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Post by jefflynnenut on Oct 5, 2014 13:59:24 GMT
And the C.D. or (vinyl) of the week is!!!..............(Drum roll).
Justin Hayward and John lodge. Bluejays.
side one. side 2.
1. This Morning. Hayward. 6. Saved by the music
2. Remember me, My friend. 7. I dreamed last night.
3. My Brother. 8. Who are you now.
4. You. 9. Maybe.
5. Nights winters tale. 10. When you wake up.
Now on the re release version 11. Blue Guitar.
Release in 1975 during a hiatus from the Moody blues this gem is often considered a Moody's album without the rest of the Moody's (Ray Thamas, Graeme Edge, Mike Pinder). Having taken a break after their opus "The Seventh Sojourn '72" Tensions had grown frought in the Moody's camp and due to the never ending tour life had taken its toll but Justin and John wanted to continue and decided to write a solo album thus this baby
Justin Hayward – guitar, vocals
John Lodge – bass, guitar, vocals
Jim Cockey – violin
Tim Tompkins – cello
Tom Tompkins – viola
Kirk Duncan – piano
Graham Deakin – drums
"Blue Guitar"[edit]
Justin Hayward - guitar, lead vocals
Lol Creme - guitar, vocals
Kevin Godley - drums, vocals
Graham Gouldman - bass, vocals
Eric Stewart - keyboards, vocals
And the bonus track....
This album is my personal 2nd desert island disk behind OOTB. Both album were key to my healing after the death of my best friend, mentor and all over the craziest son of a bitch to have ever lived. My Dad. I hope you all enjoy. in fact if you are an ELO fan and you don't like this album...well I just don't understand? Go look at yourself in the mirror!
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Post by jrmugz on Oct 5, 2014 17:14:09 GMT
Good deal, JLN! I've had this album before, I love "Blue Guitar" and always wanted to get more familiar with the rest, so this is perfect!
Will play throughout the week and probably send my thoughts on each song by Thursday or Friday!
Yeah, the Moody Blues and their Justin Hayward and John Lodge, always give that peaceful easy feeling. A very unique, rich relaxing sound.
Looking forward to delving in!!!
Jim
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Post by Horacewimp on Oct 5, 2014 18:58:20 GMT
Again it's not an album I know, looking forward to checking it out during the week.
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Post by unomusette on Oct 5, 2014 19:15:37 GMT
I've always loved Blue Guitar so really looking forward to discovering the whole album it came from (and determined to go back to the earlier Moody's album from this thread).
Edit: Or maybe Blue Guitar is a bonus track? Still itching to hear the album if it has the same lush sound.
Very interested to see almost all of 10cc in the band too, I never knew there'd been such a collaboration.
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Post by jefflynnenut on Oct 5, 2014 19:41:11 GMT
I've always loved Blue Guitar so really looking forward to discovering the whole album it came from (and determined to go back to the earlier Moody's album from this thread). Edit: Or maybe Blue Guitar is a bonus track? Still itching to hear the album if it has the same lush sound. Very interested to see almost all of 10cc in the band too, I never knew there'd been such a collaboration. Yep its a real beauty of an album I always think " One Summer Dream" could nearly have been sneaked onto this and no one would ever realise! Personally it has often gone through my mind for a collaboration between Jeff and Justin...Can you imagine the genius on vinyl that would be?! But something really special happened between Hayward, Creme and Godley! Thanks for listening and I hope I have turned you on to a lil life changer! For me sometimes the Moody's and ELO can go hand in hand!
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Post by unomusette on Oct 5, 2014 19:46:30 GMT
Yes, Justin and Jeff, why has that never happened? Probably record labels or management objections.I shall ponder this as I listen
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Post by queenofthehours on Oct 5, 2014 20:07:21 GMT
I'm looking forward to this. Anything Moody Blues related is very welcome to my ears. Seeing that 10cc are involved is very intriguing.
For some reason I had a Justin Hayward moment at the very same time as I discovered Jeff and ELO. To me they go hand in hand almost.
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Post by Helmut83 on Oct 6, 2014 18:08:39 GMT
Interesting. I'll be giving it a few listens for sure. After last week's good album I'm hoping this can surprise me with some good songs too. Let's see.
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Post by jrmugz on Oct 7, 2014 17:18:35 GMT
This is a beautiful album, I am REALLY enjoying it. Still writing down thoughts for each song, but right now they're all along the comments are all along the lines of "beautiful song, performance, and production, love it". "Remember Me" seems like a standout so far.
Jim
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Post by Horacewimp on Oct 7, 2014 18:14:38 GMT
This is a beautiful album, I am REALLY enjoying it. Still writing down thoughts for each song, but right now they're all along the comments are all along the lines of "beautiful song, performance, and production, love it". "Remember Me" seems like a standout so far. Jim I gave the album a first listen today and thought the same, great songs, but how am I going to write something about each track as they are all so good.
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Post by jrmugz on Oct 7, 2014 19:57:55 GMT
OK, here are my thoughts on the tracks when playing them. Great CD overall. Definitely Moodies magic there. Seems like the ones they co-wrote are the strongest tracks.
1. "This Morning" (Hayward) - Captivating and beautiful. Love it. 2. "Remember Me (My Friend)" (Hayward, John Lodge) - Nice collaboration. When these two are co-writers of songs, some real magic happens, it seems. 3. "My Brother" (Hayward) - I like the harmonies on the verses and chorus. Nice encouragement to slow down in the lyrics. 4. "You" (Lodge) - Nice arrangement. A strong Lodge ballad, though the album could have used a Lodge rocker somewhere on it. Then again, like the song "Nervous" on Long Distance Voyager, and his song "Isn't Life Strange", it showcases Lodge's knack for being able to pull the listener in with amazing choruses. Thus, why this is one of my favorites on the album. 5. "Nights Winters Years" (Hayward) - Almost reminds me of something from the 1940s. Very haunting. Borders on Haywards tendency to sometimes be a little bit too sentimental. 6. "Saved by the Music" (Lodge) - Interesting changes in tempo. Nice harmonizing in the chorus. 7. "I Dreamed Last Night" (Hayward) - Sounds like something Neil Diamond would come up with. Reminds me of "Your Lost Little Girl" by The Doors. The ol' Phil-Collins-special; namely, thinking a human relationship in and of itself will be the answer to all of life's problems. 8. "Who Are You Now" (Hayward) - Nice harmonies, and nice acoustic break; but the lyrics still too much of a Phil-Collins-worship-the-relationship-ignore-God-and-the-bigger-picture-special, for my tastes. 9. "Maybe" (Lodge) - I really like the chorus on this one, and the patio-of-a-chateau feel of the whole song. Very cool, one of my faves on the CD. 10. "When You Wake Up" (Hayward, Lodge) - Very cool collaboration song, they should have collaborated on all of them. I like how they come close to matching the full Moody Blues harmonies at the end. It's great as is, but you can see where they were trying to hit the high Mike Pinder parts in it, to keep it Moodyish. That's a great song and a great dramatic closer, like the last one on the Booker CD from last week. 11. bonus track: "Blue Guitar" (Hayward) - All the best qualities of a Justin Hayward Moody Blues song: captivating, melodic, transcendant, etc. without waning too much into the sentimental. Very powerful track, would have been nice to have it on the actual album somewhere in the 4th to 8th song spots.
Jim
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Post by unomusette on Oct 7, 2014 20:31:57 GMT
Here are my thoughts...posting them before I read Jim's comments This Morning: Immediately very ELO -alike, really full sound with loads of instrumental layers. Liking the oboe, there's not enough oboe in most songs these days which is probably why this one sounds so 1970's (this is not, of course, a bad thing at all) Good opener, lots to keep you interested. Remember me, My friend: The intro and acoustic guitar parts remind me of some Strawbs songs, pleasant ballad with nice harmonies, goes on maybe a bit too long for me. Although I was listening to the extended version.... but actually the instrumental outro on this is the best bit, it's really groovy and I can imagine a lot of arm-waving hippie dancing being done to it. By me, for a start. My Brother: Of course I was expecting a cover of the classic Terry Scott song. But no! I can imagine the lyrics meaning a lot to people who are parted, I like the guitar sound but it's not a stand-out track for me. You: The chorus is quite ELO-ish and also brings George Harrison to mind with the guitar sound. That and the piano lifts this up above the ordinary for me. I reckon I could really get to love this with repeated listenings. Nights winters tale: As it begins it sounds like a song from a musical or a film, I think it's the big, sweeping violins. Lovely vocals from Mr Hayward, but then he does have a fabulous voice in everything he does. Love the great big ending, wish it had gone on longer. Saved by the music: Interesting tempo changes, but it's not my favourite on the album as it doesn't seem able to decide what tune it's going to follow. And the vocals/lyrics are a bit wobbly to my ear. It is saved a bit by another epic instrumental outro though. I dreamed last night: I'm sure I've heard this played on the radio, was it a single? Classic Moodies type of song, and none the worse for that. Slightly too long for me but certainly not a chore to listen to. Who are you now: Lovely cello on this, and again I can imagine the lyrics being very meaningful to long-time listeners. It would be a good nomination for Jim's thread with Over Easy songs. Maybe: Is that a harmonium? Neat. It reminds me of early ELO with Woody, except smoother-sounding. And the oboe is back, it's all rather victorian and I like it, despite a few vocal wobbles to my ear. Have they ever performed it with an orchestra? When you wake up: Plods a bit for me but the fuzzy guitar sound is interesting. And it fits really well with the "journey through space" vid that's on the Youtube version I'm listening to. Nice outro to finish the original album. Blue Guitar: Ahhh, I love this song to absolute bits, cannot fault it. The singing is perfect, the lyrics are great, the tune is fab and the guitar is...blue. Brilliant! Thanks for sharing this album, Jefflynnenut, my mind has definitely been expanded by it
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Post by BSJ on Oct 9, 2014 18:44:44 GMT
This powerful team of Hayward and Lodge without the rest of the group cranked out a great album, jefflynnnut. Never heard of it. A few steps away from the classic Moody Blues style and back again. The ballads, harmonies, visual imagery lyrics are what I’d expect. The music is absolutely beautiful. Hayward and Lodge are simply amazing. It needs to be in Moody Blues collections. What more needs to be written! The fact that this cd of the week is in memory of your dad, had me listen with a bit more care.
Thanks, jefflynnenut
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Post by Helmut83 on Oct 11, 2014 6:02:33 GMT
I owe my review. I have been a bit busy lately, but throughout the week I've heard each song at least twice (more times in most cases). I just have to write down my impressions.
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Post by Chippa on Oct 11, 2014 22:33:49 GMT
Just got around to this. I haven't read any of the other reviews on here, just so I wouldn't repeat any of the talking points.
This Morning – Sounds like classic Moody Blues. The chorus is a little disjointed, but that's my only real complaint.
Remember Me, My Friend – The opening chords sound a little bit like The Wilburys' “Like A Ship”. Good melody, and Beatlesque sounding chorus.
My Brother – Almost sounds like a George Harrison solo song. Not bad.
You – Good chorus on this one. Very 70's AM radio gold, if you get what I'm saying.
Nights Winters Years – This one bored me.
Saved By The Music – I kept waiting for the melody to kick in, and it never happened.
I Dreamed Last Night – Like a lot of Moody Blues music, this one was stuck in a mid-tempo rut. Good orchestration, though.
Who Are You Now? - Reminded me of “Dust In The Wind”, by Kansas. This one was probably good when you burned a lot of incense.
Maybe – Sort of reminded me of “Isn't Life Strange?”. Ok ballad.
When You Wake Up – More boredom. Not a good song.
Blue Guitar – Interesting melody. Good guitar.
Overall, I wouldn't buy this album, and I consider myself somewhat of a Moody's fan. It would have been nice if they'd rocked it up a bit. But it is what it is, I guess.
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