold Layne
Arnold Layne
David Gilmour, during his solo tour promoting On an Island, unexpectedly added the song to the setlist near the end of the American tour on the 17 April 2006 show at the Oakland Paramount Theatre...
" with Wright on lead vocals.
Wright's final live performance was as part of David Gilmour's band at the premiere of Gilmour's concert DVD Remember That Night
Remember That Night
Remember That Night is a live concert recording of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on 29, 30 & 31 May 2006 as part of his On an Island tour. The title is taken from a line in the song "On an Island". It has been released on both DVD and Blu-ray formats...
. It took place on 6 September 2007 at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. After an edited version of the film had been shown, the band took to the stage to jam and Wright played keyboards.
Personal life
He married his first wife, Juliette Gale, in 1965. They had two children, Gala and Jamie, and divorced in 1982. He married his second wife Franka in 1984. They divorced in 1994. Wright married his third wife Mildred "Millie" Hobbes (to whom he dedicated his second solo album Broken China) in 1996, with whom he had a son, Ben. Their marriage ended in 2007. In 1996, Wright's daughter Gala married Guy PrattGuy Pratt
Guy Pratt is a session bassist and also a songwriter, actor and comedian. He is the son of actor Mike Pratt. In Kensington and Chelsea, London, in 1996, Pratt married Gala Wright, the daughter of Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright...
, a session musician who has played bass for Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and bandmate David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
since Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
' exit.
In his later years, Wright lived in France and spent time on a yacht he owned in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Death
Wright died of an undisclosed form of cancer in his home in the UK on 15 September 2008 at age 65. At the time of his death, he had been working on a new solo album, which was thought to comprise a series of instrumental pieces.His death occurred one week before the release of David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
's Live in Gdańsk
Live in Gdansk
Live in Gdańsk is a live album by David Gilmour. It is a part of his On an Island project which includes an album, tour, DVD, and live album. It was released on 22 September 2008...
CD, on which he appeared. The album is the final Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
-related project to include Wright.
Tributes
Bandmate David Gilmour said:No one can replace Richard Wright. He was my musical partner and my friend. In the welter of arguments about who or what was Pink Floyd, Rick's enormous input was frequently forgotten. He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognised Pink Floyd sound. I have never played with anyone quite like him. The blend of his and my voices and our musical telepathy reached their first major flowering in 1971 on 'Echoes'. In my view all the greatest PF moments are the ones where he is in full flow. After all, without 'Us and Them' and 'The Great Gig in the Sky', both of which he wrote, what would 'The Dark Side of the Moon' have been? Without his quiet touch the album 'Wish You Were Here' would not quite have worked. In our middle years, for many reasons he lost his way for a while, but in the early Nineties, with 'The Division Bell', his vitality, spark and humour returned to him and then the audience reaction to his appearances on my tour in 2006 was hugely uplifting and it's a mark of his modesty that those standing ovations came as a huge surprise to him, (though not to the rest of us). Like Rick, I don't find it easy to express my feelings in words, but I loved him and will miss him enormously.
Former bandmate Roger Waters' website was replaced with a photograph of an array of candles and poppies against a black background; one of the screen images used for the song "Wish You Were Here" in his "Dark Side of the Moon Live" Tour.
Waters issued a statement:
I was very sad to hear of Rick's premature death, I knew he had been ill, but the end came suddenly and shockingly. My thoughts are with his family, particularly [his children] Jamie and Gala and their mum Juliet, who I knew very well in the old days, and always liked very much and greatly admired. As for the man and his work, it is hard to overstate the importance of his musical voice in the Pink Floyd of the '60s and '70s. The intriguing, jazz influenced, modulations and voicings so familiar in 'Us and Them' and 'Great Gig in the Sky,' which lent those compositions both their extraordinary humanity and their majesty, are omnipresent in all the collaborative work the four of us did in those times. Rick's ear for harmonic progression was our bedrock. I am very grateful for the opportunity that Live 8 afforded me to engage with him and David [Gilmour] and Nick [Mason] that one last time. I wish there had been more.
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason told Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
:
Like any band, you can never quite quantify who does what. But Pink Floyd wouldn’t have been Pink Floyd if [we] hadn’t had Rick. I think there’s a feeling now – particularly after all the warfare that went on with Roger and David trying to make clear what their contribution was – that perhaps Rick rather got pushed into the background. Because the sound of Pink Floyd is more than the guitar, bass, and drum thing. Rick was the sound that knitted it all together... He was by far the quietest of the band, right from day one. And, I think, probably harder to get to know than the rest of us... It's almost that George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
thing. You sort of forget that they did a lot more than perhaps they’re given credit for.
On 23 September 2008, David Gilmour performed "Remember a Day
Remember a Day
"Remember a Day" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets . The song, written and sung by Richard Wright, was recorded in October 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios in London, England...
", a Wright composition from Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets
A Saucerful of Secrets
A Saucerful of Secrets is the second studio album by the English rock group Pink Floyd. It was recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios on various dates from August 1967 to April 1968...
(1968
1968 in music
-Events:*January 4 – Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with bassist Noel Redding.*January 6 – Gibson Guitar Corporation patents its Gibson Flying V electric guitar design....
), on a live broadcast of Later... with Jools Holland on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
as a tribute to Wright. In an interview later on in the show, Gilmour had said that Wright had intended to perform with him that day, but had sent Gilmour an SMS message
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
a couple of weeks before his death to advise him that he would not be well enough to attend. This was the first live performance of the song by any member of the band.
On 15 September 2008, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, while playing a concert in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan dedicated the song "Believe" to Wright who had died earlier that day.
Influence
Wright's style fused jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, neoclassical
Neoclassicism (music)
Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint...
and experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
influences, which complemented the simple harmonic
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
structures of the more blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
-based songs of Roger Waters and David Gilmour. As a keyboardist, he was more interested in complementing each piece with organ or synthesizer layers and tasteful piano or electric piano passages. Unlike his contemporaries Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, Tony Banks
Tony Banks (musician)
This article is about the musician. For other people named Tony Banks, see Tony BanksAnthony George "Tony" Banks is a British composer, and multi-instrumentalist, who performs as a keyboardist and a guitarist...
or Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
, he opted for solo playing only occasionally, notably in "Atom Heart Mother", "Echoes", "Any Colour You Like
Any Colour You Like
"Any Colour You Like" is the eighth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It is instrumental and was written by David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason, making it one of two songs on the album that Roger Waters did not contribute to, and...
", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" Parts 1–5 and 6–9, "Welcome to the Machine
Welcome to the Machine
"Welcome to the Machine" is the second song on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. It is notable for its use of heavily processed synthesizers and guitars, as well as a wide and varied range of tape effects.-Theme:...
", "Dogs", "Run Like Hell
Run Like Hell
"Run Like Hell" is a song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall.-Overview:The song is written from the point of view of anti-hero Pink during a hallucination in which he becomes a fascist dictator and turns a concert audience into an angry mob...
" and "Keep Talking
Keep Talking
"Keep Talking" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell. Written by David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Polly Samson, it was sung by Gilmour and also features samples of Stephen Hawking's electronic voice, taken from a BT television advertisement...
". Wright was known for his ghostly, atmospheric textures such as the Leslie piano arpeggios at the beginning of "Echoes", the echoed Farfisa Organ in the live versions of "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by British rock band Pink Floyd and is featured on their second album A Saucerful of Secrets . It was written by Roger Waters and features a drum part by Nick Mason played with timpani mallets...
", the distinctive Minimoog
Minimoog
The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. It was released in 1970 by R.A. Moog Inc. , and production was stopped in 1981. It was re-designed by Robert Moog in 2002 and released as Minimoog Voyager.The Minimoog was designed in response to the use of...
solos in "Any Colour You Like" and, more famously, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and the Wurlitzer
Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...
passages in "Money
Money (Pink Floyd song)
"Money" is the sixth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. Written by bassist Roger Waters, it opened side two of the original vinyl LP, and is the only song on the album to enter the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100...
", "Time
Time (Pink Floyd song)
"Time" is the fourth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, and the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band...
" and "Sheep
Sheep (song)
"Sheep" is a song by the English band Pink Floyd. It was released on the album Animals in 1977. In 1974, it was originally titled "Raving and Drooling".-History:...
". In "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Sysyphus
Sysyphus
"Sysyphus" is an avant-garde, instrumental four part suite written and performed by rock band Pink Floyd's keyboardist Richard Wright. The song is featured on his portion of the studio half of Ummagumma...
" he experimented with 'treated piano
Prepared piano
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
'. "Sysyphus" also made extensive use of Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
sounds, something of a rarity in the Pink Floyd canon. Wright also used modal
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
scales in "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and "Matilda Mother
Matilda Mother
"Matilda Mother" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn...
".
Equipment
In the early days of the band, Wright dabbled with brass before settling on the FarfisaFarfisa
Farfisa is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy.The Farfisa brand name is commonly associated with a series of compact electronic organs, and later, a series of multi-timbral synthesizers. At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments, in...
organ as his main instrument onstage (in addition to piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and Hammond Organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
in the studio). For a brief period in 1969, Wright played vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
on several of the band's songs and in some live shows, and he even played trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
on "Biding My Time" (also dating from this experimental period). During the formative years of Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett, Wright relied heavily on his Farfisa organ, fed through a Binson Echorec
Binson
Binson was an early manufacturer of echo machines. Unlike most other analog echo machines, they used an analog magnetic drum recorder instead of a tape loop. Their most famous product was the Binson Echorec....
platter echo
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
, to achieve distinctive sounds that helped the band gain their "psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
" edge. He used a mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
on "See-Saw
See-Saw (song)
"See-Saw" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1968 album A Saucerful of Secrets. It is the third Pink Floyd song written solely by Richard Wright, and the second on the album as such, and features Wright on vocals...
", "Atom Heart Mother
Atom Heart Mother (suite)
"Atom Heart Mother" is a six-part suite by progressive rock band Pink Floyd, composed by all members of the band and Ron Geesin. It appeared on the Atom Heart Mother album in 1970, taking up the whole first side of the original vinyl record...
", and "Sysyphus
Sysyphus
"Sysyphus" is an avant-garde, instrumental four part suite written and performed by rock band Pink Floyd's keyboardist Richard Wright. The song is featured on his portion of the studio half of Ummagumma...
" on Ummagumma
Ummagumma
Ummagumma is a double album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in 1969 by Harvest and EMI in the United Kingdom and Harvest and Capitol in the United States...
. He started using a Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
regularly on stage thereafter, and a grand piano later became part of his usual live concert setup when "Echoes
Echoes (Pink Floyd song)
"Echoes" is a song by Pink Floyd including lengthy instrumental passages, sound effects, and musical improvisation. Written in 1970 by all four members of the group , "Echoes" provides the extended finale to Pink Floyd's album Meddle...
" was added to Pink Floyd's regular set-list. For tours in the 1970s centering around The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
, the Farfisa was dropped (although it was brought back when Wright toured with David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
on his On An Island tour), and an array of other instruments were added to the lineup, such as: Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer and Hohner
Pianet
thumb|Hohner Pianet TThe Pianet was a series of electric pianos built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany from the 1960s to the 1970s. The designer of the early Pianet models was Ernst Zacharias, basing the mechanism closely on a 1920s design by Lloyd Loar...
electric piano
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
s, VCS 3
EMS VCS 3
The VCS 3 is a portable analog synthesiser with a flexible semi-modular voice architecture, by Electronic Music Studios Limited in 1969....
, Minimoog
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
, ARP String Ensemble
ARP String Ensemble
The ARP String Ensemble, also known as the Solina String Ensemble, is a fully polyphonic multi-orchestral ARP Instruments, Inc. synthesizer with a 49-key keyboard, produced by Solina from 1974 to 1981. The sounds it incorporates are violin, viola, trumpet, horn, cello and contrabass. The keyboard...
and Prophet 5
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Sequential Circuits in San Jose, California between 1977 and 1984. The Prophet-5 was groundbreaking in that it was one of the first analog synthesizers to implement patch memory, a feature which stored user settings of every parameter...
synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s. From 1987 Wright favoured Kurzweil
Kurzweil Music Systems
Kurzweil Music Systems is a company that produces electronic musical instruments for professionals and home users. Founded in 1982 by Raymond Kurzweil, a developer of reading machines for the blind, the company made use of many of the technologies originally designed for reading machines and...
digital synthesizers for reproducing his analogue synthesizer sounds, even though he still used his favourite Hammond
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
C-3 organ. The one that he used with Pink Floyd at Live 8 and with David Gilmour, however, was a "portablized" version (stripped of unnecessary weight and put into a more compact casing by Keyboard Products of Los Angeles, Ca.). Throughout his career, Wright was also a proficient multi-instrumentalist. He also played violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, and drums, amongst others.
Pink Floyd songs with Richard Wright on lead vocals
- "Astronomy DomineAstronomy Domine"Astronomy Domine" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. The song, written and composed by original vocalist/guitarist Syd Barrett, was the first track featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn . The lead vocal was sung by Barrett and keyboard player Richard...
", with Syd BarrettSyd BarrettSyd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
(1967) - "Matilda MotherMatilda Mother"Matilda Mother" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn...
", with Syd Barrett (1967) - "Paintbox" (1967)
- "It Would Be So NiceIt Would Be So Nice"It Would Be So Nice" is a 1968 song by the rock band, Pink Floyd, written by Richard Wright. It was released as the fourth single by the group. The song was left out of the 1971 collection Relics and prior to the release of The Early Singles in 1992 with the box set Shine On it was only available...
" (1968) - "Let There Be More LightLet There Be More Light"Let There Be More Light" is the opening track on Pink Floyd's second album A Saucerful of Secrets. It was also released in edited form as the fourth US single by the group. A rare US-only single release contains edited mono versions of this song and "Remember a Day". The single did not chart...
", with David GilmourDavid GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
(1968) - "Remember a DayRemember a Day"Remember a Day" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets . The song, written and sung by Richard Wright, was recorded in October 1967 at De Lane Lea Studios in London, England...
" (1968) - "Corporal CleggCorporal Clegg"Corporal Clegg" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets . It was written by Roger Waters and features David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright on vocals. The song also features a kazoo.-Lyrics:The song is about a...
", with David Gilmour and Nick MasonNick MasonNicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is an English drummer and songwriter, best known for his work with Pink Floyd. He was the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1965...
. (1968) - "See-Saw"See-Saw (song)"See-Saw" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1968 album A Saucerful of Secrets. It is the third Pink Floyd song written solely by Richard Wright, and the second on the album as such, and features Wright on vocals...
(1968) - "Summer '68Summer '68"Summer '68" is a song by Pink Floyd on their album Atom Heart Mother. Written and sung by Richard Wright, it is about a one night stand, and the return to habitual life. The soft piano intro contrasts with the bombastic trumpet solo breaks in the middle and end of the song, the latter breaks...
" (1970) - "Crumbling Land"Crumbling Land (song)"Crumbling Land" is a song by Pink Floyd from the soundtrack album of the film Zabriskie Point. It is an up-tempo, country-styled song. David Gilmour and Rick Wright provided the vocals...
, with David Gilmour (1970) - "Echoes"Echoes (Pink Floyd song)"Echoes" is a song by Pink Floyd including lengthy instrumental passages, sound effects, and musical improvisation. Written in 1970 by all four members of the group , "Echoes" provides the extended finale to Pink Floyd's album Meddle...
, with David Gilmour (1971) - "Burning Bridges"Burning Bridges (Pink Floyd song)"Burning Bridges" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1972 album Obscured by Clouds. It consists of an organ melody written by Richard Wright, with Wright and David Gilmour singing the lyrics by Roger Waters as a duet.-Personnel:*David Gilmour – guitar/vocals...
, with David Gilmour (1972) - "Stay"Stay (Pink Floyd song)"Stay" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1972 album Obscured by Clouds. It is known for being one of the album's particularly slow-moving, lyrical songs...
(1972) - "Time"Time (Pink Floyd song)"Time" is the fourth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, and the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band...
, with David Gilmour (1973) - "Us and Them", with David Gilmour (1973)
- "Wearing the Inside OutWearing The Inside Out"Wearing the Inside Out" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1994 album, The Division Bell. It is the first Pink Floyd song since "Time" from The Dark Side of the Moon where Richard Wright sings lead, as well as his final lead vocal on a Pink Floyd album....
" (1994)
Solo albums
- Wet DreamWet Dream (album)Wet Dream was the first solo album from Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, released in 1978. The album went virtually unnoticed at the time...
– 15 September 1978 U.S. #203 - Broken ChinaBroken ChinaBroken China is a progressive rock solo album by Pink Floyd keyboard player Richard Wright.- Overview :The album is a four-part concept album which documents Wright's then wife Mildred's battle with depression, and is very much like a classic Pink Floyd concept album in its structure and overall feel...
– 26 November 1996
With David Gilmour
- David Gilmour in ConcertDavid Gilmour in ConcertDavid Gilmour in Concert is a DVD of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London in June 2001, as part of the Robert Wyatt-curated Meltdown festival. It also features additional footage recorded during three concerts at the same venue in January 2002...
(DVD) – October, 2002- Appears on two tracks: "Breakthrough" (Keyboard / Vocals) & "Comfortably Numb (With Bob Geldof)" (Keyboard)
- On an IslandOn an IslandOn an Island is the third solo album by David Gilmour, best known as vocalist and lead guitarist for Pink Floyd. It was released in the UK on 6 March 2006, Gilmour's 60th birthday, and in the United States the following day. It was Gilmour's first new solo album in 22 years...
– 6 March 2006- Appears on two tracks: "On an Island" (Hammond organ) & "The Blue" (Keyboards / Vocals)
- Remember That NightRemember That NightRemember That Night is a live concert recording of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour's solo concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on 29, 30 & 31 May 2006 as part of his On an Island tour. The title is taken from a line in the song "On an Island". It has been released on both DVD and Blu-ray formats...
(DVD/BD) – September/November(BD), 2007 - Live in GdańskLive in GdanskLive in Gdańsk is a live album by David Gilmour. It is a part of his On an Island project which includes an album, tour, DVD, and live album. It was released on 22 September 2008...
(CD/DVD) – released on 22 September 2008
With Syd Barrett
- BarrettBarrett (album)Barrett was the second and final studio album of new material released by former Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett. In February 1970, shortly after releasing his first album, The Madcap Laughs, Barrett appeared on John Peel's Top Gear radio show where he presented only one song from the newly released...
– 14 November 1970- Plays keyboards and credited as co-producer
External links
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