Touch and Gone

Touch and Gone is the fifth album by American rock musician Gary Wright. It was released in November 1977 on Warner Bros. Records as the follow-up to The Light of Smiles. Wright changed his approach to songwriting for the album by collaborating with other writers on six of the nine songs.[1] The album was recorded with only keyboard instruments, aside from vocals, drums, and percussion.[2]

Touch and Gone
Studio album by
Gary Wright
ReleasedNovember 1977 (1977-11)
Recorded1977
Studio
  • Sound Labs, Hollywood, CA
  • High Wave Studios, Los Angeles, CA
GenreRock
Length36:53
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerGary Wright
Gary Wright chronology
The Light of Smiles
(1977)		 Touch and Gone
(1977)		 Headin' Home
(1979)

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Rolling Stone Record Guide[4]

Touch and Gone failed to achieve commercial success.[5][6] According to Wright, his manager, Dee Anthony, told him that Warner Bros. were disappointed by the album and considered that none of its songs had hit potential. Having started a U.S. tour in late 1977 to promote the release, Wright was forced to cancel it due to poor ticket sales.[7] The album peaked at number 117 in the United States, while the title track reached number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[8]

Billboard's reviewer said that the keyboards were "beautifully played and arranged" but that Wright appeared to be overly focused on repeating the success of his 1975 album, The Dream Weaver. The reviewer also wrote: "Openings, breaks, arrangements – all are reminiscent of earlier Wright material, yet no cut emerges to break new ground. Vocals and lyrics are exceptional, but the melodies are uninspired."[2] In a review of the "Touch and Gone" single, however, the same publication admired the song as a "spirited rocker" and again highlighted the synthesizer playing.[9] Writing in The Rolling Stone Record Guide, Dave Marsh dismissed Touch and Gone, along with its predecessor, as examples of how, following Wright's breakthrough on The Dream Weaver, he had "indulged himself with increasing flatulence in a spacy, mystical froth of synthesizers and remarkably poor vocalizing".[4]

In his 2014 autobiography, Wright recalls that "Fear had paralyzed my creative efforts on Touch and Gone, resulting in my being overinfluenced by currently successful albums." He says that its failure made him take stock of his career.[10] After spending the New Year with his friend George Harrison in England, where the pair collaborated on the song "If You Believe",[11] Wright returned to India to gain a better perspective on his career.[12]

Track listing

Composer credits and track lengths taken from US LP labels: Gary Wright, Touch and Gone (1977). Warner Bros. BSK 3137. Some other editions of the album erroneously credit "Can't Get Above Losing You" as being written by Gary Wright alone.

Side one

  1. "Touch and Gone" (Gary Wright, Richard Reicheg) – 3:58
  2. "Starry Eyed" (Wright, Reicheg) – 4:10
  3. "Something Very Special" (Wright, Jamie Quinn) – 3:38
  4. "Stay Away" (Wright, Quinn) – 3:36
  5. "Night Ride" (Wright, Quinn) – 4:10

Side two

  1. "Sky Eyes" (Wright) – 4:50
  2. "Lost in My Emotions" (Wright) – 4:04
  3. "Can't Get Above Losing You" (Wright, Christina Wright, Quinn) – 4:02
  4. "The Love It Takes" (Wright) – 4:10

Personnel
  • Gary Wright – lead and backing vocals, Clavinet, Moog bass,[13] Oberheim synthesizer, Polymoog, organ, Fender Rhodes piano on "The Love it Takes", Moog synthesizer on "Night Ride"
  • Bobby Lyle – Fender Rhodes piano on "Stay Away" and "Night Ride", Clavinet on "Night Ride"
  • Gary Mielke – Oberheim synthesizer on "Sky Eyes"
  • Richard Baker – Oberheim synthesizer on "Something Very Special" and "Stay Away"; Fender Rhodes piano on "Starry Eyed", "Sky Eyes", and "Can't Get Above Losing You"; Polymoog on "The Love it Takes"
  • Peter Reilich – Oberheim synthesizer on "Starry Eyed"
  • Hiroshi Upshur – Clavinet on "Something Very Special" and "The Love it Takes", Oberheim synthesizer on "Sky Eyes" and "Can't Get Above Losing You"
  • Art Wood – drums, percussion
  • Clydie King, Venetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews – backing vocals on "Stay Away" and "Lost in My Emotions"

References
  1. Wright, Gary (2014). Dream Weaver: A Memoir; Music, Meditation, and My Friendship with George Harrison. New York: Tarcher/Penguin. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-399-16523-8.
  2. Billboard Review Panel (November 26, 1977). "Top Album Picks". Billboard. p. 94. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  3. "Gary Wright Touch and Gone". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  4. Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John, eds. (1983). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. New York, NY: Random House/Rolling Stone Press. p. 558. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
  5. Ankeny, Jason. "Gary Wright". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  6. Romanowski, Patricia; George-Warren, Holly, eds. (1995). The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. New York: Fireside/Rolling Stone Press. p. 1094. ISBN 0-684-81044-1.
  7. Wright 2014, p. 170.
  8. "Gary Wright: Chart History". billboard.com. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  9. Billboard Review Panel (December 3, 1977). "Top Single Picks". Billboard. p. 94. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  10. Wright 2014, pp. 170–71.
  11. Harry, Bill (2003). The George Harrison Encyclopedia. London: Virgin Books. pp. 236, 395. ISBN 978-0-7535-0822-0.
  12. Wright 2014, pp. 171, 172–73.
  13. Wright 2014, pp. 169–70.
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