Richard Wright 1943 – 2008
Pink Floyd fans around the world are mourning the passing of Richard Wright, who died of cancer today at age 65. Wright was a founding member of Pink Floyd and a contributing writer to many of the group’s memorable tracks, such as “Us And Them” and “The Great Gig In The Sky,” from ‘Dark Side Of The Moon,’ plus other notable albums like Meddle and Wish You Were Here.
He was also known as Rick, and is widely acknowledged as a pioneer in establishing Pink Floyd’s unique keyboard layered sound. He used a variety of keyboards during his career including Hammond B3 and Farfisa organs, VCS 3, a Rhodes, Wurlitzer, a stage grand and Hohner electric pianos, ARP String Ensemble, Kurzweil and Prophet 5 synthesizers, and even briefly performed on trombone and vibraphone on earlier works in the band’s career.
The Pink Floyd keyboardist performed on the band’s debut album in 1967, ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,’ along with Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and Nick Mason. He left the band in the late seventies during the recording sessions for ‘The Wall,’ but returned as a full time member later in the eighties after Roger Waters departure. Wright and drummer Nick Mason have performed on every Pink Floyd tour.
Wright was also a long time collaborator with David Gilmour, and contributed keyboards to Gilmour’s latest solo album ‘On an Island.’ Gilmour had some touching words to say about his friend on his website.
Besides Dark Side Of The Moon, my other favorite keyboard laden Floyd albums are Animals and Wish You Were Here. Those are really great to listen to on rainy days or during a thunderstorm. If you mix ‘em just right, the ambient sounds are awesome.
Richard Wright’s Guestbook
news.bbc.co.uk has a nice tribute article plus some great associated links
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
Written by: Mike Withrow
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