Remembering Richard Wright Of Pink Floyd
A tribute to the often-underrated musician
Musician Richard “Rick” Wright (July 28, 1943-September 15, 2008) is best known for his work as a keyboardist and songwriter with Pink Floyd, of which he was a founding member.
When Rick died, it seemed that most of the tributes to him focused primarily on his writing of the music for the songs “The Great Gig In The Sky” and “Us And Them,” both from the band’s most famous album, “The Dark Side Of The Moon.” Also frequently mentioned was his work on the extended instrumental sections of the fantastic “Wish You Were Here” album.
While I certainly agree with the accolades he justly received for those works, Richard Wright often doesn’t get the credit he deserves for some of his lesser-known songs with the band.
While I love the songs sung by Pink Floyd’s two primary lead vocalists, David Gilmour and Roger Waters, I’ve always been especially fond of the far more infrequent songs which featured Rick Wright on lead vocals or co-lead vocals.
Most of them took place before the “Dark Side Of The Moon” album in 1973. Rick famously sang part of the lead vocals on the famous song “Time” from that album. However, despite the success of that song, his next lead vocal for the band wouldn’t happen for another 21 years.
