The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

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Felix Atagong
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Felix Atagong »

Kerry King wrote:Credit is in the hands of the ones who are in a position to take credit.
In Pop Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones, that consists mainly of inside jokes and gossip around a flimsy story, it is rumoured how Madonna always takes 'writing credits' when someone offers her a song. It is either giving her 50% of the pie or not having your song on the album. Simple.
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Bigmanpigman »

With regard to this particular topic I would quote Robbie Williams. Look that one up. ie you have a guy who is a big time celebrity and can say to anyone "I'm getting a writing credit out of that, or it's history". Sadly I think Ozzy may have been guilty of this (mainly because of his manager/wife) post Black Sabbath.
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by brell »

Flathead wrote:When the sun is up, do you argue that it's night?
Oh, yes, here in Iceland we might do that in the summertime 8)
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Chaim »

Are we sure that Roger played bass on Young Lust? I assumed it's David since he wrote the verse music and there's this guitar lick in the second verse the bass doubles. Although David could have punched that in I suppose. I don't mean that Roger wasn't able to play the lick, but I could easily see it as a "you wrote it so you might as well play it" kind situation since Roger wasn't the kind of guy who would go "I'm the bass player!"
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Hudini »

'Young Lust' bass line is not too different in technique to the one heard in 'Have A Cigar', so I could assume it was Roger. Although he's definitely not a virtuoso, he was also competent enough to play the particular lick in question and has in fact played it live since. However, Fitch and Mahon do state that it was Gilmour on bass on the studio recording.

Ever since DSOTM, Waters' and Gilmour's roles in studio have not been strictly defined. While Rick and Nick mostly stuck to their respective instruments, both Waters and Gilmour handled vocal duties, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, synthesizers and sequencers, sometimes in pretty much unexpected ways.
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Chaim »

Hudini wrote:'Young Lust' bass line is not too different in technique to the one heard in 'Have A Cigar', so I could assume it was Roger. Although he's definitely not a virtuoso, he was also competent enough to play the particular lick in question and has in fact played it live since. However, Fitch and Mahon do state that it was Gilmour on bass on the studio recording.

Ever since DSOTM, Waters' and Gilmour's roles in studio have not been strictly defined. While Rick and Nick mostly stuck to their respective instruments, both Waters and Gilmour handled vocal duties, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, synthesizers and sequencers, sometimes in pretty much unexpected ways.
The following is from duffOnTheRun's post:

On Fitch and Mahon's book, it said that Roger played bass on most the songs, except those below played by Gilmour:

Mother
Goodbye Blue Sky
Don't Leave Me Now
Hey You
Nobody Home
Vera
The Show Must Go On
Waiting for the Worms
The Trial


Young Lust isn't on that list. Could someone who has the book (duffOnTheRun, Hudini or someone else) check that list and correct the possible mistakes/omissions?
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Hudini »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Lus ... #Personnel This reference states that page 84 says so. I have no clue where my copy of the book is right now. :D
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Chaim »

I checked all the songs on Wikipedia. Seems that David as much bass (if not more) as Roger did. Not that it was a surprise. :)
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Hadrian »

A bit of a spin-off question here, but does anyone know the exact date when Rick left Pink Floyd (or was more accurately pushed out/forced to resign as a band member)? It was definitely before 7 February 1980, when The Wall Tour started (but was it 1979)?
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by brell »

It was 1979. I do not have the exact date but according to Mason, Waters phoned Steve O'Rourke, the manager (while the latter was sailing to the USA) and told him that if Wright had not left the band when he, Waters, arrived in LA (where the record was mixed), then he would pull the plug and abandon the whole project. He could do that because it was almost entirely his work.
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Hadrian »

It seems that Rick's departure happened in August 1979. Here is what I found online (I am not a fan of Wikis, but it seems well referenced):

"The album was recorded in several locations. In France, Super Bear Studios was used between January and July 1979, with Waters recording his vocals at the nearby Studio Miraval. Michael Kamen supervised the orchestral arrangements at CBS Studios in New York, in September. Over the next two months the band used Cherokee Studios and The Village Recorder in Los Angeles. A plan to work with the Beach Boys at the Sundance Productions studio in Los Angeles was cancelled. For a week in November they worked at the Producers Workshop, also in Los Angeles.
...
More problems became apparent when Waters's relationship with Wright broke down. The band were rarely in the studio together. Ezrin and Guthrie spliced Mason's previously recorded drum tracks together, and Guthrie also worked with Waters and Gilmour during the day, returning at night to record Wright's contributions. Wright, worried about the effect that the introduction of Ezrin would have on the band's internal relationships, was keen to have a producer's credit on the album (their albums up to that point had always stated "Produced by Pink Floyd"). Waters agreed to a trial period with Wright producing, after which he was to be given a producer's credit, but after a few weeks he and Ezrin expressed dissatisfaction with the keyboardist's methods. A confrontation with Ezrin led to Wright working only at nights. Gilmour also expressed his annoyance, complaining that Wright's lack of input was "driving us all mad", and Ezrin later reflected: "it sometimes felt that Roger was setting him up to fail. Rick gets performance anxiety. You have to leave him alone to freeform, to create ..." Wright had his own problems, a failing marriage and the onset of depression, exacerbated by his non-residency. The band's holidays were booked for August, after which they were to reconvene at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, but Columbia offered the band a better deal in exchange for a Christmas release of the album. Waters therefore increased the band's workload accordingly, booking time at the nearby Studio Miraval. He also suggested recording in Los Angeles ten days earlier than agreed, and hiring another keyboardist to work alongside Wright, whose keyboard parts had not yet been recorded. Wright, however, refused to cut short his family holiday in Rhodes.

Accounts of Wright's subsequent departure from the band differ. In his autobiography, Inside Out, Mason says that Waters called O'Rourke, who was travelling to the US on the QE2, and told him to have Wright out of the band by the time Waters arrived in LA to mix the album. In another version recorded by a later historian of the band, Waters called O'Rourke and asked him to tell Wright about the new recording arrangements, to which Wright allegedly responded: "Tell Roger to fuck off ...". Wright disagreed with this recollection, stating that the band had agreed to record only through the spring and early summer, and that he had no idea they were so far behind schedule. Mason later wrote that Waters was "stunned and furious", and felt that Wright was not doing enough to help complete the album. Gilmour was on holiday in Dublin when he learnt of Waters's ultimatum, and tried to calm the situation. He later spoke with Wright and gave him his support, but reminded him about his minimal contribution to the album. Waters, however, insisted that Wright leave, or he would refuse to release The Wall. Several days later, worried about their financial situation, and the failing interpersonal relationships within the band, Wright quit."
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Hadrian »

p.s.
I also found this one online, Pink Floyd's studio schedule for The Wall from September to November 1979. It is unclear if Rick participated in any of it.
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Hudini »

For what we know, Rick went sailing in Greece and failed to return to studio at scheduled time, and then refused to return when Roger asked him to. People usually go sailing in Greece between July and September, so my best guess is that the breakup between Roger and Rick occurred either in late August or early September.

According to the studio schedule Hadrian posted some synths and organs were recorded between 6th and 8th of September 1979, so those sessions are most probably the ones Rick refused to return to. We can't know for sure, but those were probably done without him, maybe even rescheduled from an earlier date. It is also uncertain whether any recordings were made during August at all.

After those sessions very little piano and keyboard tracks were recorded during September and October, so it is safe to assume Rick participated in recording most of the songs on the album.
Last edited by Hudini on Fri Feb 05, 2016 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by Hadrian »

I agree. This would imply that Rick's last Pink Floyd engagement as a band member occurred in a studio recording session sometime in July 1979.
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Re: The truth about Rick Wright's contribution on The Wall

Post by central122 »

The list at the beginning of the post is partially incorrect.

In the Flesh? OK

Rick: Prophet 5
Roger: VCS3
Fred Mandel: organ


The Thin Ice OK

Rick: piano and organ
David: Prophet 5


Another Brick in the Wall pt. 1 ok

Rick: Prophet 5, Minimoog and Rhodes


The Happiest Days of Our Lives OK

Rick: clavinet and organ

Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2 OK

Rick: organ and Prophet


Mother* OK

Bob Ezrin: Prophet, organ and piano


Goodbye Blue Sky OK

Rick: Prophet 5
David: Prophet 5
Roger: VCS3


Empty Spaces OK

Rick: piano
David: ARP Solina, Prophet, Clavinet
James Guthrie: ARP Solina
Roger: VCS3


Young Lust OK

Rick: organ and Wurlitzer electric piano (with Wah-Wah)


One Of My Turns INCORRECT, THE INVERSE IS TRUE, RICK PLAYED THE PROPHET 5 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SONG AND THE ORGAN, WHILE EZRIN PLAYED PIANO

Rick: piano
Bob Ezrin: Prophet 5 and organ


Don't Leave Me Now OK

Rick: organ, organ pedals, piano, Prophet
Roger: VCS3


Another Brick in the Wall pt. 3 INCORRECT, GILMOUR DIDN'T PLAY THE PROPHET

Rick: Prophet 5
David: Prophet (low part)


Goodbye Cruel World INCORRECT, RICK ALSO PLAYED ORGAN AND PIANO

Rick: Prophet 5


Hey You OK

Rick: Rhodes electric piano, organ and Prophet


Is There Anybody Out There? OK

Rick: Prophet 5
Bob Ezrin: synth and string synth


Nobody Home OK

Rick: Prophet 5
Bob Ezrin: piano
Roger: VCS3


Vera OK

Rick: Prophe 5t


Bring the Boys back home* OK

no keyboard


Comfortably Numb OK

Rick: organ
David: Prophet 5 (low notes on outro solo)


The Show Must Go On OK

Rick: Prophet 5
Bob Ezrin: Prophet 5 and piano


In the Flesh* OK

Fred Mandel: organ
David and James Guthrie: ARP Quadra (sequencer)
Bob Ezrin: Prophet 5
Roger: VCS3


Run Like Hell INCORRECT, RICK ALSO PLAYED HAMMOND ORGAN

Rick: Prophet 5


Waiting For the Worms OK

Rick: organ
Bob Ezrin: piano
David: Prophet 5
Roger: VCS3


Stop* INCORRECT, RICK PLAYED THE PIANO

Bob Ezrin: piano


The Trial* INCORRECT, AGAIN RICK PLAYED THE PIANO

Bob Ezrin: piano


Outside the wall* OK

no keyboard


Given this information, we can conclude that Rick played the vast majority of the keyboard parts.