Richard Wright
David Gilmour is very affected by Rick Wright’s death on 15 Sept and we can only imagine that the friendship between these two guys was far beyond their musical compatibility inside Pink Floyd.
Rick Wright’s is the second Pink Floyd member that dies after former frontman Syd Barrett has died on 6 July 2006.
Former Pink Floyd guitarist and composer, David Gilmour speaks about Richard Wright on his website:
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.
David Gilmour
Monday 15th September 2008
via DavidGilmour.com
Roger Waters, with whom Wright was in conflict in the ’80s, didn’t make any statement yet.
His website is no longer available, Roger-Waters.com has been silenced by the light of each small candle.
Roger-waters.com
Tags: david gilmour, pink floyd, rick wright
I’ve remembered this from a couple of months now, when I first heard this interpretation of Deep Purple’s famous tune.
I’ve never been a big fan of the hard rock hitsongs of the classics, at least not beyond my highschool years, but these japanese guys singing their version of Smoke On The Water cracked me up.
The song now has even more power and attitudine and sounds like being part of the sound score of an epic movie, with stories of ancient battles.
Its sound is absolutely FANTASTIC.
Enjoy music!
Tags: deep purple, Enjoy music, japanese version
The keyboardist known for playing his part in Pink Floyd, sometimes also a singer and a songwriter, has died today, 15th September 2008, at the age of 65 after a short struggle with cancer as his grieving family announced.
In 1965, the musician founded the influential Pink Floyd with Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Syd Barrett.
He’ll be most remember for the mindblowing ‘The Great Gig in The Sky’ from the band’s famous album Dark Side of the Moon (1973). His contribution to the band comprised in songs from the early era of the band (Paintbox, Remember a Day, Summer ‘68) but he was mainly responsible for the blending background keyboard and organ sound.
His influenced in the band’s sound and songs has slowly declined as albums were released, eventually been forced to leave the band during recordings of the album The Wall (1979). He then return as a session musician for the 1980-1981 The Wall tour and then rejoining as a full-time member after Roger Waters left the band.
Another notable appearance was at 2005’s the Live 8, when Pink Floyd reunited for the first the after more than 30 years.
May he rest in peace.
Tags: pink floyd, rick wright