2023-09-10 00:15:03
Gary Wright, Who Had a ’70s Hit With ‘Dream Weaver,’ Dies at 80
Gary Wright, the spiritually minded singer-songwriter who helped modernize the sound of pop music with his pioneering use of synthesizers while crafting infectious and seemingly inescapable hits of the 1970s, notably “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive,” died on Monday at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. He was 80.
The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, his son Justin said.
Sinéad O'Connor: Irish Singer of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' Passes Away at 56 - UpdatedThe New Jersey-bred Mr. Wright rose to prominence in the late 1960s after relocating to London and helping to form the bluesy British progressive rock band Spooky Tooth.
He soon befriended George Harrison, with whom he would collaborate frequently over the years, including playing keyboards on his post-Beatles magnum opus, the triple album “All Things Must Pass,” released in 1970.
Deepening Spirituality and Musical Inspiration
Their long friendship would have a lasting impact on both Mr. Wright’s life and his music. Mr. Harrison introduced him to Eastern mysticism, giving him a copy of “Autobiography of a Yogi,” by Paramahansa Yogananda, who helped popularize yoga and meditation in the United States, and Mr. Harrison traveled with him to India.
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“That was his life path after that,” Justin Wright said in a phone interview. “Deep down inside of him, he was searching for something, and this was the answer for him.”
His spiritual awakening helped spawn “Dream Weaver”, a track from his 1975 album, “The Dream Weaver,” which hit No. 7 on the Billboard album chart and rocketed Mr. Wright to fame. The song was inspired by the yogi’s poem “God, God, God,” which includes the line “My mind weaves dreams.”
“Dream Weaver,” swept along by a wave of lush electronica that bordered on the interstellar, soared to No. 2 on the Billboard single chart in March 1976. The song became a soft-rock touchstone, appearing in such movies as “Wayne’s World” (1992) and “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996), as well as on a 2010 episode (titled “Dream On”) of the musical comedy-drama TV series “Glee.”
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It was not the only smash hit from that album. That July, “Love Is Alive,” like “Dream Weaver,” rose to No. 2, conjuring the languid sexuality of the water bed era. Mr. Wright performed at stadium shows on the same bill as heavyweights like Peter Frampton and Yes, standing out among the guitar gods with his strap-on keyboard known as a keytar.
While his biggest hits became emblematic sounds of the 1970s, Mr. Wright had taken an unconventional musical approach on the album “The Dream Weaver.” He relied almost entirely on keyboard instruments, including a Minimoog synthesizer, as opposed to guitars, foreshadowing the synth-pop boom of the early ’80s.
A Life in Music
Spooky Tooth temporarily disbanded in 1970, and soon after that Mr. Wright released two solo albums. One of them, “Footprint,” featured Mr. Harrison on guitar on the track “Two Faced Man,” which the two performed with Mr. Wright’s band Wonderwheel on “The Dick Cavett Show” in 1971.
Painkiller: A Hard-Hitting Drama Unveiling the Opioid EpidemicIn addition to his son Justin, Mr. Wright is survived by his wife, Rose (Anthony) Wright; another son, Dorian; a sister, Lorna Lee; and two grandchildren. His marriages to Christina Uppstrom, the mother of his sons, and Dori Accordino ended in divorce.
Along with his work with Mr. Harrison, Mr. Wright was a session keyboardist for musicians like Harry Nilsson, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis, and he continued to record solo albums.
In the Musoscribe interview, he discussed his 2010 release, “Connected,” and the album’s hook-laden opening track, “Satisfied,” in terms that could have applied to “Dream Weaver.”
Laughing It Up in San Fran: Larry Dean's Hilarious Stand-up Comedy Game Show!“The word ‘hook’ means drawing people into something,” he said. “When I write songs, I always try to make them that way — catchy — so that people will remember them. They’ll be more embedded in people’s consciousness.”
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