Gary Wright Interview

TCC: Why do you feel so many people want to use the song, even now 25 years later?

GW: It was one of those songs that became a real classic. There’s certain songs that become classics that are constantly getting used in movies, films and TV. [They are] getting re-recorded by other artists. I’ve been blessed with the fact that ‘Dream Weaver’ became a classic. ‘Love Is Alive’ as well. Not to the degree that ‘Dream Weaver’ did, but it also has done really well as far as being used in movies and things.

TCC: Would you call that the most memorable moment of your career?

GW: I don’t know if it was the most memorable moment. It certainly defined my career. Every artist usually has one or two songs that really define their careers. Like Ringo had with ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, that launched his career as a solo Beatle. Every artist has those. Not everybody has things that become classics. As far as a defining moment, that was a hugely successful and very busy time for me. 1975, 1976, 1977 – that whole time frame.

TCC: Going back a little further, I see you were raised in Bergen County, New Jersey. Do you ever go back to New Jersey?

GW: Occasionally, I’ll drive through Cresskill. I’ll see that and Tenafly High School as well.

TCC: What year did you live in New Jersey until?

GW: I left New Jersey in 1966.

TCC: And you moved to California once your career took off?

GW: No, I moved to Europe. I lived in Germany for a year and I lived in England for like seven years. I was actually in Europe from 1966 to 1974.

TCC: How instrumental do you think the Broadway play ‘Fanny’ was to starting your career as a musician?

GW: I think it was very influential. I sang every night. The part I had was quite big. I played the son of Fanny. I sang a duet with Florence Henderson every night in front of a full orchestra. It took a form like that, at 11 years old as well. That’s what I was. It left some deep impressions on my consciousness, which then later formulated my desire to want to be in music.

TCC: How many years was the play ‘Fanny’ running for?

GW: Oh, I would say two or three. It was a big hit on Broadway.

TCC: From there, when did you first start recording as an artist?

GW: I had done demos and things during that time frame. Maybe when I was about 16, 17, or 18. But nothing of any consequence. [My] first real recordings that I did were as me being a member of the band Spooky Tooth in the [United Kingdom].

TCC: Is there a moment in your career, in that time period, that you thought was a breakthrough for you?

GW: I think when Spooky Tooth did their second album, ‘Spooky Two’, it became a hit in Europe and here as well. It was in the charts. We were touring a lot. We were touring with Traffic, Jimmy Hendrix, The Move and the [Rolling Stones]. We played with some pretty big artists. We were kind of acknowledged as more of an eclectic progressive rock band. We had a pretty decent following. We were rated the number one band in Germany in 1969 by Rolling Stone. That’s kind of really set my career up.

TCC: At this point in your career, are you trying to reach the successes you had in the 1970s or are you doing it for the enjoyment of being a musician? What are you trying to accomplish at this point in your career?

GW: I’m not trying to beat what I had in the 1970s. My career has kind of taken on a life of it’s own. When you have a lot of hits and your career starts to go down, but then your music starts to slowly go up again because ‘Dream Weaver’ and ‘Love Is Alive’ were used so much. I’ve started to do a lot of concerts and having been exposed in the Ringo tour. My career is actually on the upswing right now. My goal is really to continue to make music. I really don’t make music to have platinum records and all that kind of stuff. I’ve been there. I do it because I love music and I love uplifting people through my music. That’s my real goal.

TCC: Do you enjoy it more in your career now after being successful?

GW: I think so. There’s not that anxiety that, ‘Oh I’ve got to have a hit. I’ve got to have a hit’. I’m not doing that anymore. I’m doing music that I like and that I hope other people will like too. But it doesn’t have that anxiety to it.