I was greatly saddened by the news that Rick Wright or rather Richard Wright passed away last Monday on September the 15th 2008. I heard the news on a pop radio station that didn't even play Pink Floyd's music. The announcer was so ignorant that they didn't know whether the guitar player or the keyboard player died. I quickly did a search on Google and I found out that it was Rick Wright the keyboard player. I was quite shocked by the news but I couldn't exactly tell the people around me because they had no interest in Pink Floyd whatsoever. But now I take my time as I write this article to reflect on some my thoughts about Rick Wright as a keyboard player for Pink Floyd and what his body of work represents to me.
As most people may generally agree Rick Wright was not exactly the most flashy player out there. From what I have read he is self-taught and is very interested in jazz music particularly Miles Davis. He was a unique keyboard player in his day because of their progressive rock keyboardists were very technical and flashy such as Rick Wakeman from Yes or Tony Banks from Genesis. Rick however took a different approach and it suited the music of Pink Floyd perfectly. In a world of progressive rock Pink Floyd has kind of been hard to categorize. Compared with other bands of the era they were far more blues-based. I guess you could say in this way they are similar to bands like Led Zeppelin. But personally I far prefer the music Pink Floyd created to be in your face type of music Led Zeppelin created although without a doubt they're both great bands.
Getting back to Rick Wright's particular style, he used a number of different types of keyboards. Primarily the sounds he used most was piano an organ. Like almost everybody from the era he used the Hammond organ and I believe he also used some cheaper electronic organ brands as well. Later on in Pink Floyd's career he also experimented with synthesizers. Like almost every other band from the mid to late 70s he used a Minimoog synthesizer. As you can particularly tell on the tracks from the album animals.
He was also an incredible songwriter in my opinion. One of my favorite Pink Floyd albums for example was Atom Heart Mother. I understand that the band themselves don't particularly like this piece of work and are not very proud of it but I think it has some very interesting and creative work on it. One song that stands out particularly for me is a track called Summer of 68. And this song was written by Rick Wright. When I hear the Pink Floyd members in interviews they often say how they are a bit ashamed of their early efforts at songwriting after Syd Barrett left the band. In my opinion I like almost everything they did. I love this simple approach and minimalistic clang. I think Pink Floyd is of the philosophy it's not so much what you play, but what you don't play is just as important. Truly Rick shared some of these philosophies.
As many agree Pink Floyd has a type of maturity that is hard to find within popular music. I still find it amazing how popular their music has been over the years. It is truly incredible that there are so many people out there who have the patience to discover the virtues of their soundscapes.
I dedicate this article to Rick Wright who of course has influenced my own playing and I was deeply affected by his passing. He will surely be remembered by his legions of fans and his contribution to perhaps the greatest band of the 1970s Pink Floyd. Rest in peace Rick Wright.
