Richard Wright - RIP

[mountain bed]

Wow, that is very, very sad news. I've been a huge Floyd fan for the past 30 years, and it was bad enough losing Syd, but this is somehow worse ... seeing as how Syd wasn't likely to ever "come back," so to speak. Don't know what else to say. Playing "Set the Controls" right now ...

Yeah. I was thinking about some of my favorite Rick moments in the Floyd canon, and the first thing that came to mind was those deeply psychedelic, atmospheric sounds he made during live versions of Set The Controls - you know the section - where everyone else just sort of drops out, leaving Rick to make those crazy "bubbly" noises.

 

Damn, those long, flowing organ chords he would play (especially early in their career) were really the shit. And, as MeDave said, his vocal hamonies that he would do with Gilmour on things like Echoes were so beautiful, and poignant.

 

Rarely was his name mentioned in the same breath with the acknowleged masters of chops like Emerson, Wakeman, or Banks (to name but a few) but his restraint, his ability to hit just the right notes without overplaying was one of his great strengths. In fact, the same could be said about Dave, Rog and Nick as well - one of the things that made their music, as 'outside' as it was, so accessible was they never really showed off for the sake of showing off. Everything was really easy to "get".

 

This did come as kind of a shock when I first read this here earlier today, but as many know, he did have some issues (at least at one time) with some substance abuse, and really did seem to enjoy the life of a rich rock star (read "Saucerful of Secrets:The Pink Floyd Oddessy" for some information about this). I hope that was all in the past by now.

 

The world of really great experimental Rock music just got a great deal smaller with his passing. RIP Mr. Wright - we love you.

[kamera]

I always found his album "Wet Dreams' to be the perfect music to study to...

[augurus]

Goodbye.

Thanks for all the echoes.

[kamera]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rnn2cV9NHA

 

[FourStrongWinds]

awful news, heard last night and put Darkside on straight away

[miss jayne]

thanks for the link A-man. I missed this news yesterday, so a beautiful way to start the day, with Echoes and fond thoughts of the joy Rick Wright brought to all of us.

[mechanical_bird]

I was so sad when I heard about this. His touch on Dark Side is really what holds the album together as a whole. He will be missed.

[Analogman]

Gilmour plays Pink Floyd tribute

By Ian Youngs

Music reporter, BBC News

 

David Gilmour on Later...

 

Richard Wright had been due to accompany David Gilmour on the show

 

Pink Floyd star David Gilmour has performed one of the band's early songs in tribute to the group's keyboardist Richard Wright, who died last week.

 

Gilmour gave a poignant rendition of Remember A Day, written by Wright, who died from cancer at the age of 65.

 

The song was on Pink Floyd's 1968 second album Saucerful of Secrets.

 

"He created a sound that glued the whole Pink Floyd thing together," Gilmour said on BBC Two music show Later... With Jools Holland.

 

"He was just a very self-effacing but very talented, lovely chap. We're incredibly sad to have lost him."

 

Wright had been due to accompany Gilmour on the TV show, but sent the guitarist a text message three weeks ago saying he would not be able to play.

 

After his death, Gilmour decided to play Remember A Day. It is thought that the song had not been performed live for many years.

 

Wright sang lead vocals on the original version, which was recorded just before Gilmour joined the group.

 

Gilmour recalled meeting Wright in 1965, when his first band supported Pink Floyd in "schools and big old youth clubs".

 

Wright was "so shy and quiet", he told host Jools Holland.

 

Asked about Wright's contribution to Pink Floyd, he replied: "He brought a slightly more jazzy and ethereal element to it all.

 

"He had some elusive quality, let's call it soul, that glued the whole thing together. You notice it when it's missing."

 

One edition of Later... was broadcast on Tuesday, with a longer version to be aired on BBC Two on Friday.

 

For the Friday episode, Gilmour also performed The Blue, from his 2006 solo album On An Island.

 

The album version of that song featured Wright on backing vocals, and Wright had also accompanied Gilmour on tour.

 

The keyboardist was "revelling in what he was doing" in recent years, Gilmour said.

 

"He had so much joy in him."

 

The show also featured Mercury Prize winners Elbow, new US pop star Katy Perry and British hip-hop artist Roots Manuva.

 

Later... with Jools Holland is on BBC Two at 2335 BST on Friday.