Song of the Day 9/6: Gary Wright, “Love Is Alive”

Gary Wright, the rock keyboard player best known for his 1975 solo LP “The Dream Weaver,” died Monday at age 80 after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Along with Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, Wright helped pioneer the use of synthesizers in rock.

Wright was from New Jersey, but he launched his career in England as a founding member of the British blues-rock band Spooky Tooth in the late ’60s. Spooky Tooth got great reviews for its second album, 1969’s “Spooky Two,” for which Wright wrote or co-wrote all eight tracks, but it failed to sell. The band then collaborated with a French electronic music composer on an experimental LP the record company insisted on releasing as a Spooky Tooth album, which lost the band their small fan base and drove Wright out the door.

In 1970 he released a solo album that featured Klaus Voorman on bass, a connection that led to session work on George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass.” The ex-Beatle subsequently employed Wright on all his solo work in the ’70s, and their shared interest in Indian religion heavily influenced “The Dream Weaver,” easily the commercial high point of Wright’s career.

“Dream Weaver,” the first single from the album, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains a popular cut on classic rock radio. The second single, “Love Is Alive,” also topped out at No. 2, but I don’t hear it nearly as much these days, even though IMHO it has a better groove. That funky bass line is actually being performed by Wright – except for drums and some guest guitar work, Wright played everything else on the album on the keys.

“Spooky Two” isn’t heard at all anymore, but it’s among the better examples of British blues rock from the period. Wright co-wrote the album opener with vocalist Mike Harrison and guitarist Luther Grosvenor, and his organ dominates the track.

After Wright’s solo career petered out in the early ’80s following a string of commercial disappointments, he turned mostly to soundtrack work until the aughts, when he led a brief Spooky Tooth revival and did a couple of tours with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band. He released his last solo album in 2010.