Back
in 1969, singer-songwriter and keyboard great Gary Wright was
a member of British rockers Spooky Tooth and that summer of 69
the band released one of the best albums of that magical year, the
ever-popular Spooky Two. The album was produced by Stones /
Traffic studio wizard Jimmy Miller but despite the enormous inroads
made by the album, the band followed up in 1970 with an avant gard
album with French composer Pierre Henry. That movecoupled
with Wright's departure after the Henry albumjust
about closed the door on their big promises and commercial breakthrough
of the Spooky Two era. Just around the time of his first solo
album from 1971, Extraction, Gary Wright also became a major
player in the music world, joining forces with Beatles guitarist George
Harrison on a number of key projects,
starting with Harrison's 1970
breakthrough solo album All Things Music Pass. Although his
biggest solo hit, Dreamweaver came out nearly 35 years
ago, Wright has continued on making solo albums, some under the radar
of the 21st century music world, including several instrumental and
World Beat / New Age flavored albums no doubt shaped by his interest
in Far Eastern philosophies as well as a comeback and subsequent DVD/CD
called Nomad Poets in 2007 with the original members of Spooky
Tooth. During the summer of 2010, Wright was also part of Ringo Starrs
All Starr band and the band celebrated Ringos 70th birthday
with a show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. Long time Wright fans
will get a kick out of Garys 2010 comeback album, fittingly
entitled Connected. Featuring ten new Wright originals, Connected
features Wrights vocals and inimitable keyboard sounds and
effects with added guitar spots from fretboard aces Joe Walsh
and Jeff Skunk Baxter topped off by Ringo Starr
taking the drum spotlight on the albums lead off track Satisfied.
Born the same year as his late great friend George Harrison, Wright
has really been around the musical world for quite a long time and
its quite gratifying to hear him having such a great time, once
again well Connected to his many fans all over the world. www.TheDreamweaver.com
MWE3.COM PRESENTS
AN INTERVIEW WITH GARY WRIGHT
{The following interview with Gary Wright took place on October
19, 2010}
GW:
...were having a horrendous rainstorm...
MWE3: Oh...in L.A.
GW: Yeah...the weathers so screwed up all over the world right
now it sucks. It hasnt rained like this in October in years...
MWE3: Thats crazy...Its beautiful here in New York City
today...Too bad youre not in New York (laughter) today.
GW: Its crazy here. Well have like five days of like ninety
plus degrees weather and then well have like fog and rain. Its
crazy. But anyway, thats the way the planet is every now and
then.
MWE3: Well youve been out in L.A. for the longest time now.
Cause I knew you grew up in New Jersey right?
GW: Yes.
MWE3: Youre a Los Angelino now.
GW: I am. (laughter)
MWE3: How did you hook up with Peter Holmstedt of Hemifrån in
Sweden. Hes doing great things in Sweden and its thank
to him I got to hear your new album.
GW: Oh, it was through him? Was that the connection. I didnt
realize that, okay. Peter was recommended to me by my distributor
whos ADA, theyre Warner Brothers. The distribution company.
MWE3:
Yeah, Peters working with some great new singer songwriter from
Sweden called Citizen K. I dont know if youve heard that
one or not.
GW: No, I havent.
MWE3: Is there a story behind the new Connected album? Its
been a long time since I heard a new album from you. I guess you had
enough of major labels so you decided to do it yourself?
GW: Yeah, thats true. I did and it was like the major label
thing was so flavor of the month oriented. And they wanted ownership
of everything and I just decided I didnt want to do that anymore
so I just went my own route. Ive always been doing music. Ive
been writing. This was first kind of pop album that Ive
done since I did this album Who I Am in 1987. I did release
two other albums since then but they were more World Music oriented,
First Signs Of Life and Human Love. First Signs Of Life
was 1995 and Human Love was in 99 and 2000, that
time frame. And then since 2000 I was releasing singles and EPs, and
stuff like that but never a full album till this one.
MWE3: You did an instrumental album too right?
GW: That was actually something Id had in the vaults, so to
speak, that Id never released and that I actually recorded back
in the 80s. But I never released it and I decided it was time
to come out so I put it out. Youre talking about Waiting
To Catch The Light.
MWE3: So the Connected album was new material or stuff
youve had in the can for a while?
GW: Mainly
recently written songs with the exception of Satisfied.
That was written about ten or twelve years ago.
MWE3: Just to change to subject for a second, you joined with Ringo
over the summer. That must have been a great experience.
GW: This is my second tour with him. I did 2008 and then I did it
again this summer. Its always a joy to work with him. Hes
a fantastic musician and a wonderful human being. It was great. A
great experience.
MWE3: I know Ringo played on Satisfied too. So he played
on that a while ago? You said you wrote that like ten years ago.
GW: No, I wrote it a while back but Id recorded it over the
past year.
MWE3: You have some great guitar players on Connected. How
did you decide to work Jeff Skunk Baxter and Joe Walsh?
GW: Well, Skunk and I had worked together on one of my albums, Heading
Home back in the 70s so I had known him. Wed seen
each other a couple of times over the years. Ive always admired
him. Hes a fantastic player. And Joe Walsh, Id met...we
had toured once together when I was, way back, in Spooky Tooth. We
had played with The James Gang. But I met him at his wedding. He married
Ringos sister in law. Barbara Bachs sister. I met up with
him then and became hooked up. He played on two of my tracks.
MWE3: Speaking
of Spooky Tooth, I dont know how I missed it, but I worked with
20th century guitar magazine for twelve years and they closed down
last year. We were big supporters of Spooky Tooth and we had them
on the cover on March 1999 when they first reformed without you. So
this latest reunion with you must have been a blast.
GW: Yeah, it was fun. It was a fun thing. We did two concerts in Germany
and we filmed them. It was released as a DVD/CD. It was good. It was
fun playing that music again.
MWE3: Spooky Two was one of my favorite albums from the summer
of 69.
GW: Oh yeah, that was a good album.
MWE3: I wonder if that will ever come out as a double or deluxe remaster.
I dont think its been reissued since it first came out
on CD.
GW: Thats out of my hands. Thats owned by Island Records.
They control all those kind of things. The only thing I control is
the DVD/CD of Nomad Poets.
MWE3: Thats on your label?
GW: Yes it is. On Larkio Music.
MWE3: When did you start Larkio?
GW: That was started in like 2000...about ten years ago.
MWE3: Because I saw your web site. TheDreamweaver.com web site. Its
really beautiful.
GW: Oh, thank you.
MWE3: I really enjoyed your tributes to George Harrison.
GW: He was a wonderful human being. A wonderful friend.
MWE3:
The first George Harrison album you played on was his first one All
Things Must Pass right?
GW: Thats correct.
MWE3: How many albums of Georges did you play on? I remember
seeing you on the inside of the Living In The Material World album.
GW: I played on all of his albums, I think, with the exception of
Gone Troppo.
MWE3: You and George shared an affinity for the Indian philosophies.
What do you derive from that, if you dont mind me asking. I
know youre involved with a Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda right?
GW: Self Realization Fellowship is the name of the organization that
he left behind. Paramahansa Yogananda was a Yogi. He was a Yogi master.
They call it God Realized Master. Like a saint. What it is, its
really using a scientific technique, when you meditate, to contact
God. The consciousness of God in the universe. And so, as opposed
to like a normal religion, which is, you go to church and you be a
good human being and you pray, yoga is a far more intense path to
God. Its a direct path cause you use scientific techniques
to meditate and you get yourself into very deep states of consciousness
and youre actually able to feel that presence, which you really
cant do in normal life. You know people sit in church and they
squirm around and their thoughts are going a million miles an hour,
like most people do, and they never have that experience. So thats
what attracted me to it. It gives you balance in your life. It gives
you peace of mind. It gives you a sense of security. Fearlessness...so
many great things. The problem is, everybody wants the quick fix and
it doesnt happen overnight like that. Its a thing that
slowly happens. Thats whats different about it.
MWE3: The Connected track Cant Find No Mercy,
I could swear there was a guitar on that.
GW: No, theres no guitar on that. No. Thats clavinet.
Its all synth stuff.
MWE3:
I really love that track Life Is A Battlefield.
GW: Oh thank you, thats one of my favorites too.
MWE3: You wrote that with Joe Beck. I knew the guitarist Joe Beck.
GW: Jeff Beck or Joe Beck. No, this a different guy. This is a guy
I met in Nashville and he and I wrote that together.
MWE3: I guess you call the album Connected because you want
people to make a connection to your music again.
GW: Theres that song on the album thats called Connected
and I thought that would be a good title for the album too because
I feel that everybody, the universe, is connected in some way or another
through our thoughts and our consciousness. Like plants are connected
with the roots, the soil...and theres an underlying field of
energy. Its all creation and were all connected. When
youre connected to the higher part of the universe, with a consciousness
I should say, in a positive way, the planet I feel moves forward.
When its in negative thought and hatred and prejudices and wars
it goes backwards. So I think its important to know that were
all connected to our thoughts and our actions and when ever we think
things or do things, its important to think twice about realizing
the karmic results of action.
MWE3: Is there any comparison you can make between the music of the
late 60s with today? How do you compare the classic era with
this new era?
GW: Its a different time, its a different culture. Back
then, it was kind of like we had just come out of like...the 50s
and the 60s were kind of like...It was more kind of controlled.
It wasnt as free. And then of a sudden when the 60s came
along and people started smoking pot, and everything was free. Free
love and peace and that whole thing. The Vietnam War. The time was
right for that kind of a thing. Right now, culturally, its a
lot different with whats going on in the world. The economic
things that are going on, with terrorism. People are much more guarded
now I think, so its a different time frame. Musically, its
also different because, whereas in the 60s you had record companies
run by creative entrepreneurs, now its like all major corporations
owned by accountants and bean counters making creative decisions.
And so theres not the flexibility, theres not the artist
development that there was back then. So its a different. Itll
take time before it changes to a kind of creative kind of environment
like it was back then.
MWE3:
Also, did you play at the Concert For George, the tribute to George
Harrison?
GW: No I couldnt. I had some family obligations that I was committed
to and I couldnt do it.
MWE3: I know its been a long time since hes left this
planet. Your Indian influences and Georges influences in that
whole realm...do you believe in things like the spirit world? Do you
ever think about where these spirits end up?
GW: Well, we were both into Eastern philosophy and both definitely
accept the doctrine of reincarnation as those reincarnating as they
perfect themselves. And so George and I both felt the same way. We
both believed in the law of karma. And, the planet is going up now.
Its in an upward swing. So its not like its spiraling
down, out of control, people predicting the end of the world and all
that. Itll just take time and itll take positive energy
and itll take people putting out positive thoughts. We just
have to have faith and hope and all work together and itll change,
definitely will.
MWE3: Its been a challenging time for me, so thats just
one philosophy people are always talking about...you know, communicating
with other worlds or people that have gone away so I was wondering
if theres any hope to ever meet.
GW: When
souls leave their bodies, and they go to the astral world, its
called...its like heaven. Its a temporary place where
they stay a length of time thats determined by their karma,
and then they come back and they pick up another body and start all
over again... Not all over again, they start from where they left
off in their previous lifetime. Its hard to contact... I should
say its literally impossible to contact souls that are there
because God keeps that very secretive. The only souls there that you
can attune yourself with are souls that are totally free, like Jesus
Christ or Buddha, Krishna...somebody like that. Souls that are totally
liberated. Their consciousness is everywhere and its not restricted
to any particular place. So in answer to your question, you can contact
those spirits and you can always send love to your relatives because
they feel that where they are.
MWE3: So do you have plans for the future?
GW: Let me tell you a couple of things that are going on... As you
know I just finished the Ringo tour. Theres a DVD thats
coming...the 2008 DVD tour is now available to buy on CD and DVD.
I put on my web site an OM pendant, which looks like a little kind
of a locket you wear around your neck as like a necklace. You pull
it open and a little USB drive comes out and you plug it in your computer
and it has my whole album, it has interviews with me and has video
footage with me and George Harrison and bonus tracks, two of which
I did with George. A bunch of stuff. A bunch of things that you wouldnt
get when you just buy the album itself. I also just came back from
having done a TV special with David Foster at the Mandalay Bay in
Las Vegas, just this past weekend, with Earth, Wind & Fire, Natalie
Cole, Michael Bolton, Kenny Loggins, Chaka Khan...a bunch of other
artists. Thatll be aired in March as a special on PBS and a
DVD and a CD is coming out of that. And I plan also on, in the new
year, doing a tour of both the USA and Europe. And then eventually
Im going to write a book. And thats about it. (laughter)
MWE3: Whos in your band for the tour?
GW: Shem Von Shreck on bass, Sergio Gonzalez on drums, Leon Bisquerra
on keyboards and Doug Jackson on guitar.
MWE3: I gotta tell you that pendant with the USB drive is really ingenious.
What a great idea.
GW: Oh yeah, its really cool. You can carry around all that
information in one little thing.
MWE3: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. I know you were
busy today, maybe its a bad day for you...
GW: Oh no, no, no,... This is just a real freaky day when the weather
all of a sudden comes and plays a number on you. (laughter)
Thanks to Gary Wright @ www.TheDreamweaver.com
and to Peter Holmstedt of Hemifrån @ www.Hemifran.com