Shine on Rick Wright!

[maugorn]

Richard Wright just passed away

If you don't know who he was, you should.
You've certainly heard his music.
Wright was the keyboardist for Pink Floyd, and was the major driving musical force of the band. As much as Dave Gilmour's soaring guitar defined the "forefront" of their sound, Wright's composition skills and skilled keyboard playing; lush, complex, and sonically innovative, fleshed out and defined the rest of Pink Floyd's soundscapes.
Technically, you'd need a gun like Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson to trump his skills.
But SOUNDWISE, that was another story. Every new Pink Floyd album since their first has sent ripples out thru Rock and Roll. Some guys could maybe play better than he did, but oddly enough, they all seemed to take a page from Rick Wright when it came to the newest and coolest SOUNDS you could get from a keyboard. Whether it was a cheesy Farfisa yanked from a skating rink, a mighty Hammond B3, a synthesiser from Moog or ARP, or the most advanced digital tech from Kurzweil, once Wright added a keyboard to HIS arsenal and broke it in, sure enough, that's when everyone else strove to make theirs sound as cool as his.
He never failed to raise the bar, and for that we are better and I am grateful.

Shine on Sir. There is no doubt in my mind that You will be one more diamond in our sky and that your seat is reserved in 1st Class for your trip to Rock and Roll Heaven.
You will be missed.

Comments

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

And he was still out there playing. He was on the David Gilmour DVD Remember That Night from a couple of years ago. I also liked that Gilmour welcomed him back to Pink Floyd after getting tossed after The Wall.

He was probably one of the most underrated members of Floyd.

[luscious-purple.livejournal.com]

Cancer is such a cruel disease....