{"id":29753,"date":"2025-08-25T05:30:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T09:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29753"},"modified":"2025-08-14T13:47:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:47:33","slug":"take-five-early-moody-blues-classics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/25\/take-five-early-moody-blues-classics\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: Early Moody Blues Classics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Moody Blues are best known as the group that made the groundbreaking <em>Days of Future Passed<\/em>, followed by a remarkable string of popular albums (known among the band and fans as \u201cthe core seven\u201d), all between 1967 and 1972. After taking a hiatus following the release of 1972\u2019s <em>Seventh Sojourn<\/em>, the band returned briefly for 1978\u2019s <em>Octave<\/em>, and then went silent again. The Moodys returned yet again in 1981, enjoying an MTV-era resurgence in popularity that sustained them through the decade. By 2003 the band had released its final studio album, December, but the band continued as a live act until the 2018 retirement of drummer and founding member Graeme Edge.<\/p>\n<p>Yet casual fans may not know that The Moody Blues had a modestly successful career even before Days of Future Passed. Launched in 1964 in Birmingham, England, the early lineup of the band created music in more of an r&amp;b- and British Invasion style. In that period, the group turned out a successful album and a succession of singles that hinted at the direction they\u2019d soon take. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the release of <em>The Magnificent Moodies<\/em>, here are five pre-<em>Days of Future Passed<\/em> classics from the band.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cGo Now\u201d (1965)<\/strong><br \/>\nFar and away the most well-known early Moody Blues recordings, \u201cGo Now\u201d is in fact a cover. Music legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced the original recording by Bessie Banks; released in 1964, her recording made it to the lower reaches of the U.S. R&amp;B singles chart. Later that year The Moody Blues covered it; their version \u2013 with Denny Laine\u2019s heart-rending lead vocal \u2013 made it to the No. 1 spot on the UK singles chart. (As documented on the 1976 triple LP <em>Wings Over America<\/em>, Laine would sing the song on tour in the \u201870s with Paul McCartney and Wings.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V2L3UzM_FfE?si=pAxSiZ9YAc64eoFW\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cTime is on My Side\u201d (1965)<\/strong><br \/>\nRock-era fans may incorrectly assume that \u201cTime is on My Side\u201d is a Rolling Stones original. In fact the song was composed by Jerry Ragovoy in 1963. Jazz artist Kai Winding was the first to record it; Irma Thomas cut the second version. The Stones recorded their version in June 1964, releasing it in September of that year. In 1965, The Moodies\u2019 \u201cTime is on My Side\u201d was released as the B-side of \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Go On Without You,\u201d scoring a minor hit single (No. 33) in the UK.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LUOkl6WhMB8?si=YagLYQZ7M0i0ILLm\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cBoulevard de la Madeleine\u201d (1966)<\/strong><br \/>\nWith gentle acoustic guitar flourishes, strums of a zither and distinctly Parisian flavor, \u201cBoulevard de la Madeleine\u201d wasn\u2019t included on the original band\u2019s sole UK or U.S. albums. It did, however, provide the title for a European-released LP, <em>On Boulevard de la Madeline<\/em>. In England, the song appeared as the B-side of 1967\u2019s non-album single \u201cThis is My House (But Nobody Calls).\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xpMoLsxxIog?si=pYStXl1FZIj2xtBh\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cLife\u2019s Not Life\u201d (1967)<\/strong><br \/>\nThe final single from the Moody Blues with Denny Laine on lead vocals, \u201cLife\u2019s Not Life\u201d has hints of the baroque touches that would figure into the band\u2019s style going forward. But the song is still rooted in r&amp;b-flavored pop. Released in 1967, the song wasn\u2019t included on an LP until the 21st century. Produced by Denny Cordell, the tune was a co-write by Laine and keyboardist Mike Pinder.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/95lQ6-UC8-c?si=AWqUypOYnqPh7s6H\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cFly Me High\u201d (1967)<\/strong><br \/>\nA track that truly bridges the first and second phases of The Moody Blues, \u201cFly Me High\u201d was released as a single in 1967, and featured the group\u2019s newest members, guitarist Justin Hayward (on lead vocals) and bassist John Lodge. Never released on an album during the band\u2019s original run, \u201cFly Me High\u201d is a true obscurity that failed to chart anywhere in the world. But it\u2019s a fine pop number that \u2013 viewed with hindsight \u2013 provides a preview of the Moodies\u2019 upcoming proto-progressive sound.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V_GDcGnaCfM?si=RchZt0S0klMfc3tq\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Moody Blues are best known as the group that made the groundbreaking Days of Future Passed, followed by a remarkable string of popular albums (known among the band and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1512],"class_list":["post-29753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-moody-blues","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29753"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29754,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29753\/revisions\/29754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}