Gary Wright:

Weaving New Dreams With Ringo Tour, First Album In Two Decades

By John Voket

You can’t call Gary Wright a “one hit wonder.” Just ask Ringo Starr.

“Ringo won’t make you a part of his All-Starr Band unless you have at least two high charting hits,” Wright recently told The Newtown Bee. The trend-setting keyboardist, singer and songwriter sat down for a chat between a set of solo shows to test drive some brand new material, and a summer-long stint backing the former Beatle.

Wright’s solo tour pulled into the intimate confines of Norfolk’s Infinity Hall in late April, and he will be back in Connecticut as part of Ringo’s 2010 All-Starr Tour on June 27 at Mohegan Sun Arena. During his solo gig, which was actually accompanied by a group of crack backing players, the audience certainly got to hear those two most famous hits, “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive,” from his innovative 1976 debut.

But the crowd that rainy night in Norfolk also was among the first to hear what Wright has been up to lately. His set included a half-dozen samples from his first original studio project in 20 years, Connected.

The first single, “Satisfied,” coincidentally featuring Ringo on drums and Joe Walsh on guitar, will be available digitally beginning May 18. Future singles from Connected include “Get Your Hands Up” and “Gimme Some Time,” the latter of which tapped the talents of renowned studio guitarist and original Steely Dan axe man Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.

Each of those new songs were delivered with enthusiasm and precision during his Infinity set, and were all surprisingly well received by a core group of several hundred fans who turned out to welcome Wright back from a musical hiatus some said extended far too long.

For fans old and new, as a bonus to anyone who purchases the deluxe digital version of Connected at iTunes and TheDreamWeaver.com, Wright has unearthed several incredible nuggets from his archives. They include two songs linked to his long-time friend George Harrison.

One is a moving ballad called “To Discover Yourself,” co-written by Harrison in 1971 and recorded by Wright on the day of his friend’s passing on November 29, 2001.

The other song, recorded in 1989, is titled “Never Give Up” and features George Harrison on guitar. The iTunes deluxe version of Connected will also contain the haunting bonus, “The Way I Feel,” a song Gary contributed to the soundtrack for the 1986 German film Fire and Ice.

During his interview, Wright talked about how his career has come full circle thanks to the friendships he developed with Harrison and Starr. Wright said his first project with Harrison, playing keyboards on the seminal “All Things Must Pass,” project put him beside the Beatles former drummer as well, and they have shared a casual friendship ever since.

“We became friends around 1970 when George started making that album, and that was the first time I ever met Ringo” Wright said, adding that the call from Ringo offering Wright his first turn as an “All-Starr” came just after Harrison had died. “You know I always wanted to play with George live, but that never got to happen. So when Ringo called I was so surprised because I had this desire to play with George, and Ringo calls on me to play with him instead.”

Since his first tour with Ringo, the pair traded favors as Wright was also invited to play on Starr’s last album as well. And then the call came to join the 2010 summer tour.

“I co-wrote one of the songs on Ringo’s “Why Not” album and sang backing vocals on it,” Wright said. “During a break in the session I played him “Satisfied” which was going to be the first single on my new album, and I asked him if he wanted to play drums on it and he said sure.”

Wright said he was motivated to produce a new album around the time of his first Ringo tour. He completed and combined several songs that had been in process over the long period since his last original project, and said he found the inspiration to complete the balance of additional new songs during an extended vacation in Sardinia.

Wright willingly discussed some of the interesting aspects of his most famous and enduring hit, “Dream Weaver,” which climbed all the way to Number 2 on the Billboard charts. Wright said that the song was inspired by the Indian poet Paramahansa Yogananda, and despite the fact that it’s lush keyboard arrangement has been sampled and utilized dozens of times by other artists, and in various film and TV soundtracks, the original composition was plucked out on a six string acoustic guitar.

Having been most frequently utilized to underscore love at first sight moments including an infamous scene in Wayne’s World, the latest incarnation of “Dream Weaver” will play as Ken first meets Barbie in this summer’s anticipated blockbuster Toy Story 3.

Write also candidly discussed how for good or ill, as an artist, he has become synonymous with the song, often being billed in concert as “Gary Wright – The Dream Weaver.”

“I never instigated that,” Write said chuckling. “I think that’s something the business did to me. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that on the cover of the album my eyes are closed, and it was an all keyboard album, it created an imprint in that way. For that reason, ‘the dream weaver’ became a catch phrase.”

Tickets to see Wright with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band at Mohegan Sun Arena June 27 are still available at TicketMaster.com. Check out samples of Connected, and purchase the digital downloads including bonus material, at www.TheDreamWeaver.com.