lthough Gary Wright's group Spooky Tooth had enjoyed success on the album charts, the band's biggest hit single, "Feelin' Bad," didn't even make the Billboard Hot 100, which made Gary feel very bad. After going solo Gary proved he had the stuff dreams were made of on the charts by taking his first hit single all the way to #2.

First charting on Jan. 31, 1976, "Dream Weaver" was former Spooky Tooth co-leader Gary Wright's first single from his debut solo album The Dream Weaver, peaking at #2 for 14 weeks. His The Dream Weaver LP, released on Aug. 23, 1975, rose to #7 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, and remained on the chart for an impressive 75 weeks. It produced another #2 single for Wright, "Love Is Alive," and was certified a platinum million-seller by the RIAA on Oct. 13, 1986.

Born on April 26, 1943, in Creskill, New Jersey, Gary Wright dabbed in Broadway and television as a child, but ultimately he decided to put his career on hold to pursue his education. The exposure he gained from his work with the group The New York Times resulted in Wright joining the quartet Art, which evolved into Spooky Tooth. But after only two albums Wright left the group to form a new band, Wonderwheel. However, when a solo career from Warner Brothers came calling, Gary was only too ready to answer.

Wright's first single "Dream Weaver," the title track from his 1975 solo album, was inspired by a philosopher named Paramahansa Yogananda. As Wright explained in the liner notes to his anthology, Best Of The Dream Weaver, "Basically, the idea for 'Dream Weaver' came from Yogananda's writing. He had written a poem that said, 'When my mind weaves dreams with threads of memories on that magic cloth, I do emboss God, God, God....' I thought, 'Weaves dreams -- dream weaver. That's a good idea for a song.' One weekend I was in the English countryside with my acoustic guitar, and I was flipping through some possible song titles I'd written down. I saw 'Dream Weaver' and started writing. An hour later the song was finished."

Even as the song was completed, Wright still had no idea if the song was going to make the final cut of his album. He recalled, "The last track we recorded was 'Dream Weaver.' I wasn't sure whether to put that song or 'Empty Inside' on the album, so I played them both for [producer] David Foster. He voted for 'Dream Weaver.' I didn't see it as a hit, so I have David to thank for that choice." Although "Love Is Alive" had been promoted to radio first, "Dream Weaver" became the album's first true hit, entering the charts at #98. Its 13th week proved to be lucky when Gary climbed to the #2 position, and it seemed that his dreams of success were realized. "Empty Inside," the song that was cut from the album to make room for "Dream Weaver," finally saw the light of day on Gary's 1977 album The Light Of Smiles.

In the 1990s, Gary's song enjoyed a renewed popularity thanks to a most unlikely source. In the recurring Saturday Night Live television-show sketch called Wayne's World, "Dream Weaver" was used frequently whenever Wayne Campbell, played by comedian Mike Myers, had a romantic flashback or dream. When the sketch jumped to the big screen, the song went with it and appeared on the chart-topping Wayne's World soundtrack in 1992. Incidentally, "Dream Weaver" wasn't the only song helped by the magic touch of characters Wayne and Garth -- Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," first recorded in 1975, enjoyed renewed popularity 17 years later when it was used in a scene in the movie.

Gary continued to tour and record after the success of his The Dream Weaver album, venturing into world music in the '80s with his award-winning album Who I Am which featured south Indian musicians, and again in the '90s with the release Human Love. In 2010, he released Connected, his first pop-rock album in over 20 years. He also started Larkio Music, which released his music as well as that of Intangible, a rock group based out of Los Angeles featuring his son Justin. He toured both solo and as a member of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, and appeared in director Martin Scorcese's George Harrison biopic, Living In the Material World. He died on Sept. 4, 2023 at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., after battling Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia for the past six years. He was 80 years old.

- Christopher G. Feldman, The Billboard Book of No. 2 Singles, Billboard, 2000.

 

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