The musician Richard Wright called his “all-time hero”
It’s easy to forget sometimes that all of our heroes have heroes of their own. FKA Twigs has often cited Björk as an influence, who herself is never shy to talk about how much she has been inspired by Kate Bush, who has called David Bowie her musical hero, who looked up to Bob Dylan, who started out by learning everything he could from Woody Guthrie, who in turn had looked up to Lead Belly. It’s the way of the world. Even someone as groundbreaking as Jimi Hendrix, who has since inspired countless players to pick up a Stratocaster over the years, was himself inspired by the playing of greats like Cornell Dupree, Muddy Waters, and Curtis Mayfield. And for each of the members of Pink Floyd, it is no different.
It’s hard to imagine who could have influenced a band as singular as Pink Floyd, so distinct is their sound. But over the years, each member has shared insights into their musical heroes, first loves, and inspirations.
As the lead songwriter of the group, it’s no wonder that Roger Waters has spoken in hushed tones about artists like Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and John Prine over the years. In fact, it’s just about the only thing he has spoken about in hushed tones. Elsewhere, guitarist David Gilmour has cited the influence of the likes of artists as disparate as Pete Seeger and Lead Belly, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Roy Buchanan and Hank Marvin on his playing.
Which all makes sense. The lead guitarist of the group is, fairly, mainly interested in other guitarists, while the lead writer is mainly interested in other writers, and drummer Nick Mason has singled out Ginger Baker as being his inspiration at the kit.
So, who did keyboard player Richard Wright look up to the most? Legendary organ player Booker T Jones? The Band’s keyboard wizard Garth Hudson? The Animals’ secret weapon, Alan Price? Al Kooper? Spooner Oldham? Ray Manzarek, Don Preston or Rosie Stone?
Not so. Just like most musicians—budding and professional, it seems—Wright cited a guitarist, Jeff Beck, as his idol. “As far as rock guitarists go, he’s got to be my all-time hero,” Wright said, not mentioning his band-mate and best-mate David Gilmour. “He started as a blues guitarist just like Clapton, but he’s investigated the possibilities of the instrument much more. You probably won’t know this, but when Syd left Pink Floyd we actually asked Jeff Beck to join, he was our first choice. He was doing OK at the time so he turned us down.”
It wasn’t the only time that Beck declined an offer to work with Pink Floyd or with Richard Wright either, as Wright explains, “There’s one track on [Jeff Beck’s 1989 album] Guitar Shop called ‘Where Were You?’ that’s just this beautiful, melodic guitar sequence. I loved it so much that I took that feel for an instrumental called ‘Sweet July’ on my new solo album [Broken China, 1996]. I wanted Beck to play on it but he turned me down. Again!”
In the end, Wright turned to Tim Renwick, Dominic Miller and Steven Bolton to play the guitars on the song, although a lot of the playing sounds suspiciously like David Gilmour, which leads you as a listener to wonder who Renwick, Miller and Bolton’s musical heroes were.
