The Moody Blues

This was originally released in 1965 and the band have changed out of all recognition in 50 years – no mellotrons, no Justin Hayward, no space cadet themes, just what Donovan (!) called ‘contemporary Blues’ in his sleeve notes.

The band still have the musicians that are always associated with the band – Denny Laine on vocals and guitar plus harmonica, Mike Pinder’s keyboards, Ray Thomas on flute and woodwinds, Graeme Edge on drums (John Lodge joined later) but they sound almost hesitant. They are still forming and the ideas are borrowed from many other bands of the time – a touch of Animals here or Searchers there as well as lots of Billy Fury in the vocals – but they are definitely more than just a bunch of copyists and on the classic ‘Go Now’ you do hear the band working as a unit. The band were professionals at a time when there were 300 bands in Birmingham, the majority of them working for peanuts, and finding a way to be heard was a problem – so much so that they actually split up around the time this album was released. They had all been in bands before including El Riot & The Rebels who toured with the Beatles but as The Moody Blues they wanted to make the thing happen.

The album is good, plenty of different moods and styles and with some fine playing. They do a remarkable version of Gershwin’s ‘Ain’t Necessarily So’ and hit a great Bo Diddley groove on ‘True Story’ but the bonus tracks are almost better than the album tracks including singles and ‘B’ sides and a brilliant ‘Time is on my side’.

The booklet that accompanies the album is, as usual, excellent and kudos to the label for leaving the album in mono even though the digital remastering is clean and clear.

This is the sound of a band in transition, a formative album but not really the done deal. Add Justin Heyward on vocals and guitar and let Mike Pinder develop his playing and the results are what many have been listening to for years.