Gary Wright Dies at 80

Written By Mike Greenblatt

Bergen County native Gary Wright, who lived in Cresskill and Tenafly, got famous in England as a member of Spooky Tooth in 1967, played on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass in 1970, and enjoyed massive hits with “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive” off his 1975 solo album The Dream Weaver, has finally ended his long battle with Parkinson’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia at the age of 80. His was a keyboard-dominated sound, oftentimes heavily synthesized. Some albums and some concerts featured no guitar at all.

He told The Daytona Beach News Journal in 2011, “it was a big deal creatively because I had been working with basically a guitar-oriented band, Spooky Tooth. I had never consciously sat down and said, `I’m going to do an all-keyboard album.’ It just fell into place as I was writing the songs.” The Dream Weaver went on to sell over two million copies.

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Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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