It’s as though no time has passed and we’re speaking with The Moody Blues’ bassist/vocalist/songwriter. The conversation is as fresh and melodious and relevant as if it were 1977, or 1986, or any time in the past… and in a way, maybe that is what they were hinting at with the title of their seminal prog. rock LP, Days of Future Passed.
There is a journey within every Moody Blues album that is like no other. Each record ebbs and flows with an atmospheric quality and an imaginative musicality that has made them quintessential pieces of musical history – particularly progressive rock and classic rock. There is not one song that Moodies released that doesn’t have a dreaminess to it, or an almost soothing eeriness. Lodge, at 81 years old, is a kindred spirit and timeless musician, and he is keeping the opportunity to experience those very soundscapes alive by touring alongside a band of qualified instrumentalists.
Above all, he is a musician who loves music and a performer who loves performing, but Lodge is also an Englishman at heart. His roots are what shaped song after song, album after album, show after show. He pays tribute to such on tour today, heavily including the deceased members of the band – his late, great creative brothers, his friends, his fellow Moodies.
The Aquarian had a chance to speak to the original founding member of the band, John Lodge, and chat about the 50th anniversary of one of their most beloved records, of which he is touring in full right now and bringing to our backyard of Englewood, New Jersey, on Friday night.
John, you’re coming back to the Greater New York City area in a few weeks. We’re here, too, right in New Jersey, and we know people are going to be coming out and traveling from the Big Apple and beyond to catch Days of Future Passed live. Do you enjoy playing New York and the surrounding area? Does it feel a little more special or exciting after all this time? We’re a little biased, of course!
New York has always been special. Growing up in England, New York was seen as a big magnet for English musicians, and English people in general, actually. I remember going there the first time; it was so exciting. We made a lot of friends in those days playing small clubs and eventually we got to play Madison Square Garden – with even more friends, of course. There’s a vibe about New York. It has an energy about it. The whole area rocks [Laughs]. New York was built on that. I remember when we went to the Fillmore East for the first time, and I remember it well because my eyes were opened big and wide to New York after tht.
I love that. There’s still such a big artistic scene and community of friends and creatives. A lot of those are inspired by the Moody Blues, I am sure. I bet the people coming out to these shows even have a longevity with the band, since you all played here quite a bit over the decades.
It has been fantastic. Every time we came out this way it was fantastic. I just loved going to New York privately, as well – oing to the theaters and restaurants and walking down different places, going to Soho and the shops, visiting the clothing shops, [Laughs]. everywhere where there is music. It has an energy about it. You can walk most places in New York, too, and when you leave one area and go into another area, there is something different being offered. It’s inspiring.
We all love having you out this way. Since we’re talking about the tour, you’re doing Days of Future Passed in full again during these shows. It’s such a tribute to your work and also the work of your bandmates – past and present. Having performed with your Moodies, as well as a variety of different artists, friends, peers, and people of the like, how important are those relationships?
As a band, as the Moody Blues, everything was fantastic together. When you sit down and play a new song to the other guys, you feel like you are standing there pretty naked and thinking, “I wonder if they’re gonna like this song,” or they’re going say, “No, not this.” We never had that in the Moody Blues. If one of us came up with a song and sat down and played it with the guys, it almost immediately became a Moody Blues song.; it wasn’t the writer’s song anymore, it was the band’s song. It was a fantastic way of being in a band where you knew everyone else in the band was gonna give their utmost inspiration – not just musicianship, but they would have inspiration and creativity that they felt comfortable bringing to your song. It worked for everyone in the band, and for 50 years, that was what was fantastic about being a Moody, you know?
Absolutely. To have that ability to be yourself as an artist and have everybody around you only make you better is special and rare.
It is, because we all start the same [Laughs]. In whatever you do in your life, you need encouragement and love and respect. That’s what happened. That’s what we had in the Moody Blues. When you are on stage, you know that everybody is gonna be playing the best they can do at that moment in time on stage. That was how it was every time.
That respect and mutual inspiration is definitely integral to the longevity of The Moody Blues. Your passion is evident now, so as a group of passionate musicians and friends, the Moodies were unstoppable for a good reason.
Yes, and in songs like “Legend of Our Mind,” which was written by Ray Thomas, there are lyrics about Timothy Leary. Ray had not met him, he’d only read about him, so, in a way, there was a naivety about approaching really big subjects like Timothy Leary. It grew and grew and grew, though. I play the song on stage as a tribute to Ray and to keep Ray’s music alive, because Ray and I first went when I was 15. We formed a band when I was 15 years of age, so it was a long time of being friends and a long time of being musical friends, inspirational friends. We had to care about what each other were doing and bringing to the band.
That’s so beautiful and brings me to my next question, John. How emotional is a tour like this one, a tour where you’re playing these original songs of yours and the Moodies, and honoring not just your bandmates, but your friends? Is there a lot of emotion going about these shows?
When I decided to do Days of Future Passed on the road, I tried to think of what the hook was. “What’s gonna make this really work for me?” The Moody Blues, I realized, had become me and Graham Edge, the drummer. I went to Graham and said, “Graham, if you could, would you go in the studio and record your poetry from Days of Future Passed? If you do, and I record it and I film you recording the drum poetry, you will always have a place on stage with me.” So when I’m on stage, the video screens are behind me and Graham’s face comes on the screen. That is emotional. It really stops me in my tracks every night. I think it does the same to the audience, you know? To see and hear Graham saying, “Breathe deep,” and going into his poetry, it’s a poignant moment on the stage.
Wow. I know fans can’t wait to experience that. You’re reminding us all that the Moody Blues are the Moody Blues – a group of individual talents and relationships that came together.
Yeah, it is not one of us. It’s the Moody Blues. We floated around on our own, but while we were floating round, we came together and became the Moody Blues. It’s still the Moody Blues.
I love Days of Future Passed. It’s such a special album that showcases how you all united as one, as well. There’s a lot to revisit on the album, too. Why take it on the road, though, and why celebrate Days of Future Passed and not, On the Threshold or A Question of Balance or a different album? ,
Well, I think the whole of the album is such a major statement from in the day and the life. When I’m performing it today on stage, it’s special. I’ve released a new version of it, too. There’s a Days of Future Passed vinyl for the anniversary. It’s a new vinyl, double fold, and on 180 gram vinyl. We figured we’d try it out in rehearsals. It went well. We played the show for the first time. Then I realized that, in a way it was, it was my life in there. From then to this day, it was my life, from writing it then to performing it now, and it was sort of full circle. We came to the same point, but on a different level. That’s what I thought about Days of Future Passed – it captured who I was myself. I thought, “That’s probably what it does for everyone who likes the album. They can go back to when they heard it. They realize that they can identify themselves with the album even now.” […] I think the audience joins in with the band when we are all there, too. Some of us are on stage and some of us are in the audience, but we are all part of the same thing, we are all part of the same music.
It was a moment in your life that still feels like a moment worth sharing. You, as a person and musician, haven’t really changed.
And the album feels like yesterday.
This album also set the tone, I think, for what the Moody Blues would become. That has an impact in and of itself, I believe.
Yeah. It came out as FM radio was just starting, and we thought, “There’s a radio where all the pop bands and pop songs are being played, which are great and fabulous.” It was great and fabulous, but it wasn’t us. We decided to go on a different road and see where that road was gonna take us, where this album was gonna take us. We had no idea, but 56 years later, as we say, we’re still going through it as an incredible journey.
It has been an incredible journey – one that you all played a role in. That reminds me a bit about a song from a little bit later in your catalog, which is “Tortoise and the Hare.” To me, that song is very evidently ‘Moody Blues,’ because it reflects on the fact that if you do what you love and stick to your guns, you’re doing something right and you’re going to last forever, and that’s exactly what happened.
Thank you very much. You the first person I’ve heard to state that, and I love it. Thank you very much. That song was about traveling a different road and believing in it; not to worry about everybody else was doing and what was going on. Others may be faster, bigger, richer, or more in the media than you. Why would it matter, though? It doesn’t affect me, so let’s make our own roads.. That’s what “Tortoise” was totally about.
Exactly, and if you believe in the path that you’re on, stay the course, because it will take you somewhere.
Ah, yes. That’s right. That’s what is what we did. It’s been fantastic. Thank you,
You’re so welcome. So, John, the Moody Blues were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame six years ago, which actually feels like yesterday to me. That was no small feat. Did you ever think, when starting out with the band in the sixties, that you would one day be a Hall of Fame group, let alone still touring, still performing these classic songs?
No! [Laughs] To be honest, I never thought about the future. It was always the moment that I was living in, and today it’s still the same. It’s the moment that I’m living in because nobody can predict the future. What you can be sure of is the past and what you’re doing today, so all I knew was –as the Moody Blues and as John Lodge – I wanted to keep doing what I do, which was what I enjoyed from since I was 15. Everything else has come and gone. It’s like the waves hit on the shore. You can’t see where the wave starts in the sea before it gets here, you know? It’s like the same when you are awarded things. The wave that created the award started a long time ago, way out to sea, so you don’t think about those things.
It’s a ripple effect. You’re doing something originally because you love it and you’re interested in it and maybe you’re not looking so far down the road. Maybe there’s a hope or a wish deep down, but at the end of the day, you’re just doing it because you enjoy it. There’s a real pureness and an innocence to that, so if it takes you far, great. If it’s successful, great, but if you love it, it’s even better.
Absolutely. Whatever you do in life, just keep truthful to it and don’t let yourself bend, don’t turn down another path. [Laughs].
FOR TICKETS & INFO ON JOHN LODGE’S MOODY BLUES AT BERGENPAC, CLICK HERE!
