Richard Wright RIP (Pink Floyd)

[Chalupa]

Bummer. He was very understated but perfect for the band.

Yes, totally agree. I loved the sound textures he was able to coax from his keyboards. He really added a lot to the band. I didn't realize that he had been demoted to session musician status during the tour for The Wall. Man, that's cold.

But tensions grew between Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album "The Final Cut."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/1...t.ap/index.html

[Shawn]

If I remember correctly, he's not listed as an actual band member on The Final Cut either, he's listed below Waters, Gilmour & Mason as a session musician.

[Guy Berger]

If I remember correctly, he's not listed as an actual band member on The Final Cut either, he's listed below Waters, Gilmour & Mason as a session musician.

Rick did not play on The Final Cut at all. However, he did play on A Momentary Lapse of Reason as a session musician.

As far as Rick - a real pity. It was nice to see one of the major obituaries acknowledge him as the dominant musical sound on the group's early recordings. Later on, he was overshadowed by the larger personalities in the band - but the group made its based recordings while he was contributing as a composer.

Guy

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

I AM COMPELETLY BESIDE MYSELF, I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO BELIEVE WHAT I AM READING. I HEARD ABOUT IT 3 MIN. AGO ON YAHOO MUSIC NEWS. I AM ABSOUTELY SICK. I SPENT 2 YEARS PERFECTING THIS MANS KEYBOARD PARTS IN A PROFESSIONAL PINK FLOYD TRIBUTE BAND AND HAD A GREAT TIME RE-CREATING THE MUSIC THIS MAN BROUGHT TO US.

[sidewinder]

Very sad. I saw a Pink Floyd documentary recently where Rick Wright was saying that his keyboard work on Breathe ( from Dark Side Of The Moon ) was influenced by Kind of Blue by Miles. Can't recall which track - I think it was All Blues.

Yeah, I saw that. I think he even personally admitted it on the documentary.

Very sad news - and way too young. He added a strong jazz element to recordings such as 'Animals' on the Fender Rhodes.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

GOD BLESS YOU RICK- YOU WILL LIVE ON FOREVER

[mikeweil]

I thought his attempt at a piano concerto in his part of Umma Gumma was a bit bombastic, but his organ playing was fine.

There's an interview with Gilmour in a recent Mojo magazine where he comments on how bemused he was at having to do those solo sets. Maybe it was the same with Wright. 10 minutes to fill - out come all the bits and bobs from his training. There's certainly some very 'Romantic' piano...all a bit Rachmaninov (or maybe Addinsell).

Oh, that makes sense - sure sounds like this type of thing.

[Jazzmoose]

I don't know what to say on this one. I know Floyd took a lot of criticism over the years, but for me, this was THE band, and Wright's 'aural painting' never failed to delight me. Shit.

[Teasing the Korean]

First Syd Barrett died, now a member of his backing group has. Sad.

[ASNL77]

Very sad. I saw a Pink Floyd documentary recently where Rick Wright was saying that his keyboard work on Breathe ( from Dark Side Of The Moon ) was influenced by Kind of Blue by Miles. Can't recall which track - I think it was All Blues.

Yeah, I saw that. I think he even personally admitted it on the documentary.

Very sad news - and way too young. He added a strong jazz element to recordings such as 'Animals' on the Fender Rhodes.

My fav Pink Floyd album. This album is underrated IMH. very sad news. RIP.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

in the later years (eg. 1972-1977) rick is the member who would use the most improvisation on stage: rick was never one to "re-create" his famous synthesizer melodies like in "shine on", for example.