Dick Parry: The Pink Floyd sound you know, even if you didn’t know the name
Dick Parry, the saxophonist behind some of Pink Floyd’s most iconic moments, has died aged 83. David Gilmour announced the news, calling him a dear friend and reflecting on the fact they had played together since they were teenagers.
He might not have been the name on the front of the album, but his sound is stitched into Pink Floyd history. That sax on ‘Money’. The emotion running through ‘Us and Them’. The haunting beauty of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’. That wasn’t just a session player turning up and doing a job. That was someone adding soul to songs that already felt bigger than most bands’ entire careers.
Parry was brought into the Pink Floyd world by Gilmour during the making of The Dark Side of the Moon, and he later contributed to Wish You Were Here and The Division Bell. He also toured with the band across the 1970s, again in 1994, and appeared with them at Live 8 in 2005.
The thing with Parry’s playing is that it never felt like it was trying too hard. No pointless showing off. No “look at me” nonsense, which is rare in music, because apparently subtlety is illegal now. He played with warmth, restraint and feeling, and that’s why those parts still hit decades later.
Not every great musician becomes a household name. Some just leave behind a sound that millions of people instantly recognise.
Dick Parry did exactly that.
James Waddingham
Collaborator, BritRock Heaven
