George Harrison aboard the QE2, Southampton, England, 8 September 1971; photo © PA Images.

According to Gary Wright’s autobiography, the journey from the U.S. back to England went as follows —

“I played on the single Bangladesh but didn’t play at the concert. The event was filmed, and after George had finished editing it, he invited me to return to England on the QE2, which was the newest and sleekest ocean liner at the time. We had to have special, odd eating times in the dining room because word had spread that he was onboard and people were starting to hassle him with photo and autograph requests. I remember very early one morning playing Ping-Pong with him in the recreation room just so we could avoid curious tourists. We weren’t following any rules, just whacking the ball as hard as we could at each other like little kids. We had that kind of friendship where we could joke around with one another. […] George had brought a mandolin and several guitars with him for the trip back to the U.K., and we would pass the time in his suite playing, writing songs, and reading spiritual books together. I still have several songs on cassette from that trip that I plan to finish writing one day.” - Gary Wright, Dream Weaver: Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison (x)

Christmas at 12 Grimmauld Place

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

(via Gary Wright, ‘Dream Weaver’ Singer, Dead at 80 – Rolling Stone)

SINGER-SONGWRITER AND SYNTH pioneer Gary Wright, who penned the massive hits “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive” and became George Harrison’s longtime friend and collaborator, died Monday morning. He was 80.

George Harrison ~ Hear Me Lord

Happy Birthday George!!

George Harrison & Gary Wright in Sweden

The Horse (Charles Burnett, 1973)

Spooky Tooth Co-founder, “Dream Weaver” Gary Wright Dies at 80

- Keyboardist and singer collaborated with George Harrison and Ringo Starr

Gary Wright, the Spooky Tooth co-founder who pioneered synth rock with 1975’s the Dream Weaver, has died.

Wright was 80 and had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Ambrosia, the band that backed Wright on his final gigs, called the musician “a big part of our hearts,” in announcing his death.

“Gary's iconic music added so much to our shows, and we always enjoyed having him with us,” the group said.

Wright was an original member of Spooky Tooth before going solo. Former Traffic (and later, Fleetwood Mac) guitarist Dave Mason said,” there’s a certain (and sure) brotherhood from those days, during that incredible era of rock ’n’ roll.”

“He leaves us all with great songs and was one of the good guys in this business,” Mason said of Wright. “I’ll miss this lifetime friend. Blessings, Dream Weaver.”

Wright collaborated with George Harrison throughout the 1970s, beginning with All Things Must Pass. His biggest solo success came with his 1975 album, the Dream Weaver, whose title track and “Love is Alive” became Wright’s best-known songs - numbers he would perform with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band in the following century.

“Gary's vibrant personality and exceptional talent made every moment together truly enjoyable,” Stephen Bishop said. “His legacy will live on for many years to come.”

Wright released his final solo album, Connected, in 2010.

“May Gary Wright rest in peace and love,” Todd Rundgren’s Spirit of Harmony Foundation said.

9/5/23

Promo ad for George Harrison. Dark Horse - 1974.

George Harrison Cloud Nine 1987 Dark Horse ————————————————— Tracks: 01. Cloud 9 02. That’s What It Takes 03. Fish on the Sand 04. Just for Today 05. This Is Love 06. When We Was Fab 07. Devil’s Radio 08. Someplace Else 09. Wreck of the Hesperus 10. Breath away from Heaven 11. Got My Mind Set on You —————————————————

Eric Clapton

Ray Cooper

George Harrison

Jim Horn

Elton John

Jim Keltner

Bobby Kok

Jeff Lynne

Ringo Starr

Gary Wright

* Long Live Rock Archive

Cult Faction Podcast Ep. 114: Grosse Pointe Blank

In this weeks episode George Armitage’s Grosse Pointe Blank goes under the spotlight. It stars John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Joan Cusack, and Dan Aykroyd. Your favourite three also chat about Ahsoka, Disney, Netflix, The Shoe People, Quantum Leap, Harlan Coben’s Shelter, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. One Piece and a whole lot…

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George at Kinfauns with his Aston Martin DB5 (photo by Henry Grossman); driving in 1965 (photo by Henry Grossman); with his Porsche in January 1979 (photo by Alan Giddins).

“We’d take a break [during Dark Horse recording sessions in 1974] to go for fish and chips, and there were two ways you could go. One was through this very winding road through the woods from Friar Park to the little fish place. And that’s the way we went. The first time, he took me in a Ferrari. Well, he really liked racing. I’m telling you, man, when we came back from getting our fish and chips, he drove through those winding roads as if he was on a racetrack. I mean really, really going for it. It was serious, and I’m holding on, thinking, ‘Wow, man, I sure hope we stay on the road because if we miss, we’re history.’ Well, we made it home in the Ferrari. The next time we went for fish and chips, he took a Porsche and he took the same route. The Porsche seemed to handle the road better, so he started speeding up. I just thought, ‘He’s such a fan of racing, I guess there’s this little racecar driver inside him.’ But then he really started going, and when we got into Friar Park we were really flying so fast that the car got away from him. There were these high hedges that lined the driveway to the garage, and we’re running through the hedges — and I just sat there acting as normal as I could, but I was praying, O Lord, please don’t let them read about us in the newspaper. Just get us back to the house. After he came out of the hedges, he shrugged and gave me a little laugh as though it never happened. I’m looking at George, and he just looks away like, Don’t say nothing. Well, we went into the house and neither of us ever said a word.” - Willie Weeks, Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison (2006)

“George offered to drive us [Gary and Chris Agajanian] to the airport [from Friar Park], which was quite a hair-raising experience — his version of driving in a Formula One car at the Grand Prix. I thought to myself, ‘We survived India with its tigers, cobras, and pythons, and now we’re ripping down the M4 motorway at a hundred and twenty miles an hour!’ Given the speed we were traveling, we were stopped by a policeman, and as George rolled the window down, the officer politely said, ‘Oh, Mr. Harrison, sorry, on your way then.’” - Gary Wright, Dream Weaver: Music, Meditation, And My Friendship With George Harrison (2014) (x)

RIP, Dream Weaver

Most sources are telling the life and death of Gary Wright (1943-2023) wrong, so I feel compelled to step in and attempt a better job of it. The headlines are reading like Wright was a one hit wonder. He was more than that. Technically, he was a TWO hit wonder, but he was more than THAT as well, because he was a backing musician on important records by ex-Beatles and Beatle associates, and more…

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Remembering Gary Wright 1943-2023

Musician Gary Wright has died at 80.

I actually learned about Wright's music through Wayne's World. In the first SNL sketch of Wayne's World, Wayne sings this song. Then in a later sketch they had this song play during the dream sequences, i.e. hockey with Wayne Gretzky and truth or dare with Madonna. Then it was featured on in the 1992 movie and on the soundtrack, during the parts when Wayne sees Cassandra or Garth sees his dream girl.

Through Wright's mutual friend Klaus Voormann, Wright became close friends with George Harrison and they collaborated quite a bit. Wright played keyboards and organ on Harrison's magnum opus All Things Must Pass (read my review of the 2021 anniversary edition here). Wright also performed on Harrison's albums Living in the Material World, Dark Horse, Extra Texture, Thirty Three & 1/3, George Harrison, and Cloud Nine. Wright also performed on some songs with Ringo Starr too. From 2008-2011, Wright was a part of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, including the show I saw in July 2010 at Radio City Music Hall, where the band performed "Dream Weaver" and "Love is Alive".

The link above is the obit from Rolling Stone with embedded video clips.

George Harrison’s Cloud Nine sessions photos featuring Ringo Starr, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Jim Keltner, Gary Wright and Jim Horn amongst others produced one of the best post Beatles solo albums.

George Harrison: Living In The Material World

Apple/Parlophone 0946 3 66899 13, 2006

Originally released: June 22, 1973