Disco de The Moody Blues: “The Magnificent Moodies”

Before the mellotrons, concept albums and psychedelic imagery, The Moody Blues were a rock-solid Mersey Beat band that found their initial success during the British Invasion with their first hit single "Go Now".

"The Magnificent Moodies" was the only album that The Moody Blues released during this period along with a handful of singles that mostly went nowhere. Looking back, although this has somewhat become an underrated and not so talked about period in the band's history, "The Magnificent Moodies" is still a solid release and ranks up there with anything by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who.

The latest reissue "The Magnificent Moodies" features all 12 tracks from the original mono album along with 14 bonus tracks from the same period. It basically includes everything that was released by the original band and essentially offers a complete history of the music of the early Moody Blues.

In addition, the remastered sound is amazing which makes all other reissues redundant. If you've never owned or heard the original Moody Blues and/or if you thought the band's history started with "Days Of Future Passed", this latest reissue of "The Magnificent Moodies" is the ideal place to start.

After the release of this album as well as several flopped singles, both Denny Laine and bassist Clint Warwick left the band to be replaced by Justin Hayward and John Lodge who paved the way for The Moody Blues as we know them today. This early period of the band quietly slipped into obscurity.

Given that this is basically the only pre-Blue Jays Moody Blues it has been give 4 stars but because in truth it does not have every song recorded prior to Justin/John it was given only 4 stars.

This is unfortunately the only good representation of early Moody Blues available in print(why is this?); influenced heavily by R&B as interpreted by Mike Pinder/Denny Laine/Ray Thomas/Gramae Edge/Clint Warwick. "I'll Go Crazy/ Something you got" are good examples of the early sound with the tortued vocals of Laine and "I dont mind" featuring the vocal/piano powers of Mike Pinder. While "From the Bottom of my heart" and "Stop" two great Pinder/Laine originals, allow for the recognition of the maturing writing talents and vocal harmonies which would later become hallmarks of the '67-'72 Moodies which were much more commercial.

Unfortunately the lack of really good liner notes takes away from the package as a whole as does the surprisingly poor quality of the only Top Ten single the band had at this time which was Go Now. The overall sound quality of the recordings from '64-'66 are really good but the poor quality of the single is unfortunate.

One last item that kept this selection from rating a fully deserved five stars is that somewhere in Europe there is a complete collection of works from the period '64-'66 which is so inclusive it even contains the B-side single 'Cities' by Hayward (probably why this collection cannot currently be found/contractual concerns) but more importantly it does contain EVERY song recorded prior to the departure of Denny Laine. I believe the original import label was GEMA from Germany it was a double vinyl collection which had incredibly clean audio, try to find it on vinyl if you can I don't seem to be able to find it in any other medium.

A brief note to Jay Kuczma: Please don't call the Moodies "Merseybeat"! They (like me) are proud Brummies - i.e. natives of Birmingham, NOT Liverpool! That's like calling the Velvet Underground a "West Coast" band! That aside, I agree with the comments on the CD.

The original Moody Blues -- guitarist and principal vocalist Denny Laine, pianist/vocalist Mike Pinder, drummer Graeme Edge, bassist Clint Warwick and Ray Thomas (wind instruments, vocals) -- had only one hit single in 1965. That song, a cover of Bessie Banks'"Go Now", would prove impossible to follow up. Neither the following singles or the LP "Magnificent Moodies" would come close to reaching the top 40 in the US or the UK.

Repetoire has now reissued the 12 track album on this CD, along with 14 other tracks that had been released only on singles, many only in Europe -- all the songs recorded by the first lineup. This reissue is the first to contain the French EP track, "People Gotta Go", by far the rarest Moodies track. It's pretty typical British Invasion music, with the primary distinction being that the sound is centered more on Pinder's piano than guitar.

When listening to this stuff, it's understandable why this version of the group never really made it -- they weren't all that good. Laine was a very soulful vocalist and Pinder an OK pianist, but the guys, even for the era, were very limited musicians. Some of the covers sound pretty thin, and Laine/Pinder weren't exactly Lennon/McCartney in the songwriting department. Besides the wonderful "Go Now", there are only three other tracks that rank up there as classics. "Time Is On My Side" is a more upbeat version than that by the Stones; "From the Bottom of My Heart" is a haunting acoustic number; and "Boulevard de la Madeleine", their next to the last single, is a gorgeous ballad. This is the only track here that hints at any progression or sophistication from the band. By the time it came out, though, Laine and Warwick had left, resulting in two key replacements that would eventually catapult the group to a new level of sucess.

Moodies hardcores will want this CD. Otherwise, very few Moody Blues fans would consider it worth the effort, even though there are a few gems here.

The Moodies started as a combo of Brummies Mods, studying religiously the black scene of the era, James Brown, Sonny-Boy Williamson and Gloria Banks (whose "Go Now" became a number one hit statesides). Their Lead singer, Denny Laine, co-wrote the bulk of their repertoire before leaving the band in 1967. This release includes their debut album, 12 r'n'b tunes very representative of the mid-sixties english sound ( check also the Nashville Teens) plus their entire production before embarking on a drastic change of musical direction under the baton of their new singer, Justin Hayward. Denny Lane will join later Wings to become one of their pivotal members.