At first I thought this thread was about the fictional hotel magnate in Sex and the City. It would be kind of odd for a fictional character to die long after the show’s run is over.
I’m sad, two of them are gone now.
My understanding of that story is that the main reason Wright was fired was because he was high on coke all the time. I can’t remember where I heard that, though, so it may have been just a rumor.
In any case, this is very sad news. Floyd is my all time favorite band, and Wright was an under-appreciated musician. RIP.
True, but we did have the chance to see their reunion for Live 8…that was a gift for Floyd fans around the planet. Some of us were sure it would never happen. Thanks to Bob Geldof, we’ll always have Hyde Park.
There’s an urban legend that DSOTM is always playing somewhere on earth. I’d like to believe that tonight.
Sail On, Rick.
One legend holds that Roger Waters had ALWAYS hated Wright, and for a long time, tolerated Wright solely because he was virtually tone-deaf, and needed Richard to tune his instruments for him.
I remember a review of Animals that commented on how his “jazzy noodlings” didn’t sit well with the rest of the bands “psyche rock”. Boy did that guy miss the point. The Wall doesn’t sound like Floyd to me precisely because it doesn’t have anything like the intro to Sheep or any “jazzy noodling” like Great Gig in the Sky.
In playing style he was sort of the anti Oscar Peterson, Rick’s signature lick would be a G minor chord held for three minutes. Or just:
:: ping ::
:: ping ::
:: ping ::
I have also heard that.
The clincher for his dismissal came when Waters agreed a deal with Sony/CBS for extra percentage points for the band if Floyd could deliver The Wall complete and ready for a late 1979 release. In order to meet this deadline Wright would have to curtail his summer holiday to lay down the keyboard parts. Wright refused so Waters had him fired.
Marley’s recollection that Rick was the only one of the four to make any cash from the live shows is confirmed by Nick Mason in Inside Out - A Personal History of Pink Floyd.
A great book on Pink Floyd is Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd. It was written after their reunion gig and covers their history in a quite entertaining way. From memory, Rick Wright was fired during the Wall because Roger had never particularly liked him anyway, Rick wanted producing credits but wasn’t doing any real producing, and Roger felt he wasn’t contributing enough to the music.
There’s no doubt that Rick Wright is responsible in a big way for the Pink Floyd sound. A Momentary Lapse of Reason sounds like a Gilmour solo album, more similar to About Face than anything Pink Floyd had done (although that’s also due to the circumstances surrounding the creation of the album,) on the other hand, The Division Bell has a much more floydian sound to it, and IMO it’s in some part due to the presence of Rick Wright.
Although the “karma” aspect of the story is largely disproven if the real problem was that Wright was drugged up. Oh well. It’s trivia anyway.
Not sure about it. I am a Pink Floyd geek, and reading various articles and books on the band, I am under the impression that Gilmour and Waters both ended up disliking Richard Wright very much.
The immediate reason was Wright’s drug abuse, but that was caused by depression; Richard was a decent songwriter, and great at instrumental parts and arrangements, but as the years wore on his style and Gilmour’s and Waters’ drifted apart, so that they were both critical of each and every contribution he brought forward, with Waters being especially mean.
For this reason Wright reacted in a passive-aggressive style (not really mature, but there you go, and I cannot say I blame him), basically refusing to contribute to composition, saying that he knew that whatever he wrote was going to be rejected anyway.
Gilmour and Waters are quite selfish prats, yes, as talented as they are. I think they even sacked Nick Mason for some time. And with no more targets to take aim at, is it any surprise they ended up fighting?
At band practice last night we did two Floyd songs. “Mother” is part of our regular set anyway, but we also knocked out a spontaneous version of “Interstellar Overdrive” in memory of Rick.
Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Wright are dead.
It has only just dawned on me that I actually own a copy of Wet Dream on vinyl.
Guess I know what I’ll be listening to tonight.
Yeah - we played Wish You Were Here to kick off the open mic night at the pub.
RIP Rick
Si
Gilmour did say that at the time The Wall was being recorded, he was nearly as frustrated with Wright as Waters was. But I think Gilmour and Wright did share a musical bond (the only such bond in Pink Floyd, really), and Gilmour certainly wouldn’t have invited Wright to join his Meltdown shows – to say nothing of his On An Island tour – if he didn’t hold him in high personal and musical regard. (There’s a lengthy tribute from Dave on his web site today.)
Rick obviously went through some very rough times, but he came out of them with a lot of insight, and his latter-day interviews are very thoughtful and interesting. I hope his last days were peaceful.
We can now officially, finally lay Pink Floyd to rest.
Not too surprised, myself. Being a fan of the music and not the personalities, I have noticed none of them played up the solo personality cult much, not even Gilmour with gun slinger axe wielding rep outside the band oeuvre. Wright likely being the lowest keyed of all.
Don’t be angry; the mourners are many.
That’s a very nice and personal tribute.
I read somewhere that the lyric, “…I’ve got at silver spoon on a chain, I’ve got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains…” was a dig at Wright.
None of my friends or co-workers would understand why I’m so out of it this week. I suspect that a few Dopers might. Rick’s music has been a HUGE part of my life. I’m sad that I’ll never have the chance to see him perform again. At least Gilmour’s Live in Gdansk DVD is due out soon. Rick got ovations on that last tour, and deservedly so.
Here’s a scan from an old 35mm slide: Rick at the Cow Palace, 1975
I heard the news on the radio while waiting to hear school closings. I’ve honestly never been so upset at the passing of someone I’ll never meet. Dave is my favorite, always has been and always will be. But I’ve always felt a sort of sadness toward Rick; he seemed invisible to so many in spite of his amazing abilities. I watched him perform with Dave for On an Island, and ended up screaming at the television. The “house” keyboardist got all kinds of screen time, and Rick was only seen a few times, most of those in the background of shots of Dave or Crosby & Nash.
Gah, I’m bawling again. Gotta go put on my Pulse DVD and reminisce. 