Off to the great gig in the sky
15 September 2008
Farewell then to Richard Wright, keyboard player and co-composer with Pink Floyd. He was instrumental in the creation of Wish You Were Here, probably my favourite album ever, and one I've always found myself drawn back to since I first heard it in 1989. Last year on David Gilmour's tour, it was a real thrill to hear him perform Floyd's debut single 'Arnold Layne' with fellow Floydies Gilmour on guitar and Mason on drums. The politics of the band probably stopped him contributing as much as he was able, but his tracks 'See Saw' and 'Remember a Day' are as fine as anything Waters and Barrett wrote in the psychedelic era. He's best known for contributing 'Us and them' and instrumental 'The great gig in the sky' to 'Dark Side of the Moon' as a songwriter, but he had a big influence on all the truly great Floyd albums from 'Piper' through 'Meddle' and 'Dark Side', through to 'The Division Bell'. There's no folklore surrounding Rick as there was with Floyd's first front man Syd, but Richard Wright leaves behind a rich body of music that will inspire many of us for decades to come.
Labels: music
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