RIP Rick Wright
Cats: Uncategorized|Last week ex-Pink Floyd guitarist and vocalist David Gilmore put the boots to my dream of ever seeing the band live in concert when he announced that there would be no re-union tour.
And yesterday, Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright sealed the deal.
He was 65.
Wright was a founding member of one of GT’s all time fave bands, Pink Floyd.
There are bands … and then there are BANDS.
And for me Pink Floyd represents everything about my teen years. I came to most of their “early stuff” late, through the record collection of a friend’s older brother.
But once I heard Dark Side of the Moon, I never looked back.And to this day I can still listen to that album as though for the first time. There something so dreamy and dark about it. (The album was named for the manned Apollo mission that circled the moon back in 68ish. For a few scary hours the world sat waiting find out if the dark side of the moon’s gravity would be enough to hold the space ship so it could whip around and return to earth.)
I’ve seen the Aussie Faux Floyd band live and that was pretty good. But it wasn’t the real thing.
Rick Wright was the real thing, and Syd Barrett too. He died in 2006, many years after leaving the band due to mental illness.
I guess seeing the original band life is one box I’ll never get to tick.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Too bad.
September 16th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
One of my faves too. My chances to tick the box vanished when i moved to rural British Columbia.
I’m going to listen to “Animals” and “Dark Side of the Moon” tonight.
September 16th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Megan, yup
Dick, Animals is another one of my faves. I listened to Animals and Meddle on my first solo trip to the UK in a yellow Walkman. I think they were taped by Mike and given to me before I even knew tony.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
They did make a lot of cool, spooky-sounding music didn’t they? I’ll have to dig some out of the vault and listen to it again this week.
September 21st, 2008 at 11:08 am
I always wanted to see them live but never managed it. Sad to hear about Rick for sure. I have their Pulse dvd which has the band playing Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety and a bunch of other classics. Very enjoyable. I realize now though that the best seats in the house would definitely not be front row for a Floyd show.
September 21st, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I blame Roger Waters, as always.
The amazing thing is Rick’s influence on not just rock, but every kind of music that had a keyboard and that wasn’t classical.
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
Bubs, I hope it was a blast from the past
Dale, why not have front row seats at a floyd concert – too loud or too freaky
Cormac, yes Waters has a lot to answer for. And yes, that keyboard took them beyond the realms of rock n roll.