Tom Wright, who had an extensive career photographing many rock greats and spending time as tour manager for The Who and other top artists, has died. He was 78 years old and details of where and why were not known.
Don Carlton, executive director of the Briscoe Center for American History, recalled Wright in a statement posted on the organization’s website. Wright cited the University of Texas Center as his archive of more than 120,000 photographs and thousands of rock music tapes and phonograph recordings.
According to a statement, Wright’s “impressive and candid photographs of performers, audiences and concert halls provide a true insider’s look at the history of rock music from the 1960s to the 1990s”.
“He skillfully used his camera to document the lives and works of some of rock’s most influential bands, including the Rolling Stones; Rod Stewart and Faces; Joe Walsh’s first band was James Bundy; The Eagles, and especially Pete Townshend and The Who,” Carlton said. “His work has been greatly enriched by his close friendships with members of the groups he toured and worked with. These relationships gave Tom behind-the-scenes access that allowed him to take pictures of these artists as they prepared for concerts and went on tour. I am deeply saddened by his death.”
Studying photography at the Ealing School of Art in England in the early 1960s, Wright met fellow founder of The Who, classmate Pete Townshend, and they were united by the greatness of American blues. Wright became the official photographer for The Who in 1967.
“One thing is for sure, I would never have met Tom Wright, who would never have succeeded,” Townshend said. Said. “We’ll still be a solid little pop group doing what hundreds of people do at the same time.”
Wright continued to tour with musicians, drive, take pictures and the realities of life on the road. His insight led guitarist Joe Walsh to call Wright “the Jack Kerouac of rock ‘n’ roll photography.”
In 2007, Wright Roadworks: Backward Rock ‘n’ RollA chronology of his photographs and road stories.
Information about survivors or memorial plans was not immediately available.
Source: Deadline
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