Richard Gordon Price (10 June 1944 – 17 May 2022) was an English bassist who played with various

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

-based rock bands, most notably Sight and Sound,

the Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their car ...

(1969–1971), and

Wizzard Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. ''The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits'' states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartne ...

(1972–1975).

Life and career

Price was born and raised in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, on 10 June 1944. His first band were the Cimarrons, who were inspired by

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

. He then moved on to the Sombreros, who later changed their name to Sight & Sound and moved in a more psychedelic direction. He began collaborating with Mike Sheridan as a songwriting partnership. Price joined the Move in 1969, staying with the group for two years, including an unsuccessful tour of the United States. He also contributed bass tracks to the early sessions for the debut album of ELO, but for reasons that are unclear, none of his bass parts ended up in the final mix of the album when it was released in 1971. After leaving the Move he signed a contract with Gemini Records; he then recorded (with Sheridan) the album ''This Is To Certify That'', released in 1970, and a solo album, ''Talking To The Flowers'', in 1971. He then joined former Move colleague

Carl Wayne Carl Wayne (born Colin David Tooley; 18 August 1943 – 31 August 2004) was an English singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead singer of The Move in the 1960s. Early days Wayne was born in Winson Green, Birmingham, and grew up in ...

in Light Fantastic, before forming Mongrel with future

drummers Charlie Grima and Keith Smart.Auslander, Philip (2006) ''Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music'',

University of Michigan Press The University of Michigan Press is part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earned numerous awards, including ...

, , p. 177 He joined up again with

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a ...

in the latter's new band, Wizzard, with whom he had two British number one hit singles, " See My Baby Jive" and " Angel Fingers", as well as the No. 4

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

classic "

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" is a Christmas song recorded by British glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly ...

" (all 1973). After Wizzard split up, he joined the Wizzo Band on pedal steel guitar in 1975, but they broke up in 1978. Price was also a member of

The Rockin' Berries The Rockin' Berries are a beat group from Birmingham, England, who had several hit records in the UK in the 1960s. A version of the group, emphasising comedy routines as well as music, continues to perform to the present day. History The Rockin ...

from 1990 until his death. Price worked with the 1970s duo

Peters and Lee Peters and Lee were a successful British folk and pop duo of the 1970s and 1980s, comprising Lennie Peters (22 November 1931 – 10 October 1992, Enfield, Middlesex) and Dianne Lee (born February 1949). Background Lennie Peters (AKA Gary Hall; ...

beginning in 1976, eventually marrying Lee and working with her as a performing duo.''British Hit Singles and Albums'', Guinness, 2005, p. 140 Price died on 17 May 2022, at the age of 77.

References

External links

* 1944 births 2022 deaths English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists The Move members Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Electric Light Orchestra members Pedal steel guitarists English male singers English songwriters Wizzard members {{UK-bass-guitarist-stub