Producer recalls how Roger Waters bullied Wright during “The Wall”

Considered the last great Pink Floyd album, “The Wall” (1979) was written by Roger Waters and was inspired by his life, so he took the band’s creative control during the recording of that record and bullied a lot the keyboardist Richard Wright who ended up being fired by the band in 1981 for not contributing enough to the group. In an interview with CBC, Bob Ezrin, who produced the album, recalled how Waters bullied Wright.

Producer Bob Ezrin recalls how Roger Waters bullied Richard Wright during the making of “The Wall”

“During the making of ‘The Wall,’ this was the time at which Roger was sort of declaring what he perceived as his primacy within the band. And the story was based on his life. So he had a very deep, proprietary feeling about the whole story and the whole project. He was resistant to input from the other guys to begin with.”

“But then as it started to come in, like, ‘Comfortably Numb,’ or, ‘Young Lust’ or ‘Run Like Hell’ – what a great guitar riff – so when these things started to come in, even though there may have been an initial resistance, the minute that it started to feel good or sound good, Roger was in. There was a lot of laughter. People think it was all angst and tears and stuff. There was a tremendous amount of laughter, kibitzing, messing around.”

“There was a lot of schoolyard bullying from time to time. Roger was very tough on Rick. He was disappointed in Rick’s contribution to the record, which was not correct because Rick’s fantastic. And the minute that he plays or sings, it just becomes Pink Floyd. He’s such an essential part of the sound, but he’s a very sensitive man and was feeling a little bit removed from the process after the making of ‘Animals.'”

“I think he was self-conscious, and Roger, like many bullies, they recognize weakness the minute they see it. They smell blood, and they go for it. So I think, not consciously, but just naturally, Roger started to get pissed off,” (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar).

“The Wall” is the band’s second best-selling album, it has sold an estimated amount of more than 30 million copies. But when it comes to double albums, the record is the best-selling of all time.