The Beatles song Richard Wright despised: “It was utterly puerile”
There aren’t too many rock musicians whose lives haven’t been impacted by The Beatles in some way. Throughout the 1960s, the band’s constantly innovating style would set the template for what the next few years would become, with every project being more daunting than the last and breaking down the barriers of what traditional rock and roll was supposed to be. Although Pink Floyd was born out of that same kind of psychedelia, Richard Wright wasn’t all that impressed by the Fab Four when he first heard them.
Then again, Pink Floyd had already carved themselves out as one of the most interesting bands in the London club scene. When most people were looking to make the loudest blues they could, Syd Barrett took a different approach in the early days of progressive rock, playing a mix of traditional rock and roll alongside space-tinged odes to absurdity.
Throughout the band’s debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, they were also working in the studio alongside The Beatles. Deep while making Sgt Peppers, the young hopefuls were quickly introduced to the band, albeit with John Lennon still tripping after accidentally taking LSD during one of the sessions.
Even though Wright could appreciate what the band was doing at the time, he had come from a completely different world compared to the average rock keyboardist. Rather than follow in the footsteps of artists like Little Richard, Wright’s biggest inspirations came from jazz, getting in tune with artists like Miles Davis when everyone else was working with artists like Chuck Berry.
Once Wright heard The Beatles’ first steps into stardom, though, he didn’t take kindly to their debut single ‘Please Please Me’. When talking about his first exposure to the group, Wright remembered, “When I was first in The Floyd, I wasn’t into pop music at all – I was listening to jazz, and when The Beatles released ‘Please Please Me,’ I didn’t like it at all. In fact, I thought it was utterly puerile”.
Coming from his background, though, it’s easy to see why Wright struggled to grasp what The Beatles had done. Compared to their later work, Lennon’s first major single still sounds like they were trying to find themselves, with the song being indebted to their idols like Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly.
Whereas The Beatles helped expand the minds of others in the late 1960s, Pink Floyd was channelling that same energy through their music. While most artists would focus on the long jams, Wright brought a music refinement to the Floyd sound, taking the listeners on a journey through songs like ‘Echoes’.
Wright would even get to share his different jazz chops in the band, stealing one of his favourite jazz chords for the middle section of ‘Breathe’ from Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd may have had all the ethos of a rock band, but Wright was looking to go beyond rock whenever he walked into the studio.
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