MOODY BLUES:

Denny Laine (guitar, vocals)Michael Pinder (keyboards, vocals)Ray Thomas (harmonica, saxophone, flute, vocals)Clint Warwick (bass, vocals)Graeme Edge (drums)

(1964)April The nucleus of the band is formed by Laine (b. Brian Frederick Hines, Oct. 29, 1944, Tyseley, Birmingham, W. Midlands, UK), who has just disbanded his group Denny And The Diplomats, with Thomas (b. Dec. 29, 1942, Stourport-on-Severn, Hereford & Worcs, UK.) and Pinder (b. Dec. 27, 1941, Birmingham, W. Midlands, UK), who have both been playing in local outfits El Riot & The Rebels and The Krewcats, and have just returned from a year’s residence at Hamburg’s Top Ten club.May (4) Rehearsals begin with the addition of drummer Edge (b. Mar. 30, 1942, Rochester, Staffs, UK), who has previously been a member of Gerry Levene & The Avengers and bass player Warwick (b. Clint Eccles, Jun. 25, 1940, Birmingham, W. Midlands, UK), formerly a member of The Rainbows. The group quickly gains a residency at the Carlton Ballroom in Birmingham, initially billed as The M&B Five, apparently in the hope of gaining sponsorship from local brewers Mitchell and Butler. Laine, who has pushed the band’s sound towards the blues and jazz of London based groups, decides soon afterwards to re-name the band after a Slim Harpo song titled Moody Blue and The M&B Five becomes The Moody Blues Five. August The band attracts the attention of London manager Tony Secunda, who secures The Moody Blues (as they now call themselves), a residency at London’s Marquee club on Monday nights, where they replace Manfred Mann. Through their prestigious ‘live’ work at the club, the band quickly attracts the attention of Decca Records which signs the group. Shortly afterwards The Moody Blues record their debut single, the Pinder-Laine composition Lose Your Money which the band performs on ITV’s Ready Steady Go!. September (3) The group plays its first show at the Marquee in London.(11) The Moody Blues appear at Birmingham’s Town Hall alongside The Spencer Davis Group and headliners Alexis Korner Incorporated.October (4) The band plays at the Marquee in London.(30) The Moody Blues appear at the Crawdaddy club in Richmond, Surrey.November After Lose Your Money fails to chart, the group records a cover of Bessie Banks’s US R&B hit, Go Now, which has been given to the band by New York disc-jockey B. Mitchell Reed during a visit to the UK.December (7) The group appears at the Marquee in London.

(1965)January (8) The group begins a 24-date, twice-nightly tour with Chuck Berry at the Odeon Theatre, London, which will end January 31 at the Regal Theatre, Edmonton, London. (28) Go Now, produced by Denny Cordell (although it’s credited to Alex Murray), tops the UK chart.February The band quickly releases I Don’t Want To Go On Without You, a revival of a Drifters’ b-side as a follow up single, but it only reaches UK #33. Part of the single’s failure can be attributed to the simultaneous release of identical covers by The Searchers and The Escorts. (The group is unhappy with recording because Thomas’s flute solo has been inexplicably erased from the final pressing.) March (8) The Moody Blues make their first live broadcast on BBC Radio’s Joe Loss Pop Show.

April Go Now holds down anchor position in a unique US Top 10 in which 9 of the singles are from the UK.(11) The group takes part in the annual New Musical Express poll winners concert at the Empire Pool, London, with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Animals among others.May The band releases an EP, which features both sides of the group’s debut single plus the a-sides of the previous 2 releases.(24) The Moody Blues take part in the British Song Festival at the Dome, Brighton, E. Sussex.June (5) The band guests on ITV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars, where it introduces its new single, the Pinder-Laine collaboration From The Bottom Of My Heart.(15) The Moody Blues join The Rolling Stones for a 4-date tour of Scotland alongside The Hollies, The Cannon Brothers and The Checkmates. The tour begins at the Odean Theatre, Glasgow.(16) The group performs at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh.(17) The Moody Blues appear at the Caird Hall, Dundee.(18) The final date takes place at the Capitol Theatre, Aberdeen. (While the Stones prepare for a short tour of Scandinavia, The Moody Blues return to London in order to fly to New York for their debut US appearance.)(19) The group makes its US debut with The Kinks, at the Academy of Music in New York.July From The Bottom Of My Heart is released and climbs to UK #22 and US #93. The Moody Blues’ debut album Magnificent Moodies, which has been produced by Denny Cordell is released to coincide with the single but fails to chart. In the US the album is released as Go Now and features a different track listing. August (1) The Moody Blues perform at the London Palladium with The Rolling Stones, The Fourmost, Steampacket and others.(6) The group plays on the opening day of the fifth annual National Jazz & Blues Festival at the Richmond Athletic Ground, Richmond, Surrey. September (6) The band signs a management contract with NEMS.(21) The Moody Blues participate in Pop From Britain concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames and The Fourmost.(30) The Moody Blues replace Unit 4 Plus 2 for 3 dates on The Rolling Stones UK tour. The first date takes place at the Gaumont Theatre, Hanley, Staffs. Also on the tour are The Spencer Davis Group, The End and The Habits.October (1) The band appears at the ABC Theatre, Chester, Cheshire.(2) The group’s final appearance takes place at the ABC Theatre, Wigan, Lancashire. Unit 4 Plus 2 return to the tour immediately afterwards.November The Laine-Pinder composition Everyday only reaches UK #44, despite becoming a turntable hit on pirate radio.December (3) The group supports The Beatles on their final UK tour, a 9-date twice-nightly package, which opens at Glasgow’s Odeon cinema and ends on December 12 at the Capital cinema, Cardiff, Wales.(19) The Moody Blues appear on CBS TV’s Ed Sullivan Show.

(1966)March (8) The group appears at the Montreux Golden Rose TV festival.April Another Laine-Pinder track Stop! is lifted from the UK album and released as a US single, where it spends a week on the Hot 100 at #98. (The song incidentally, is later covered by singer Julie Grant but is not a success). Secunda leaves at this point to work with The Move and is replaced by The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. However, he fails to lift the

group’s flagging career and as a result The Moody Blues are forced to “drastically reduce their engagement fees.”(2) The Moody Blues appear at the Club Continental, Eastbourne.May (1) The band performs at the Oasis in Manchester.(30) The group plays at the Pavilion in Bath, Avon.June (4) Melody Maker announces that the group has undertaken a short tour of Belgium, including a TV appearance from the Casino at Knokke. The magazine also reports that the band is due to appear at the Paris Olympia on June 12.(15) The Moody Blues perform at the Bromel club, the Bromley Court Hotel, Kent.(21) The band appears at a commerative ball at Oxford University.(24) The group plays at London’s Ram Jam club. Warwick, who is disillusioned by the band’s drop in fortunes, leaves the group and quits the music business. After Klaus Voorman decides not to join, he is replaced by Rod Clarke from Les Garcons, although Pinder and Thomas’s former El Riot & The Rebels cohort John Lodge (b. July 20, 1945, Birmingham, W. Midlands, UK) is rumoured to have been offered the original slot.July (9) Pinder and Laine’s This Is My House (But Nobody Calls) (the intended b-side of the band’s forthcoming UK single) is issued in the US hitting #119. On the same day, Clarke makes his debut at the Lacarno in London. (14) The Moody Blues appear at the Villa Marina in Coventry, W. Midlands. (30) The group appears at the Riverside Dance Club in Douglas, the Isle of Man.August (6) The Moody Blues begin a 9-day tour of Denmark. September (3) Returning to the UK, the band appears at the Black Prince in Tenbury Wells.(15) The band plays at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, Holland. (28) The Moody Blues appear at the Flamingo in London, in what is probably one of, it not, the last show to feature Denny Laine.October The group decides to recruit Lodge as a permanent replacement for Warwick. Lodge, who has remained in higher education since the band’s split in February 1963, has subsequently playing in local bands The Carpetbaggers, The John Bull Breed and The Falcons. Laine meanwhile, anticipating Brian Wilson’s role in The Beach Boys decides to concentrate on writing and studio work. He is replaced by Justin Hayward (b. David Justin Hayward, Oct. 14, 1946, Swindon, Wilts, UK), who has played in a number of Swindon bands – The Riversiders, The Rebels, The Whispers, The Shots and All Things Bright before joining Marty Wilde’s Wildcats for two days. He then joins Marty Wilde and his wife in The Marty Wilde Three, who record the singles Since You’ve Gone and I Cried for Decca Records and on 8 April 1966 plays alongside Wilde at a charity show at the London Palladium. Hayward leaves to sign a solo deal with Pye A&R chief Alan Freeman and manager Lonnie Donegan. This results in a one-off single London Is Behind Me, before Hayward signs to Parlophone, which releases a second single I Can’t Face The World Without You. When both singles fail, Hayward writes to Eric Burdon to inquire about a position in his New Animals. Burdon, with his band already signed-up, passes Hayward’s name onto Mike Pinder. (8) Record Mirror reports that Laine has officially left The Moody Blues. He will quickly emerge with an amplified backing group The Electric String Band - a predecessor and major influence on The Electric Light Orchestra.(12) Decca releases the group’s first single in over a year, the French-flavoured Boulevard De La Madelaine, written by Pinder and Laine but it isn’t a hit. The Moody Blues move to Belgium to perform some gigs and to avoid the UK taxman. The Band continues to perform its old R&B repertoire despite Laine’s departure and the recent changes in the UK ‘music scene’. December The group performs in France, where it’s still very popular.

(1967)January (14) Decca releases another Pinder-Laine collaboration Life’s Not Life, which is withdrawn shortly afterwards.February (18) The group appears at the Plaza Ballroom in Birmingham with the Traction and The Attack.March (22) The Moody Blues play at Middle Earth in London.(30) The group drops the old repertoire (and suits) in favour of a new musical style. The band records Hayward’s Fly Me High and Pinder’s Really Haven’t Got The Time with new producer Tony Clarke as a prospective single.April The band signs up (along with The Supremes and Ray Charles) to promote Coca-Cola in the teen market. The company’s $10 million campaign requires each artist to record a radio jingle in their own style but featuring the slogan Things Go Better With Coke. The band embarks on a gruelling tour of the Northern club circuit, including a spot at Newcastle’s Cavendish club. (14) Denny Laine releases his debut single with The Electric String Band Say You Don’t Mind which fails to chart; although ex Zombies singer Colin Blunstone will later score a top twenty hit with it in 1972.May (5) The Moody Blues release their first single with the new line-up, Fly Me High which is not a success despite being a popular radio hit. The band embarks on a brief tour of Scandinavia.(19) The band shares a double bill with former group leader Denny Laine at London club, Tiles.(27) Plans are unveiled for the group to appear on a US colour TV special as Fly Me High is given an American release.June (12) The Moody Blues appear at Christ College, Cambridge with The Who and The Herd.(22) The band appears at Middle Earth with Pink Floyd.(29) The group records Hayward’s Leave This Man Alone.July (9) The band plays at the Roundhouse with Pink Floyd and The Outer Limits.(17) The Moody Blues record Pinder’s ambitious Love & Beauty, which is the first track to feature the band’s characteristic symphonic sound, created with the use of the mellotron. Shortly afterwards the band introduces its new style at the Glastonbury Festival and is an immediate success.(29) The group performs at the London club, the Upper Cut with The Maze.August The Moody Blues embark on a ‘summer’ tour of France. The group appears at the Midem Music Festival in Cannes performing most of the songs that will subsequently appear on its forthcoming album. September (7) The group opens for The Pink Floyd at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London.(22) The Moody Blues release Pinder’s Love & Beauty as a single, but it isn’t a hit. October (8) Signed to Decca’s new progressive label, Deram, the band begins work on its first album in over two years, recording Hayward’s epic Nights In White Satin. The group were originally invited to record a stereo version of Dvorak’s New World Symphony with classical backing from The London Festival Orchestra, conducted by Peter Knight, but is allowed to record its stage show, loosely based around a day in the life of a fictional character, instead.

(1968)January Extracted from the album, Hayward’s Nights In White Satin climbs to UK #19 as parent album reaches #27.

(12) Laine meanwhile, disbands The Electric String Band after his second solo single Too Much In Love and moves to Spain to study flamenco guitar.(20) The group travels to France to appear at the Midem Music Festival in Cannes, later that week.February (3) The Moody Blues begin a UK tour at the Nelson Imperial, Lancashire. The tour will conclude at Reading University on March 15.(10) In the US Nights In White Satin only reaches #103.March (22) The Moody Blues perform at Middle Earth, Covent Garden, London.May (4) Days Of Future Past enters the US chart at #3 and earns the group its first gold disk, during a chart run of 102 weeks. June Hayward’s Voices In The Sky is lifted from the band’s forthcoming album and reaches UK #27.(29) The Moody Blues make a rare concert appearance at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.August The group’s third album, In Search Of The Lost Chord, another concept album, climbs to UK #5. (The band is performing in the former Czechoslovakia at the time and when the Russian army moves in are quickly asked to leave the country by the British Consulate.)September Hayward’s Tuesday Afternoon is taken from Days Of Future Past and belatedly released as a US single, where it hits #24. In Search Of A Lost Chord, rises to US #23 and earns a second gold disk.October (11) The group records non-album track A Simple Game, written by Mike Pinder. (21-24) The band is supported by Chicago at the Fillmore West, San Francisco.(25-26) The group flies to New York City to appear at the Fillmore East with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Rhinoceros.November (1) Having supported Cream during their final US tour, the group appears at Madison Square Gardens, New York, for Cream’s final US date. Ride My See Saw, written by Lodge, is extracted from the new album and makes US #61.December Ride My See Saw hits UK #42. The single’s b-side A Simple Game is later a UK #3 for The Four Tops with Clarke producing. (The Four Tops will also cover another Mike Pinder song, So Deep Within You from The Moody Blues’ next album). The band performs its final US dates in Vancouver, Canada.

(1969)March (11) The group appears at the Grand Gala Du Disque, Amsterdam, Holland on a bill including Gladys Knight & The Pips.April Hayward’s Never Comes The Day is released as a single but fails to chart.May On The Threshold Of A Dream tops the UK chart for 2 weeks and climbs to US #20 during a 136-week chart run, the Moody Blues’ third gold disk.July Never Comes The Day reaches US #91. Denny Laine meanwhile returns from Spain and joins ex Move member Trevor Burton in Balls.August (30) The Moody Blues play on the opening day of the Isle Of Wight Festival, UK.October Hayward and Thomas’s Watching And Waiting is the first single to be released on the group’s own Threshold label.December The Moody Blues’ new album To Our Children’s Children’s Children hits UK #2 as the band moves to Cobham, Surrey to open the first Threshold record store.(12) The band performs at the Royal Albert Hall, London, during a UK tour. The concert is recorded (and released as part of Caught Live Plus 5 in June 1977).

(1970)January The group’s new album is released in the US and makes #14 becoming the band’s fourth gold disk

March (20-21) The band is supported by Argent and Lee Michaels at New York’s Fillmore East.April (2/11) The Moody Blues are supported by Richie Havens at the Berkeley Community Theatre, California.May Hayward’s dramatic Question hits UK #2, held from the top by the England World Cup Squad’s Back Home. Laine, who has recently joined Ginger Baker’s Airforce sings lead vocal on their cover of Bob Dylan’s Man Of Constant Sorrow which hits US #85 on May 30.June Question reaches US #21. August The Moody Blues’ new album A Question Of Balance, written and recorded in 5 weeks, hits UK #1 for 3 weeks. (30) The group plays on the final day of the second Isle Of Wight Festival. September A Question Of Balance makes US #3 and earns the band its fifth gold disk.October (30) The band performs at London’s Royal Festival Hall. December (3) The Moody Blues embark on a US tour making their Carnegie Hall, New York debut on December 14.

(1971)August Laine joins Paul McCartney’s Wings.

(1974)February After two further albums, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971) and Seventh Sojourn (1972), which both earn a gold disk, and a 9-month world tour, The Moody Blues decide to split for the time being to concentrate on solo projects. (Hayward’s solo career will be the most enduring and successful).

(1978)June The band re-unites for a new album, Octave which hits UK #6 and US #13, and becomes the Moody Blues’ first platinum disk. However, during the recording of the album, producer Tony Clarke leaves followed soon afterwards by Mike Pinder; both have been closely identified with the development of the band’s symphonic sound. Pinder is replaced by ex Refugee member Patrick Moraz, who remains with The Moody Blues into the ‘80s, and helps them to become one of the top selling bands of the decade. Pinder meanwhile, remains in the US and emerges in 1995 with second solo effort Among The Stars.

SOURCES:

Time Machine, August 1965, by Johnny Black, Mojo Magazine, August 1995.Call Up The Groups - The Golden Age Of British Beat (1962-1967) , by Alan Clayson, Blandford Press, 1985.Denny Laine, by Alan Clayson, Record Collector, #191, July 1995.Time Machine, October 1966, by Fred Dellar, Mojo Magazine October 1996.Collectable 45s of the Swinging ‘60s, by Pete Dickerson and Mike Gordon, The Vintage Record Centre, 1984.Art Of Rock - Posters From Presley To Punk, by Paul D Grushkin, Artabras, Cross River Press Ltd, 1987.The Castle - Love #2, by David Peter Housden, 1993.The Castle - Love #9, by David Peter Housden, 1995.The Moody Blues UK Singles & UK Albums, by Tim Joseph, Record Collector, #81 & 82, April & May 1986.Karnbach, James and Bernson, Carol. The Complete Recording Guide To The Rolling Stones. Aurum Press, 1997, pages 111, 112 and 115.Pink Floyd In The Flesh book, page 43.The Moody Blues, by John Reed, Record Collector, November 1996, #207, pages 64-71.

Book Of Rock Stars, 2nd Edition, by Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton, Guinness Publishing Ltd, 1991.Sleeve notes to album This Is The Moody Blues, by John Tracy, 1989.Joel Whitburn’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 1959-1985, by Joel Whitburn, Billboard Record Research Inc, 1985.Joel Whitburn’s Pop Annual 1955-1994, by Joel Whitburn, Billboard Record Research Inc, 1995.Disc, May 27, 1967, page 4.Melody Maker, March 5, 1966, pages 5; April 2, 1966, page 13; June 4, 1966, page 5; June 11, 1966, page 13; June 25, 1966, page 13; May 20, 1967, page 5; July 29, 1967, page 12; January 6, 1968, page 3 and March 23, 1968, page 14.NME, week ending January 20, 1968.

Copyright © Nick Warburton, 2008. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author