THE MOODY BLUES
Conceptual geniuses or pretentious schmucks? This was actually a debate during the late '60s/early '70s. Truth is, after their debut LP--which had much more to do with the blues and less with moods--the Moody Blues were the kings of the "concept" LPs. Often it was almost like you wanted to scream in the middle of Moody Blues album: "What has Sgt. Pepper's wrought?" The band had numerous songwriters in its ranks in the forms of Mike Pinder, Graeme Edge, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, and Justin Hayward--and while the group was responsible for the "progressive" rock sounds that followed by the likes of Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, etc., they still had genuine rockin' moments in classic singles like "Story In Your Eyes" and "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock 'N' Roll Band."
The Moody Blues are a British rock band originally from Birmingham, England. Founding members Michael Pinder and Ray Thomas performed an initially rhythm and blues-based sound in Birmingham in 1964 along with Graeme Edge and others, and were later joined by John Lodge and Justin Hayward as they inspired and evolved the progressive rock style. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their seminal 1967 album Days of Future Passed.
The band has had numerous hit albums in the UK, US, and worldwide, and has seen several additional musicians come and go, and they remain active even as of 2007, with a US tour scheduled.
Founding and early history
The Moody Blues formed in the early 1960s in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Ray Thomas, John Lodge, and Michael Pinder had been members of El Riot & the Rebels, a regionally-popular band. They disbanded when Lodge, the youngest member, went to technical college and Pinder joined the army. Pinder then rejoined Thomas to form the Krew Cats and enjoyed moderate success. The pair recruited guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine, band manager-turned drummer Graeme Edge, and bassist Clint Warwick. The five appeared as the Moody Blues for the first time in Birmingham in 1964. The name developed from a planned sponsorship from the M&B Brewery and was also a subtle reference to the Duke Ellington song, "Mood Indigo".
Soon, the band obtained a London-based management company, 'Ridgepride', formed by ex-Decca A&R man Alex Murray (Alex Wharton), who helped them land a recording contract with Decca Records in the spring of 1964. They released a single, "Steal Your Heart Away" that year which made it onto the charts. But it was their second single, "Go Now" (released later that year), which really launched their career, being promoted on TV with the among the first purpose-made promotional films in the pop era, produced and directed by Wharton. The single became a huge hit in the United Kingdom (where it remains their only Number 1 single to date) and in the United States where it reached #10.
Wharton left the management firm and, after a series of unsuccessful singles, Warwick and Laine departed the group. They were replaced by Pinder and Thomas' El Riot bandmate, John Lodge, and Justin Hayward, formerly of The Wilde Three, in 1966. The band soon realised that their style of American blues covers and novelty tunes was not working for them and decided to develop an original style. Their new style, featuring the symphonic sounds of the mellotron and Ray Thomas' flute, was to be developed in a concept album revolving around a day in the life of everyman.
Deram Records contract and founding of signature style
The Moody Blues' contract with Decca Records was set to expire and they owed the label several thousands of pounds in advances. However, Deram Records (a London/Decca imprint) chose the band to make a LP in order to promote Deramic Stereo and the group was to be forgiven its debt to the label to make a rock and roll version of Antonín Dvo?ák's New World Symphony. The Moody Blues agreed but insisted that they be given artistic freedom and be left without supervision. They then convinced Peter Knight, who had been assigned to arrange and conduct the orchestral interludes, to collaborate on a recording of their stage show instead. Deram executives were initially sceptical about the hybrid style of the resulting concept album, Days of Future Passed (1967). However, it was to become one of the most successful commercial releases of all time. Decca producer Tony Clarke was chosen to produce the album and the Moodies carried on a durable working relationship with Clarke who would end up producing all of their albums and singles for the next eleven years. Engineer Derek Varnals would also contribute heavily to the creation of the early Moodies' studio sound.
The album plus two singles, "Nights in White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon", became massively popular, as was the 1968 follow-up LP, In Search of the Lost Chord. Also included on this album is the song "Legend of a Mind," a song written by Ray Thomas in tribute to LSD guru Timothy Leary which encompassed a masterful flute solo performed by Thomas. Justin Hayward began playing sitar and incorporating it into Moody Blues music, having been inspired by George Harrison. Graeme Edge found a significant secondary role in the band as a writer of poetry, and nearly all of their early albums from the late 60's begin with Mike Pinder reciting poems by Edge that were conceptually related to the lyrics of the songs that would follow. The band's music continued to become more complex and symphonic, resulting in 1969's To Our Children's Children's Children - a concept album based around the band's celebration of the first moon landing. The album reportedly even went to the moon on Apollo space missions. The album closes with the fan-favorite 'Watching and Waiting'.
Although the Moodies had by now defined a somewhat psychedelic style and helped to define the progressive rock (then also known as 'art rock') sound, the group decided for a while to record only albums that could be played in concert, losing some of their full-blown sound for their next album, A Question of Balance (1970). This album, reaching #3 in the American charts and #1 in the British charts, was indicative of the band's growing success in America. Justin Hayward began an artful exploration of guitar tone through the use of numerous effects pedals and fuzz-boxes, and developed for himself a very melodic buzzing guitar-solo sound. For their next two albums, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971) and Seventh Sojourn (1972) (that reached #1 in both the UK and the US), the band returned to their signature orchestral sound which, while difficult to reproduce in concert, had become their trademark. Edge, the long standing drummer-poet, started writing lyrics intended to be to be sung, rather than verses to be spoken.
The Moodies were also among the pioneers of the idea that a successful rock band could promote itself through its own label, following the Beatles' creation of Apple Records. After their On the Threshold of a Dream album (1969), they created Threshold Records, prompted in part by disputes with London/Deram over album design costs (their gatefold record jackets and expensive cover art were not popular with company executives). Threshold would produce new albums and deliver them to London/Decca who acted as distributor. The group attempted to build Threshold into a major label by developing new talent - most notably the UK hard rock band Trapeze and the Portland, Oregon classical-acoustic sextet Providence - but these efforts proved unsuccessful and the Moodies eventually returned to more traditional recording contracts. However, they did lay the groundwork for other major acts to set up similar personal labels and distribution deals including The Rolling Stones' own label and Led Zeppelin's Swan Song, and all of the Moodies' studio releases from 1969 to 1999 would bear the Threshold logo on at least one of their format versions.
Hiatus, solo work
In 1973, the group took an extended break — originally announced as a permanent break-up — to recuperate from a heavy touring schedule. Hayward and Lodge released a duo album, the very successful Blue Jays (1975), and the members each released solo albums.
Edge produced two, Kick Off Your Muddy Boots (1975) and Paradise Ballroom (1976); Hayward elegantly composed Songwriter (1977), and Night Flight (1980), which would in later years be followed up by Moving Mountains (1985), The View From The Hill (1996), and Live In San Juan Capistrano (1998). Lodge released Natural Avenue (1977); Pinder produced The Promise (1976); and Thomas also two, From Mighty Oaks (1975) and Hopes, Wishes and Dreams (1976).
Reunion, 1977–1990
In 1977, the group decided to record together again. London Records decided to release a somewhat poorly mixed then-eight year old recording of the band performing at the Royal Albert Hall, against their artistic wishes. The company did this in an attempt to redevelop a somewhat waning public interest in the Moody Blues prior to their anticipated new album, but the crude sound of the concert from 1969 titled "Caught Live +5" would clash sharply with the lush and refined sound the modern Moodies were capable of producing in the studio. By this time Pinder had married and started a family in California, so for their reunion recording the band decamped there with producer Clarke. By all accounts, the sessions had moments of tension and difficulty, but by autumn 1978 Octave was released. Pinder, citing his young family, excused himself from any tour commitments and was replaced by former Yes keyboardist, Patrick Moraz. In spite of these difficulties, the album sold well and produced the hits "Steppin' In A Slide Zone", written by Lodge and "Driftwood", written by Hayward. The music video produced for "Driftwood" features Moraz, although Mike Pinder was the one who played on the actual recording.
The band toured in 1979 and by 1980 was ready to record again, this time bringing in producer Pip Williams. Moraz was retained as the band's permanent keyboardist, though Pinder had understood that he would continue to record even if not tour with the band. Pinder attempted legal measures to prevent the new Moody Blues album from reaching the public without his contribution, but he was not successful. Released in 1981, Long Distance Voyager was a colossal success, reaching #1 on Billboard and top 5 in the UK. The album yielded two hits, "The Voice," written by Hayward, and "Gemini Dream," written by Hayward and Lodge. By now, the mellotron had been set aside as their primary synthesizer and the band embraced a more modern, less symphonic approach. The marketing formula for the band demanded from this time forward that a Justin Hayward song would be used to lead off their studio albums, as his material was the most successful.
The Present (1983), again produced by Williams, proved less successful than its predecessor, though it did spawn a UK chart hit in "Blue World". Videos were also produced for 'Blue World' and 'Sitting At the Wheel'.
In 1986 they enjoyed renewed success with their album The Other Side of Life and in particular with the track, "Your Wildest Dreams" - a Top 40 hit which garnered a Billboard Video of the Year award after being frequently featured on MTV. Newly-hired producer Tony Visconti delivered a modern sound the Moodies had been after in order to remain competitive with their pop contemporaries.
They performed live at the charity event concert "Heartbeat '86" which raised money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital. The band played four songs, and later provided backup with Electric Light Orchestra for George Harrison.
The Moodies continued their early video-generation success with Sur La Mer (1988) and its video/single, "I Know You're Out There Somewhere", a sequel to "Your Wildest Dreams". Their sound took on an ever- increasingly synthetic and technical quality as Moraz and Visconti began utilising modern sequencers, samplers, and drum machines. During this time, Justin Hayward and John Lodge wrote and sang on most of the songs as the band came under pressure from the new record company, PolyGram Records, to promote those it deemed to be the two more commercial looking and sounding members. Ray Thomas was playing a diminished role in the studio. There seemed to be no room for his ethereal flute within these new songs awash in high-tech 80's production. He provided some backing vocals for both The Other Side of Life and Sur La Mer, but according to Visconti, his vocal tracks were never mixed into the final version of the latter album.
1990s, new millennium, and present
The Moody Blues in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California in 2005.
Thomas' high value remained on stage primarily from his continued ability to boisterously sing out his 60's and 70's Moodies classics, and also in dynamic flute and keyboard duets he composed with Moraz which were only performed by the two during Moodies' concerts. The band had begun to reinforce their concert sound in the later 1980s with the addition of a second keyboardist, Bias Boshell, as well as female backing singers. They also hired second drummer Gordon Marshall. As they began work in 1990 for their new studio album, Patrick Moraz made some comments in an article in Keyboard magazine regarding his dissatisfaction with his role in the Moodies and he was dismissed before completing work on the album. Bias Boshell and Paul Bliss were brought in to play keyboards on the remaining tracks.
Keys of the Kingdom (1991) had modest commercial success. It featured the new single "Say It with Love" and its follow-up "Bless the Wings" as well as a new flute masterpiece by Ray Thomas entitled "Celtic Sonant". John Lodge would make a defining shift in his songwriting on this album, leaving his trademark high-energy rock music, and instead gravitating towards slow love ballads. This trend would continue on the two successive Moodies albums. Instead it was Hayward who wrote the driving two-part piece "Say What You Mean" which featured compelling chord and melody structures as well as a spoken-word section. Tony Visconti produced some of the tracks on "Keys", as did Christopher Neil and Alan Tarney.