The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of drummer Graeme Edge, guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine, keyboardist/vocalist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ray Thomas, and bassist/vocalist Clint Warwick. Originally part of the British beat and R&B scene of the early–mid 1960s, the band came to prominence with the UK No. 1 and US Top 10 single "Go Now" in late 1964/early 1965. Laine and Warwick left the band by the end of 1966, being replaced by guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist/vocalist John Lodge. They embraced the psychedelic rock movement of the late 1960s, with their second album, 1967's Days of Future Passed, being a fusion of rock with classical music (performed with the London Festival Orchestra) that established the band as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock.[2][9][10] It has been described as a "landmark" and "one of the first successful concept albums".[2]
The Moody Blues
The group released six more albums and toured extensively until they went on hiatus in 1974. Their records from this period were among the most successful in the progressive rock genre, and produced FM radio hits such as "Nights in White Satin" (1967; charting again in 1972),[9] "Tuesday Afternoon" (1968), "Question" (1970), "The Story in Your Eyes" (1971), "Isn't Life Strange" (1972), and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" (1973). After resuming activities in 1977, Pinder left the following year and was replaced by former Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz. In the 1980s they took on a more synth-pop sound, having hits with "Gemini Dream" (1981), "The Voice" (1981), "Your Wildest Dreams" (1986) and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" (1988). "Your Wildest Dreams" made the Moody Blues the first act to earn each of its first three Top 10 singles in the United States in three different decades.[11] Moraz departed in 1991, followed by Thomas in 2002. The band's last studio album was the Christmas album December (2003), after which they decided against recording any further studio albums.[12] They continued to tour throughout the 2000s and later reunited periodically for events, one-off concerts, short tours and cruises, until Graeme Edge, the last remaining original member, retired in 2018.[13]
Clint Warwick died in 2004, followed by Ray Thomas in 2018, Graeme Edge in 2021, Denny Laine in 2023, and Mike Pinder in 2024.[14]
The Moody Blues have sold 70 million albums worldwide,[15] including 18 platinum and gold LPs. They produced 16 studio albums, six of which made the US Top 20 (with two reaching No. 1) and eight of which made the UK Top 20 (with three reaching No. 1).[16] They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, for "over 50 years of exhilarating and significant music that has influenced countless musicians and rocked fans around the world".[17]
Pre-history, 1958–1964[edit]
In 1958, rock and roll band El Riot & the Rebels formed in Birmingham, England, featuring vocalist and harmonica player Ray Thomas ("El Riot") and bassist John Lodge. At the beginning of 1963 they were joined by keyboardist Mike Pinder, who had just returned home from time in the army.[18][16] Other Birmingham rock and roll bands around during these years included Danny King & the Dukes (formed 1958), with bassist Clint Warwick,[19] Gerry Levine & the Avengers (formed 1959), with drummer Graeme Edge and future Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard member Roy Wood on guitar,[20] and Denny & the Diplomats (formed 1962), with vocalist and guitarist Denny Laine and another future Move and ELO member, drummer Bev Bevan.[21] El Riot & the Rebels split when Lodge went to technical college in 1963, with Thomas and Pinder forming a new band, the Krew Kats.[16]
At the end of 1963, after a disappointing spell in Hamburg, Germany, Thomas and Pinder began making plans to start a new band.[22] Meanwhile, by the beginning of 1964, Warwick, Edge and Laine had all left their previous bands and begun working together in a new band, the R&B Preachers.[16]
Hiatus and solo work, 1974–1977[edit]
Hayward and Lodge released a duo album, the successful Blue Jays in 1975, followed by a UK No. 8 charting non-album single, "Blue Guitar", featuring 10cc as the backing band.[52] The album had originally been intended as a Hayward and Pinder collaboration, but after Pinder dropped out, Lodge stepped in, with Tony Clarke producing.
Pinder said he hoped to get the band back together that year. "Having moved to California in 1974, I returned to Britain for a visit in summer 1975. I was trying to get the band to do an album, but the response was so weak I returned to California with my two new Mk5 Mellotrons and began work on my solo album The Promise."[53] The Promise was released in 1976.
Edge released two albums as the Graeme Edge Band, with Adrian Gurvitz on vocals and guitar and his brother Paul Gurvitz on bass, 1975's Kick Off Your Muddy Boots and 1976's Paradise Ballroom.
Thomas released two solo albums, both written in collaboration with songwriter Nicky James, From Mighty Oaks in 1975 and Hopes, Wishes and Dreams in 1976.
Following a successful UK tour as a duo, backed by some of the members of Providence, Hayward and Lodge both released solo albums in 1977, Songwriter (Hayward) and Natural Avenue (Lodge).
In 1976, Hayward recorded "Forever Autumn" for Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds at London's Advision Studios.[54] The album was released in 1978, with the song being released as a single and reaching No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart in August that year.[55]
Reunion, 1977–1991[edit]
Octave and departure of Pinder[edit]
In 1977, the group made a decision to record together again, with their record company Decca urging a reunion album. Decca in the UK and London in the US released Caught Live + 5 in 1977, a double album with three sides of a December 1969 live recording from the Royal Albert Hall and one side of five leftover studio tracks from the late 1960s. Decca/London did this in an attempt to revive interest in the Moody Blues before their anticipated new album, although the band themselves were not pleased by the release of Caught Live + 5, having already deemed it not good enough to be released when it was assembled several years earlier.[56]
By this time, Pinder had remarried and started a family in California, so for their reunion recording, the band decamped stateside with producer Clarke. The sessions were marked by tension and division: first there was a fire at the studios they were using, then after quickly relocating to Pinder's home studio, a landslide following torrential rains effectively marooned them, inevitably causing tensions to rise.[39]
Clarke had to leave for personal reasons before the album was completed, but by the spring of 1978 Octave was ready for release. Pinder, citing his young family, excused himself from the touring commitments that were to follow. His decision caused acrimony within the band (particularly from Edge). Ray Thomas said Pinder was initially agreeable to touring. His opting out (with a major comeback tour already planned) was a blow to the band. Their management tried to downplay Pinder's absence, notably at a major UK music press party Decca organised, when the top Decca dignitary guest, while making a "welcome back" speech, openly referred to "Mike Pinder being currently absent over in the States", much to the band's dismay.[39]
Later years, 1991–2018[edit]
Departure of Moraz and Court TV lawsuit[edit]
In 1991, during the recording of their new studio album, Patrick Moraz gave an interview with Keyboard magazine and made some comments in the article that suggested dissatisfaction with his role in the Moodies. His complaints ranged from the Moodies' music becoming too simple in structure to the other members' reluctance to allow him to make significant contributions to the songwriting on their albums. He also was occupied with spending large amounts of time planning a music concert to celebrate his native Switzerland's 700th anniversary instead of rehearsing with the Moodies — and as a result, he was fired from the group before the project was completed, so Boshell and new keyboardist Paul Bliss were brought in to finish the new album's keyboard tracks.
Despite having been credited and publicly presented as an official band member since he joined them in 1978, the Moody Blues have downplayed Moraz's place in their history since his departure, saying he was a backing musician and never a member of the band. All Moody Blues compilation albums released post-Moraz have credited him as an "additional musician" on the tracks he was part of, sometimes going so far as to include Moraz-era photos in their artwork with him cropped or airbrushed out of the photos.[59][60]
This attitude towards Moraz began when he took legal action against the band in 1992, claiming that in 1980 he and the other members had made an agreement that, like them, he was a "lifetime member" of the Moody Blues and could not be fired. The lawsuit was shown on Court TV, but Moraz was awarded only $77,175 in back pay due to accounting delays instead of the $500,000 he sought.[61]
Keys of the Kingdom and Strange Times[edit]
Keys of the Kingdom, released in 1991, had modest commercial success, peaking at No. 54 on the UK Albums Chart.[42] Once again, Hayward's songs led off the album, with the new singles "Say It with Love" and "Bless the Wings (That Bring You Back)". The album also included Thomas's first writing contributions since The Present in 1983, with an ambient flute piece, "Celtic Sonant", and the closing track "Never Blame the Rainbows for the Rain", co-written with Hayward. Lodge contributed three songs, "Magic", the ballad "Lean on Me (Tonight)" and the Lennonesque "Shadows on the Wall". Tony Visconti produced some of the tracks on the album, as did Christopher Neil and Alan Tarney. The ensuing tour saw them invited to play at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival, with a DVD of their performance released in 2005, followed by an album release in 2021.
The group remained a steady concert draw, and the album and video of their 1992 Night at Red Rocks concert enjoyed great success, particularly as a fund-raiser for public television in the US, where it had been first broadcast. The concert marked the first time the band had ever performed live with an orchestra. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Larry Baird, who was also the arranger for the show.
The group also continued their use of additional musicians on stage and in the studio. Following on from his contributions as keyboardist on the Keys of the Kingdom album, Paul Bliss continued to play keyboards for the band live, being promoted to first keyboardist in 2001 (but was replaced in March 2010 after 19 years' continuous service). Thomas and Bliss continued the tradition of a flute/keyboard duet for many tours. After Edge injured himself in 1991, second drummer Gordon Marshall was brought in to back him up; he stayed with the group after Edge returned and remained in the position until autumn 2015, when he left to play in a Moody Blues cover band, Legend of a Band, and another cover band, Reflections.
After the release of A Night at Red Rocks, the group took a break from recording and spent time trying to perfect the art of performing live with an orchestra. 1994 saw the release of the band's retrospective box set Time Traveller. In 1999 the Moodies' recording hiatus ended with the release of the album Strange Times, their first in almost two decades to be well received by British critics, although Justin Hayward was quoted as saying he was disappointed at the album's chart performance—it spent one week on the UK Albums Chart, at No. 92, and then dropped out.[42]
It was recorded in Recco, Italy, at Hayward's suggestion, and was the band's first self-produced effort. The album featured keyboards and arrangements from Italian musician Danilo Madonia, who continued to work in-studio with the band.
The album opened with "English Sunset", a pop song featuring a modern, nearly techno arrangement. Strange Times was also the first album since A Question of Balance in 1970 to include a new poem by Graeme Edge, "Nothing Changes", recited by Edge, with Hayward then singing the concluding portion of the track, and notably concluded by quoting Mike Pinder's 1968 song title "A Simple Game". Ray Thomas appeared vocally with Hayward and Lodge on "Sooner or Later (Walkin' on Air)" and his own brief song "My Little Lovely", plus provided a vocal snippet and backing vocals on "English Sunset".
In 1999, the Moody Blues appeared in The Simpsons episode Viva Ned Flanders.[62] In the following year they released Hall of Fame, a new live album from a concert at the Royal Albert Hall (with the World Festival Orchestra), with a concurrent DVD release. This was taken from the last tour on which Boshell played. He left the live line-up in 2001; Bliss took over first keyboard duties, with his former second keyboard role filled by Bernie Barlow, with Julie Ragins replacing Barlow when she took maternity leave from 2006 to 2009.
In 2001 an IMAX film, Journey into Amazing Caves, was released, featuring two new songs written and performed by the Moody Blues. The soundtrack also featured Justin Hayward on vocals and guitar throughout. One of these songs, entitled "Water", is the Moody Blues' first instrumental studio recording since their 1983 piece "Hole in the World" from The Present.
Post-2018[edit]
Graeme Edge died on 11 November 2021, at the age of 80.[73] Upon Edge's death, Justin Hayward announced that the Moody Blues had no longer been active since Edge had retired in 2018.[13][74] Edge was the only member to remain with the band from formation to ending.
Denny Laine, the Moody Blues' original singer and guitarist, died on 5 December 2023, at the age of 79.[75]
Mike Pinder, the last surviving original member of the band, died on 24 April 2024, at the age of 82.[76]
Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Patrick Moraz and Rod Clark all remain active in music.
Moody Bluegrass[edit]
The Moody Bluegrass project is a group of Nashville artists who have recorded two tribute albums of Moody Blues songs in the bluegrass style. The first album, Moody Bluegrass – A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues, was released in 2004. Those involved included Alison Krauss, Harley Allen, Tim O'Brien, John Cowan, Larry Cordle, Jan Harvey, Emma Harvey, Sam Bush and Jon Randall.
A second Moody Bluegrass album, Moody Bluegrass Two...Much Love, was released in 2011. In addition to many of the participants of the first album, a number of tracks included guest performances from Hayward, Lodge and Edge, (each of whom is credited as the lead vocalist on one song) plus Thomas and Pinder, making this the first time since 1978 that these five musicians all appeared on one newly recorded album.[81]
