The Dream Weaver Has Flown

On September 4, 2023, we lost another talented singer American musician, and composer Gary Weaver. He was best known for his 1976 hit song “Dream Weaver”. In London, England where he spent seven years he was a member of the British blues rock band Spooky Tooth. He became close friends with former Beatle George Harrison and played keyboards on Harrison’s 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Wright passed from this world at the age of 80 after battling with Parkinson’s and dementia.

Wright recorded his greatest hit “Dream Weaver” in 1975 and it is featured on his third album The Dream Weaver. The song was inspired by the book “Autobiography of a Yogi” given to him by George Harrison. The expression Dream Weaver was popularized by John Lennon in 1970 in his song “God” from his solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Wright recorded the song twice the first time spelling it as “Dreamweaver” in 1986 for the film “Fire and Ice” soundtrack and a longer version for the film “Wayne’s World” soundtrack in 1992. His own recording became a hit and charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topped the Cashbox chart.

“Love Is Alive” was originally released as the first single from Wright’s album The Dream Weaver but failed to chart and was followed by “Dream Weaver” which became his memorable hit, When this song was rereleased it charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked the song as the number nine song of 1976.

Wright’s song “Get On the Right Road” in 1971 was his very first released solo single. It is featured on the album Extraction.

His second album Footprint came out in 1971 and included the song “Stand for Our Rights” Also on this album is the ballad “Love to Survive” which has an orchestral arrangement by English classical pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator John Barham. A memorable song on this album is “Two Faced Man” which Wright performed on The Dick Cavett Show backed by his short-lived band Wonderwheel with Harrison as guest guitarist.

Another great song from the same album is “Fascinating Things”.

In 1977 he released his fourth album The Light of Smiles which included the song “Water Signs”, It was a notable song but was never released as a single. The song released as the first single was “Phantom Writer” which charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In 1981 Wright released the album The Right Place which featured his last Top 20 hit “Really Wanna Know You”.

The album Human Love came out in 1999 and featured new versions of the songs “Wildfire” and “The Wrong Time”. There was also the song “If You Believe in Heaven” which he co-wrote with Graham Gouldman.

Wright toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in 2010 and 2011 following this with a 2011 European summer tour with Starr. Wright also participated in the Hippiefest US Tour which included artists like Felix Cavaliere, Mark Farner, Dave Mason, and Rick Derringer and later that year returned to Europe for shows with his own band.

Marking a return to a pop-rock-oriented sound Wright released his 12th and final album Connected. It featured the song “Satisfied” which he co-wrote with songwriter Bobby Hart. As a posthumous tribute to his friend George Harrison the Deluxe Digital Edition of this album features “Never Give Up” which is a song he recorded with Harrison in 1989.

“To Discover Yourself” is a song Wright wrote with Harrison in1971 and Wright recorded it on the day Harrison died in November 2001. Wright contributed to the 2011 documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World by Martin Scorsese and gave personal reminisces and photos for widow Olivia Harrison’s book of the same title.