Rick Wright, for those not in the know, (shame, shame, shame on you!) was the keyboard player for Pink Floyd. He died aged 65 from an undisclosed cancer.
Wright was the creator of the sublime intro to "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" (a touching lament for the founder member of "The Pink Floyd Sound" as it was known in 1965, Syd Barrett. Syd's erratic behaviour saw him replaced eventually with David Gilmour).
He also wrote "Us and Them", another classic from the equally sublime and world famous Dark Side of the Moon. This album often tops the list of world's best albums - and rightly so (no pun intended).
Wright and another member, Roger Waters had what best can be described as a turbulent relationship which eventually led to Wright being forced to resign from he band during the recording of 1979's The Wall.
Just after recording The Final Cut, Waters declared Pink Floyd, "a spent force" and left himself - and subsequently sued he rest of the band over rights to the name. Eventually he lost that fight.
Interesting sidebar: during their concerts, they often used these two enormous dirigibles in the shape of pigs that would float above the stage connected by cables (the same pig can be seen on the cover of their "Animals" album floating above London's Battersea Park. Hilariously, at one point one of the cables snapped and this massive "balloon" floated off across London and had to be shot down by the police).
Waters declared that they could no longer use these beasts either. So the rest of the band got round this by castrating the pigs. Y'see, they had been male - the rest of the band considered that if they cut the nads off them then they wouldn't be the same - exactly - hence hey could continue to use them.
Said David Gilmour of his long time friend:
"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".
Anyway, RIP Rick, your legacy will live on for years to come.
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4 comments:
Us and Them always reminds me of my Grandad.
See you on the dark side of the moon, Rick.
Us and Them is arguably one of The Floyd’s best single tracks – mind you, there is a plethora of those so it's difficult to choose one over another when considers the field. Shine On, WYWH, Comfortably Numb - so many more. And more, in many cases, each album is enjoyed in its entirety, as an almost operatic experience - one long intense journey.
Radio stations, to my eternal dismay, are prone to playing Another Brick in the Wall, Part Two. Sacrilege. There are few places one can stop in The Wall; the same with Wish You Were Here, DSOTM, and in fact, although one could break in some of the albums, it’s really not the done thing amongst the true Floyd afficiandos.
They do it with "Money" too; okay at the beginning, but it fades into, aptly for this argument, Us and Them.
And as well, on occasion some will clip the end of a track to fit in the news or some advertising. Bastards! This is King Floyd, y’wankers! If you can’t play it all, don’t play any.
Here’s an interesting fact (to, again, the afficiando); David Mason, the drummer, is the only one to have been in the band from inception to now. Barrett was replaced by Gilmour, then Wright was forced to resign, then Waters left. Through it all, Mason beat his drums. And if one listens to his drumming…it is truly amazing. As opposed to simply banging, keeping a tempo (or worse, using a machine) Mason “plays” them. Just listen sometime. Actually, I went to see a cover band called The Pink Floyd experience; they were extremely good and worth seeing but in one part of the cover they lacked and it was the drumming. Afficiando, y’see; many wouldn’t have noticed. My mucker didn’t in fact.
Interesting, when I think of Floyd... drumming isn't the first instrument that comes to mind. I'm gonna have to go for another listen now. Thanks for the info M.
All of The Wall, most of DSOTM, specifically the end 4 tracks. WYWH (again - more towards the end but all through).
He makes the drums come alive.
Fantastic stuff.
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