| If I was a betting man, I'd place a hefty wager on the | | | | Gilmour's voice and ace guitar playing and Nick |
| fact that when any of he pop stars that rule and | | | | Mason's percussion to weave pure magic on tape. |
| charts today kick the bucket, there would be little | | | | Some of his most memorable moments came on |
| brouhaha other than perhaps a smallish obituary in the | | | | tracks like the protoindustrial Welcome to the Machine, |
| showbiz pages. | | | | from 1975's landmark record Wish You Were Here, |
| Luckily I'm not, but as harsh as it may sound, today's | | | | with its disturbing drones that painted a bleak, Orwellian |
| pop stars are a largely forgettable lot, and few will be | | | | picture. The textures structure of Shine of you Crazy |
| remembered 50 years from today. However, when I | | | | Diamond - all parts - was again anchored by Wright's |
| heard of Richard 'Rick' Wright's recent death, it | | | | Keys, and his solos remain memorable. |
| seemed as if an era of popular music was coming to | | | | But perhaps his defining moments came earlier, on |
| an end. | | | | 1973's Dark Side of the Moon. Wright shared lead |
| Wright, a musician most renowned for his association | | | | vocals on the epic Time with Gilmour, while he |
| with progressive rock giants Pink Floyd, was a quiet | | | | co-wrote another classic from the legendary album, Us |
| individual quite different from his rock star | | | | and Them, remembered for its resonant saxophone |
| contemporaries. That seemed true both in his on and | | | | solo as well as a beautiful piano solo by Wright. |
| offstage persons. | | | | He was eased out of Pink Floyd during recording |
| Though Floyd was dominated by front-men Roger | | | | sessions for the band's iconic album. The Wall in 1979, |
| Waters and David Gilmour and their rock star-sized | | | | mainly due to differences with Roger, Waters and |
| egos, Rick Wright's role in shaping Pink Floyd cannot | | | | was humiliatingly reduced to the status of a sessions |
| be understated. He was a founder member of the | | | | musician during the album's subsequent tour. This is the |
| band and was part of the original line-up, featuring the | | | | cruel, cruel reality of rock star politics. |
| eccentric and perhaps overrated genius of the late | | | | Wright re-entered the Floydian fold in the late eighties |
| Syd Barrett. | | | | after Waters spilt with the band and Gilmour, Mason |
| Wright's Principal instruments remained by keyboards | | | | and co. started playing under the Pink Floyd moniker. |
| and synthesizers, while he also occasionally contributed | | | | He also released two solo efforts - 1978's Wet Dream |
| vocals as well as to the band's song-writing. And for | | | | and 1996's Broken China. |
| those with even a surface knowledge of the Pink | | | | Richard Wright left this world on September 15, 2008, |
| Floyd sound, it is crystal clear that Wright's synth lines | | | | aged 65 at his home in the United Kingdom. He will be |
| were a distinctive feature of songs that will go down in | | | | remembered by Floyd fans and aficionados of popular |
| history as milestones of popular music. | | | | music as a man who contributed to one of the seminal |
| Rick Wright's playing was clean and methodical, though | | | | bands of modern popular music - a rock royalty which |
| not mechanical, and detached of the flamboyance, of | | | | includes such names as Black Sabbath, Rush, the |
| his contemporary musician, synth player Rick | | | | Clash and various others. Rick Wright helped make |
| Wakeman - a prodigiously talented man - of Yes. It set | | | | Pink Floyd, a band with few parallels in modern music. |
| the stage for Waters' legendary lyrics as well as | | | | Thanks for the music and shine on you crazy diamond. |