Gary Wright

At 81 years old, Gary Wright physical status not available right now. We will update Gary Wright's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Career

Wright has referred to his early musical influences as "early R&B," namely, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Bobby Bland, as well as rock 'n' rock artists Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and the Beatles. The New York Times announced that Wright decided not to become a doctor while touring extensively with a band he had formed while in Europe in 1967. According to Wright, the latter supported the English group Traffic in Oslo, Norway, where he met Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. In Jimmy Miller, the New York-born designer of Island acts such as the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic, Wright recalls that he and Blackwell had a mutual acquaintance.

Wright was invited by Blackwell to London, where he performed with English singer and pianist Mike Harrison and drummer Mike Kellie in their band Art (formerly the VIPs). Spooky Tooth followed Wright as joint lead vocalist and Hammond organist, who joined the band soon. While referring to the band's lack of commercial success during its time as a performer, The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll calls Spooky Tooth "a bastion of Britain's hard-rock scene."

It's All About, Spooky Tooth's first album, which was released on Island in June 1968. It was produced by Miller and featured "Sunshine Help Me" and six songs co-written by him with either Miller, Harrison, or Luther Grosvenor, the band's guitarist. Spooky Two, often thought of as the band's best work, was followed by Miller in March 1969, with the band returning to perform. Wright wrote or co-produced seven of the album's eight songs, including "That Was Just Yesterday" and "Better By You, Better Than Me." Spooky Two were a hit in the United States, but It's All About It was unable to appear on the UK's top 40 albums chart.

Ceremony, a Wright-instigated collaboration with French electronic music pioneer Pierre Henry, was the third of Spooky Tooth's releases in December 1969. After the band's recordings were turned to Henry and Wright for what The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia calls "processed musique concrète overdubs," the band's songwriters were credited to him.

Though Wright had a tradition of experimental influence within Spooky Tooth, he regretted the change of musical direction, saying in a 1973 interview, "We should have really taken off after Spooky Two," says Wright, but we were put into a strange situation of allowing Pierre Henry to make the Ceremony album. Then he brought it back to France and remixed it." With bass player Greg Ridley having left the band in 1969 to join Humble Pie, Wright departed in January 1970 to pursue a solo career.

Wright, who has signed to A&M Records, released Extraction (1970) in London with artists including Kellie, guitarist Hugh McCracken, bassist Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. Andy Johns, who had been the recording engineer on Spooky Two and Ceremony, coproduced the album. The album featured "Get on the Right Road," which was released as a single, and "The Wrong Time," co-written by Wright and McCracken.

Wright was invited to perform piano on former Beatle George Harrison's 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass via Voormann. Wright, a keyboardist, debuted on the album's front page, and former Delaney & Bonnie organist Bobby Whitlock referred to it as "a rock orchestra of symphonic proportions, whose credits read like a Who's Who's Who of the music scene," was one of the album's top keyboard players. Wright and Harrison developed a long-term friendship based on music and their shared interest in Indian religion during the sessions. In a 2009 interview with vintagerock.com, Wright described Harrison as "my spiritual mentor," and that Wright's "unique" location among musicians with whom Harrison collaborated at this time, indicating that Wright was neither an established celebrity nor a mentor from the years before Harrison rose to fame as a Beatle nor a "studio pro."

Wright appeared on all of Harrison's subsequent solo albums, as well as other Apple Records products. These included two hit singles by Harrison's former bandmate, "It Don't Come Easy" and "Back Off Boogaloo," as well as an ex-Ronette Ronnie Spector's 1971 comeback single "Try Some, Buy Some."

Wright formed Wonderwheel in April 1971, with guitarist Jerry Donahue in the front row; Mick Jones (bass) and Bryson Graham (drums) playing. On Wright's second album, Footprint (1971), Donahue was one of many musicians on the album, as well as George Harrison and All Things Must Pass contributors such as Voormann, White, Jim Gordon, Bobby Keys, and John Barham. "Stand for Our Rights," a call for social justice influenced in part by the Vietnam War, "Two Faced Man," and "Love to Survive" were among the album's features. Wright produced the album. On The Dick Cavett Show in New York in November 1971, Wright and Wonderwheel performed "Two Faced Man," with Harrison accompanying on slide guitar. Wright has expressed admiration for Harrison's help during this period of his career, quoting the ex-Beatle's uncredited production on Footprint and his arrangement of the Dick Cavett Show appearance. Despite this exposure, Extraction, the album did not chart.

Wright performed piano on Harry Nilsson's 1972 hit "Without You" and accompanied B.B. among other recordings from this period. On B.B., King, Starr, Gordon, Voormann, and others are among the numerous characters. King in London (1971), which included Wright's composition "Wet Hayshark." He appeared in London sessions with Jerry Lee Lewis (1973), who was also on display in The Session (1973). Howl the Good also produced an eponymous album by the folk rock band Howl the Good, which was also released on the Rare Earth label.

Wright went to Devon with Wonderwheel in 1972 to work on songs for a new album titled Ring of Changes. The band recorded the songs at Olympic and Apple Studios in London, with Tom Duffey replacing Legs on bass. A&M's decision to discontinue "I Know" as an advance single is the result of the album's release. Wright produced the soundtrack for Willy Bogner, Benjamin (1972), for which German label Ariola Records released "Goodbye Sunday" as a single that year. Ariola released the complete soundtrack album, which was recorded with Jones, Legs, and Graham in 1974.

Wright decided to disband Wonderwheel and re-form Spooky Tooth in September 1972. He attended sessions for Harrison's Life in the Material World (1973), an album that Wright describes as a "beautiful masterpiece" and his favorite Harrison album shortly before doing so. Wright talked to Chris Salewicz of Let It Rock in early 1973, he explained his decision to leave solo: "I believe my biggest talent is getting the music together and arranging it." I'm not a showman, so I wouldn't be a Cat Stevens out front supporting musicians, which is what I was supposed to be with Wonderwheel." Wright, however, claims it was his dissatisfaction with A&M's rejection of Ring of Changes that led him to him to alert Blackwell about the re-formed Spooky Tooth.

Wright and Mike Harrison, the original members, were relaunched Spooky Tooth with Jones and Graham from Wonderwheel, as well as Chris Stewart, formerly the bassist with English singer Terry Reid. When visiting Wright's studio on island's Notting Hill studio, he remarked about the band's role; "it is obvious who is the face of this brand, Spooky Tooth's leader and, in some cases, even the original's; Salewicz wrote about Wright's involvement; a touch of Dudley Moore."

Wright coauthored six of the eight songs on their latest album, You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw (1973). Spooky Tooth toured extensively to promote the album after being promoted since 1970, a tribute to music journalist Steven Rosen, the Move, and other 1960s bands after their break-up. "There's a lot of consistency to these songs," Rolling Stone writer Jon Tiven said, "and "Wildfire" is ample evidence that Gary could have written for the Temptations if he really wanted to."

Witness, the band's sequel to Witness, was released in November 1973, long before Graham had left, with Mike Kellie returning to drums. Stewart and Harrison were already gone by February 1974. In January 2010, Wright joined George Harrison to India, where they travelled to Varanasi (Benares), India's spiritual capital, and home to Harrison's friend Ravi Shankar. When Wright's lyrics returned to his solo career, the trip would influence his poetic quality.

He and Harrison co-produced The Place I Love (1974), the debut album by English duo Splinter's debut album. Wright served as "a sounding board and a musical amanuensis" on the project, which was the first album to be released on Harrison's Dark Horse record label, in addition to playing keyboards. Wright reunited with Spooky Tooth (1974), with Mike Patto as their new vocalist. Following further staff changes, Goodear Records in the United Kingdom launched The Mirror in October 1974, a month after Wright disbanded the company.

Wright returned to New Jersey and began compiling songs for his third solo album after Spooky Tooth's breakup. He decided to sign with Warner Bros. Records under new manager Dee Anthony's direction, mainly because there were no keyboard virtuosos in the company's other acts. Wright claims that it was while outouting his songs with all his stage gear – Hammond organ, Hohner Clavinet, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Minimoog, and ARP String Ensemble – that he decided to record the album "all on keyboards," without guitars. He acknowledges that musicians like Stevie Wonder had also released keyboard-dominated music, but "[Wonder] used brass and other things as well." David Foster and Bobby Lyle on Wright's debut album, The Dream Weaver (1975), apart from a guitar part on Ronnie Montrose's track "Power of Love," he performed a variety of keyboards, led solely by drummers Jim Keltner and Andy Newmark's "Power of Love." "One of the first [rock albums] created solely by synthesizer technology," AllMusic's Jason Ankeny terms The Dream Weaver.

The album was released in July 1975 and had limited success in America until the release of its second single, "Dream Weaver," in November. After Wright's return to India with Harrison, the album, which Wright had written on acoustic guitar, debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Cash Box singles chart. "Dream Weaver," Wright's first hit, has sold over 1 million copies in the United States and was given a gold disc by the RIAA in March 1976. The album debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200 and was named platinum. "Love Is Alive," the album's lead single, debuted on the Hot 100, and "Made to Love You" debuted at number 79. Despite the fact that neither The Dream Weaver nor its singles charted in the United Kingdom, the album was a major success in West Germany, where Spooky Tooth had been "the number one band" since 1969, Wright says.

Wright toured extensively with a band made up of three keyboard players and a drummer after the album's release. Lorna, his elder sister and also a professional, joined the tour band as his backing vocalist. Wright, who was subpoenaed by synthesizer manufacturers Moog and Oberheim, became one of the first musicians to perform with a portable keyboard in the style of Edgar Winter. As Keith Emerson and... Rick Wakeman, respectively, praise Wright for the introduction of synthesizers as a mainstream product, as well as the use of the keyboard–guitar hybrid known as the keytar.

Wright shared the bill with Yes and Peter Frampton at the US Bicentennial concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, to a packed audience of 120,000. Wright returned to Frampton on a European tour, by which time a fourth keyboard player had been added to the band. A&M introduced That Was Just Yesterday (1976), a compilation of songs from Wright's albums for the brand and picks by Spooky Tooth, which debuted at number 172 in America, amid this success.

Wright began recording his sequel to The Dream Weaver in summer 1976, before which Melody Maker's Chris Charlesworth announced that it would be "a logical extension" of its predecessor and "again based entirely on what he can do with various brands of keyboards." The album was titled "I Am the Sky" on the back cover, which Wright gave the late Indian guru and Kriya Yoga instructor Paramahansa Yogananda a songwriting credit. On the inner sleeve to Wright's new album, the latter's poem "The Light of Smiles," taken from his book Metaphysical Meditations, appeared on the inside. Wright had acknowledged the guru as his inspiration for The Dream Weaver, and he later said of Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi: "It's a wonderful book and you won't want to put it down when you first read it." Even from a spiritual viewpoint, it's also a masterpiece as a work of literature."

The Light of Smiles, a Wright and Foster collection of keyboards, as well as Art Wood and Keltner's drumming contributions. "Phantom Writer," Warner Bros.'s first album, neither the album nor the lead single, "Phantom Writer," matched Wright's earlier releases for the brand. The Light of Smiles soared to number 23, while "Phantom Writer" reached its highest position on the US Billboard charts, whereas "Phantom Writer" reached number 43.

Wright continued to record albums for Warner Bros. until 1981, but there was only modest commercial success. Touch and Gone charted at number 117 in America in late 1977, with its title track reaching its peak peak at number 73. Headin' Home, which AllMusic's Joe Viglione characterized as "an album reportedly fueled by a significant love affair in crisis," debuted at number 147 in 1979. Wright performed on "If You Believe," a song he co-wrote with Harrison in England on New Year's Day 1978, which appeared on Harrison's eponymous 1979 album.

In 1981, Wright's last chart hit in America, when his album The Right Place, co-produced with Dean Parks, climbed to number 79. Wright co-wrote with Scottish singer Ali Thomson, "Really Want You," debuted at number 16 this year. "Heartbeat," the album's second single from the album, debuted at number 107 on Billboard's Bubbling Under listings.

Wright's subsequent releases concentrated on film soundtracks and forays into world music. Alan Rudolph's 1982 thriller Endangered Species was released on the German charts, with Willy Bogner's Fire and Ice (1986), which debuted at number one on the German charts. Wright also contributed the song "Hold on to Your Vision" to the soundtrack of Cobra, a 1986 action film starring Sylvester Stallone.

Chaka Khan's album "Love Is Alive" (renamed "My Love Is Alive) was one of many notable cover versions of Wright's songs during the 1980s, earning her RIAA-certified million-seller status. After two Nevadan teenagers initiated a suicide campaign five years ago, a cover of his Spooky Tooth composition "Better By You, Better Than Me" by English heavy metal band Judas Priest was at the forefront of a 1990 court struggle regarding subliminal messages in song lyrics. Samples of Wright's "Dream Weaver," "Love Is Alive," "Can't Find the Judge," and "Can't Find the Judge" were included in songs by popular rap and hip-hop artists Tone Lc, Dream Warriors, 3rd Bass, and Ma from 1989 to late 1990s.

Wright re-recorded "Dream Weaver" for the 1992 comedy Wayne's World, the soundtrack album for which topped the US charts. Since appearing in the films The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and Toy Story 3 (2010), the song has appeared. He sang "We Can Fly" for another Bogner film, Ski to the Max, which was released in IMAX cinemas in October 2000.

Wright published Who I Am on A&M-distributed Cypress Records in 1988. Harrison, White, and Keltner, a group of South Indian percussionists, and Indian classical violinists L. Subramaniam and L. Shankar were among the album's contributors. For the previous year, Wright had contributed to Harrison's album Cloud Nine (1987), co-wrote "What It Takes" with Harrison and Jeff Lynne, and performed keyboards on songs such as "When We Were Fab." In the 1988 horror film Spellbinder, one of the tracks from Who I Am, "Blind Alley" was used.

First Signs of Life (1995), released in Rio de Janeiro and at his own High Wave Studios in Los Angeles, was Wright's next solo album on the Triloka/Worldly record label. The album incorporated Brazilian rhythms with elements of African vocal history, resulting in what AllMusic's reviewer calls "an infectious worldbeat hybrid," where "the musicians' performances radiate sincerity and joy." Signs of Life featured celebrity guest appearances from drummer Terry Bozzio, Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Silveira, and Harrison. "Don't Try to Own Me," co-written with Duane Hitchings, was later included on Rhino Records' Best of Gary Wright: The Dream Weaver, a 1998 compilation that spans his solo career from 1970 to 1999, and featuring extensive liner notes by Wright.

Human Love (1999) featured new versions of "Wildfire" and "The Wrong Time" as well as "If You Believe in Heaven," a song written with Graham Gouldman that appeared on Best of Gary Wright for the first time. Marlon Klein, a German world-music producer, co-produced the album and was released on the High Wave Music label. Lakshmi Shankar, Lynne, and German composer Roman Bunka were among the participants in the sessions, which were held at High Wave and Exil Musik in Bielefeld.

Wright returned to a more active musical career after dedicating a large portion of his time during the 1990s to his family, beginning with Spooky Tooth's 2004 reunion. Wright, Mike Harrison, and Kellie from the band's original lineup appear on their album and DVD Nomad Poets Live in Germany (2007). Wright's legacy has continued to inspire rap and dance tracks in the 21st century; samples of "Heartbeat" appear in Jay-Z and Diam's songs, while Topmodelz covered the film in 2007. Dilated Peoples, Atmosphere, Infamous Mobb, T.I. are among the artists who have used samples from Wright's 1975-1981 recordings. Armand Van Helden, the last of whom had a piece of "Comin' Apart" (from The Right Place), made his 2004 club's hit "My My My My My" (from The Right Place). In addition, Eminem used "interpolations" from Spooky Tooth's "Self Seeking Man" in his album "Spend Some Time" (which was released on Encore in 2004).

Wright joined Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band for a North American tour in 2008, with Edgar Winter also in the line. Wright's appearance of "Dream Weaver" on the All-Starr Band's album and DVD Live at the Greek Theatre in 2008 (2010) includes Wright's portrayal of "Dream Weaver." Wright later described the trip as "a lot of fun" and "a major boost" for his future.

In late 2008, Wright's solo album Waiting to Catch the Light followed, as did the new-age film Waiting to Catch the Light. A collection of instrument pieces from "several years," before, he describes it as "an atmospheric, ambient music kind of an album," which was recorded on "vintage analog synthesizers." The EP The Light of a Million Suns was released on Larkio, Wright's own record label, as well as a new version of "Love Is Alive" performed by his son Dorian.

In May 2009, Wright returned to Spooky Tooth to perform a series of London concerts to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary of creation before appearing in further shows with the band in Germany. Connected, by the following year, he released the album Connected, which marked a return to his more pop- and rock-oriented sound of the 1970s. On the track "Satisfied," Wright co-wrote with songwriter Bobby Hart, star Joe Walsh and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter appeared as guests. The Deluxe Digital Version of Connected featured "Never Give Up," he and Harrison recorded in 1989, while the iTunes version included "To Discover Yourself," a song that the two musicians co-written together in 1971. On the day of Harrison's death in November 2001, Wright recorded the latter song. He also contributed to Martin Scorsese's 2011 film George Harrison: Living in the Material World and provided personal reminisces and family photographs for Olivia Harrison's book of the same name.

Wright performed with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band in 2010 and 2011. Following a summer 2011 tour of Europe with Starr, Felix Cavaliere, Mark Farner, Dave Mason, and Rick Derringer, Wright performed with his own band in Europe until returning to Europe late that year.

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