Richard Wright R.I.P.

With Pink Floyd being one of my favorite bands of all time, I just HAD to write something about the passing of Richard Wright, one of my favorite keyboardists of all time, and a great inspiration. Although he wasn’t a virtuoso speed demon with the keys, like a Herbie Hancock, he created moods and sounds that always blew my mind.

"Sysyphus I – IV" from Ummugumma was an amazing odyssey of instrumentals that I used to listen to intently with my headphones. And although he didn’t write that many songs or sing often, he had some gems, especially "Summer of ’68" and "The Great Gig In The Sky". And the work on "Wish You Were" here tickles my brain.

I saw Pink Floyd perform once, in ’94 or ’95, for the Division Bell tour, at Veteran’s Stadium. Even though I wasn’t a big "post-Waters" Floyd fan, it was one of the best concerts of my life. Of course, I couldn’t really see the members of the Floyd at that show at all.

Like most Floyd fans, I spent hours watching the film Pink Floyd: Live At Pompeii, especially throughout college. This movie is just amazing to watch, and provides some really intimate footage of the band before they blew up and certain egos were inflated. Below is a clip from the film, starting off with the bearded Richard Wright singing the beginning of "Echoes" with David Gilmour.