Article published June 23, 2005
Hardship inspired Moody sound
Tonight's concert follows a successul Moody Blues show at the Toledo Zoo last year.
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By DAVID YONKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER
In November, 1967, the Moody Blues ventured into a new musical realm with the album "Days of Future Passed," a seamless series of songs that blended classical, rock, and pop music with theatrical and science-fiction elements.
The record was a phenomenonal success, spending two years on the Billboard chart, producing the hit songs "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin," and establishing the Moody Blues - who will be in concert tonight at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheater - as a group with a unique sound and artistic vision.
But guitarist Justin Hayward said it wasn't as though the band members had set such lofty goals.
"In truth, the impetus was that we were absolutely broke," Hayward said in an interview this week. "I was back living with my parents. I was the only one with an amplifier when I came to the Moodys. So I think it was just a necessity."
The British band had been founded in Birmingham, England, in 1964 by guitarist Denny Laine, whose musical style was based on American blues. When Laine left in 1966, eventually joining Paul McCartney in Wings, original Moody Blues members Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas, and Graeme Edge brought in Hayward and bassist John Lodge.
It was time to rethink the Moodys' musical style, Hayward said by phone from a tour stop in Atlanta."It took us a while to shake it off and realize we were not good at rhythm and blues. Denny was the voice of that. And when he left, the rest of us were looking for an identity," Hayward said. "I realized that singing about the people in the Deep South of America 100 years ago was not from the heart. A lot of British bands still do it, and do it very well, but it was a short road to oblivion for us."
The Moody Blues wrote a stage show that was designed to be presented in two 45-minute sets. Then Decca Records asked the group to record a rock version of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" as a way to demonstrate the label's high-quality sound recordings.
The band agreed, then dumped Dvorak and fused its rock-and-roll stage show with classical music, resulting in the hybrid of "Days of Future Passed." Helping make such a project possible was the newly available Mellotron, one of the first electronic keyboards that could create orchestral sounds.
The Moody Blues went on to record 18 Platinum albums, selling more than a million copies each, including "In Search of the Lost Chord," "On the Threshhold of a Dream," "To Our Children's Children's Children," "A Question of Balance," and "Seventh Sojourn."
In the Moodys' 40-year career, the band has sold more than 55 million albums.
"We appreciate it and to be in a great band that does your songs great, maybe you can't ask for more. Shorter tours, maybe," Hayward said.
The latest twist for the Moody Blues is a collection of their songs covered by bluegrass artists, suitably titled "Moody Bluegrass." Performers include such standouts as Alison Krauss, Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan, and Sam Bush.
"I was vaguely aware of it when it was being made, but I didn't really pay much attention to it," Hayward said. "And then when it was finished, they sent it to me, and I got it during the British tour last year after a gig, and I was really moved by it. They presented the Moodys in a very different way."
He said the musical style was so different from what he is used to that he's glad he did not get involved in the recording. "I would have corrected all of the little chords they do and it just wouldn't have been as good as the way they were able to do it."
Tonight's concert follows a successul Moody Blues show at the Toledo Zoo last year, again featuring three key players Hayward, Lodge, and Edge.
The Moody Blues will be in concert at 7:30 tonight in the Toledo Zoo Amphitheater. Tickets are $32.50 and $47.50. Information: 419-474-1333.
Contact David Yonke at: dyonke@theblade.com or 419-724-6154.
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