Great music has no expiration date.
Such is the case with Pink Floyd, a band that was founded over four decades ago, yet continues to capture the imaginations of tens of millions of listeners across the world.
Pink Floyd is arguably the greatest and most original rock and roll band of all time. However wonderful the Beatles made our childhood, they really were anything but revolutionary. The music can be characterized as nothing more than rank-and-file English 60s pop.
On Sept. 15, keyboardist and cofounder of Pink Floyd Richard Wright began to play the great gig in the sky at the age of 65 after a two-year battle with cancer.
Although his name is unrecognizable to most music lovers, including Pink Floyd fans, Richard Wright played a key role in the development of one of the most revolutionary bands of all time.
An auto-didactic pianist influenced by Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, Wright began to fuse jazz with psychedelia on the electric piano on Pink Floyd’s memorable 1967 debut, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.”
The 1970’s allowed Wright to shine his brilliance even more, especially on 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” Two of that album’s most emotionally involving tracks were written by Wright. “The Great Gig in the Sky,” a desolate, wordless meditation on death, features Wright’s gentle stroking of the piano accompanying Clare Torry’s vocal improvisation. It is the perfect marriage of the traditional jazz that provided the initial inspiration to Richard Wright. “Us and Them” perhaps most frequently evokes memories of Wright’s hypnotizing organ.
“Wish You Were Here” in 1975, however, allowed Wright to demonstrate his genius more than ever before. His progressive and psychedelic synthesizer innovation on “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” the 26-minute mammoth that closes and opens that album (it is divided into two parts) is the closest most music fans have ever been to space travel.
Pink Floyd’s front man and bassist Roger Waters grew increasingly autocratic and left Pink Floyd in 1985, largely due to a conflict with Wright, who wanted to play a more visible role in the band’s songwriting process. By this time, however, Wright was already an accomplished yet underrated solo artist, having composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 film “Zabriskie Point” and released 1978’s critically acclaimed “Wet Dream” (I swear I am not making this title up).
Richard Wright continued to collaborate with Pink Floyd’s guitarist David Gilmour, playing on his solo albums and being a memorable feature in many of his tours. Wright’s prominence during Gilmour’s last tour can be heard on the “Live in Gdansk” album that was released just last week.
Richard Wright’s unique combination of jazz, psychedelia and blues was an integral ingredient to Pink Floyd’s unforgettable sound.
Even though two band members have died, the remaining ones are in their mid-60s, and the band has not released an album in 14 years – a good one in 29 – its popularity fails to wane.
May Wright live on in our hearts and ears.