Redferns
Gary Wright, the musician best known for his hit singles “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive,” has died. He was 80. Wright’s son Dorian confirmed the news to Variety; No cause of death was announced.
He was a founding member of the British band Spooky Tooth and a sought-after session player from the late ’60s, playing on all of George Harrison’s solo albums – including his epochal 1970 debut “All Things Must Pass” and on Ringo Starr’s early singles (and much later with Starr’s All-Starr Band) as well as Nilsson, Tim Rose, BB King and many others. However, he will be best remembered for the aforementioned mid-1970s hits, which were part of a vaguely mystical, synthesizer-driven style of hit singles of the time – Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle” is another example – and who produced him performs in many music shows, wearing satin clothes and rocking a keytar.
A New Jersey native, Wright was a child actor who appeared on Broadway in a version of “Fanny.” He later decided to become a doctor and traveled to Berlin to study medicine, but continued to play in bands, including one called The New York Times. While that group was touring Europe with Traffic in 1967, Wright met Chris Blackwell, founder of Traffic’s label Island Records – the two also had a mutual friend, Traffic/Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller – who was impressed by the young boy’s talent The musician was impressed and convinced him to come to London. There Blackwell teamed him up with pianist Mike Harrison and drummer Mike Kellie and with Wright as vocalist and organist, Spooky Tooth was formed.
The band’s first two albums, It’s All About and 1969’s Spooky Two, both produced by Miller and on which Wright co-wrote every song, were not chart successes but caused a great stir among the musicians. Circles. The members were all recruited for session work and their songs were covered by many artists, with the Three Dog Night performing “I’ve Got Enough Heartache”, the Move regularly performing “Sunshine Help Me”, and Judas Priest performing “Better by You”. “Better than me.” However, the group’s third album, Ceremony, was a creative misstep and Wright left the band in 1970.
He signed with A&M Records and released a strong solo album, “Extraction,” in 1970, and two musicians on those albums – drummer Alan White and bassist Klaus Voorman – brought Wright into the Beatles’ orbit. While Harrison recorded “All Things Must Pass” with producer Phil Spector, he typically requested more musicians. Voorman suggested Wright, who happened to be playing another session on the other side of town. When Wright got the call, he canceled the session and rushed over to EMI’s famous Abbey Road Studios, where he began a friendship with Harrison that would last for the rest of their lives. He played on all of Harrison’s solo albums and several related projects, including Ringo Starr’s early singles “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Back Off Boogaloo”; Harrison even supported Wright during an appearance on American television’s “Dick Cavett Show” in 1971.
The following year he reformed Spooky Tooth and released two albums while continuing to work with Harrison, with whom he shared an interest in Eastern religions; The two traveled to India together in 1974.
After the reformed group split up again, Wright moved to New York, teamed up with power manager Dee Anthony (who managed Humble Pie and soon-to-be superstar Peter Frampton) and signed with Warner Bros. Records. His first album for the label, The Dream Weaver – with a title track inspired by his trip to India with Harrison – was released in 1975, and while the single was slow to build, it was a big hit the following spring Wright became one became a big star. However, it took him almost two years to follow up with The Light of Smiles, and his subsequent efforts did not come close to matching his previous success. His last charting single was “Really Wanna Know You” in 1981.
In subsequent years, Wright specialized in instrumental and soundtrack work – although he made a surprise appearance in the 1992 film “Wayne’s World” and sang a re-recorded version of “Dream Weaver” – but returned to and released more conventional rock music a series of albums, with the most recent, “Connected,” released in 2010. In 2004, he re-formed Spooky Tooth and toured frequently as a solo act and with Ringo’s All-Starr Band.
Over the years, his songs have been covered repeatedly – Chaka Khan recorded a searing version of “Love Is Alive” for her hit 1984 album “I Feel for You” – and sampled by artists from Jay-Z to Tone-Loc .
Additional reporting by Michaela Zee.