From the BBC. It's so short, I'm going to quote it in full...





RIP, Rick Wright

wow man, that's really sad.


rip.



.

RIP

One of my keyboard heroes as a teen. Very underated for his organ work.

One of my favorite early Floyd tunes was one of Rick's. Check this out...

Pink Floyd - Paint Box

God, I love that song.

This one hurts...

Hope he's got that "Great Gig In The Sky".

RT - I agree, but this one was my fave. Maybe the first PF tune I transcribed by ear on the piano because it sounded so cool in its simplicity.

Remember A Day

Very sad. He was seriously overshadowed by Barrett's insanity, Water's lyrics and ego, and Gilmour's guitar god status, but the fact is that he was a GREAT keyboard player. A few years ago, I rebought a big chunk of the PF catalogue (which I used to own in high school, but had since pawned in the interests of pursuing more "mature" interests) and I was very impressed with Wright when I heard their stuff again. He and Mason were the anchors of that band.


RIP

Also liked his work on the underrated "More" soundtrack.

Check this short duet with Nick Mason

Up the Khyber

Last year I bought the early pre-Meddle albums that I didn't own on CD to refresh my memory. This sucks...

I don't know about you, but I don't think I really noticed either Wright or Mason when I was a kid. I think getting into jazz really opened my ears to their contribution...

Couldn't agree more. Got Piper, Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here lined up for the rest of the day.

A lasting memory will always be the Live 8 concert and a close-up they got of Rick Wright playing the piano during "Wish You Were Here." Sent chills down my spine.

RIP, and thanks for the wonderful music.

Wow!

RIP, Richard.

really sad.

R.I.P.

It was pretty obvious to me in the '70s that his keyboard sound was essential to their pre-Animals sound. (I haven't heard Animals in a long while).

Here's Rick and David Gilmour, live in 2006...

Arnold Layne (with Richard Wright on lead vocals)

RIP Rick Wright. This is very sad

Bummer. He was very understated but perfect for the band. Kind of like my other 70s keyboard hero, Tony Banks.

One of the key sounds of my teenage years. Never flash but incredibly atmospheric. Very sad.

Best exemplified for me (early PF) by the live version of Astronomy Domine where he takes his solo after the guitar. His organ lines follows the chorus effect with a fading and rising that creates that other-worldly atmosphere.

Also - I was listening to "Young Lust" yesterday and his organ padding is subtle but key to that song, not just Gilmour's solo. Something I missed before.

I was on a Messiaen binge last month and I came across something...can't remember what...that took me straight to the organ sound of the live album of 'Umma Gumma'.

I always loved the swirling space age pastoralism of 'Cirrus Minor' - an English country meadow transported to Jupiter.

I might be wrong, but I get the impression that you had to work harder to generate strange effects on an organ compared with a later synth.

Oh well ... sad news. I thought his attempt at a piano concerto in his part of Umma Gumma was a bit bombastic, but his organ playing was fine. Liked him more than any other rock organist. May he play his organ eternally up there!

There's an interview with Gilmour in a recent Mojo magazine where he comments on how bemused he was at having to do those solo sets. Maybe it was the same with Wright. 10 minutes to fill - out come all the bits and bobs from his training. There's certainly some very 'Romantic' piano...all a bit Rachmaninov (or maybe Addinsell).

Very sad. I saw a Pink Floyd documentary recently where Rick Wright was saying that his keyboard work on Breathe ( from Dark Side Of The Moon ) was influenced by Kind of Blue by Miles. Can't recall which track - I think it was All Blues.

I'm stunned. I saw PF in '86 on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour and Wright along with Nick Mason stole the show. I can't believe he's dead! RIP!

Damn, sad news. RIP Richard.

Yes, totally agree. I loved the sound textures he was able to coax from his keyboards. He really added a lot to the band. I didn't realize that he had been demoted to session musician status during the tour for The Wall. Man, that's cold.


But tensions grew between Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album "The Final Cut."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/1...t.ap/index.html

If I remember correctly, he's not listed as an actual band member on The Final Cut either, he's listed below Waters, Gilmour & Mason as a session musician.

Rick did not play on The Final Cut at all. However, he did play on A Momentary Lapse of Reason as a session musician.

As far as Rick - a real pity. It was nice to see one of the major obituaries acknowledge him as the dominant musical sound on the group's early recordings. Later on, he was overshadowed by the larger personalities in the band - but the group made its based recordings while he was contributing as a composer.

Guy

I AM COMPELETLY BESIDE MYSELF, I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO BELIEVE WHAT I AM READING. I HEARD ABOUT IT 3 MIN. AGO ON YAHOO MUSIC NEWS. I AM ABSOUTELY SICK. I SPENT 2 YEARS PERFECTING THIS MANS KEYBOARD PARTS IN A PROFESSIONAL PINK FLOYD TRIBUTE BAND AND HAD A GREAT TIME RE-CREATING THE MUSIC THIS MAN BROUGHT TO US.

Yeah, I saw that. I think he even personally admitted it on the documentary.

Very sad news - and way too young. He added a strong jazz element to recordings such as 'Animals' on the Fender Rhodes.

GOD BLESS YOU RICK- YOU WILL LIVE ON FOREVER

Oh, that makes sense - sure sounds like this type of thing.

I don't know what to say on this one. I know Floyd took a lot of criticism over the years, but for me, this was THE band, and Wright's 'aural painting' never failed to delight me. Shit.

First Syd Barrett died, now a member of his backing group has. Sad.

My fav Pink Floyd album. This album is underrated IMH. very sad news. RIP.

in the later years (eg. 1972-1977) rick is the member who would use the most improvisation on stage: rick was never one to "re-create" his famous synthesizer melodies like in "shine on", for example.