A further tribute to John Lodge, who died last week.
This track, which he wrote (and whose mediæval and “orchestral” interludes in many ways presage Procession from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour,) was split into two for its appearance on In Search of the Lost Chord, with the Ray Thomas penned Legend of a Mind making the meat in the sandwich.
This TV appearance from 1968 –the Colour Me Pop session the Moodies did – puts it all together though.
Though he contributed spoken word pieces to the previous five albums plus an instrumental in Beyond from To Our Children’s Children’s Children only six Moody Blues songs were credited to their late drummer Graeme Edge as sole writer. This rocker, the last track on side one of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, was one of them.
The Moody Blues: After You Came
Graeme Charles Edge: 30/3/1941 – 11/11/2021. So it goes.
I’ve already mentioned the odd decision to release Watching and Waiting rather than Gypsy as the single from To Our Children’s Children’s Children. The former was an ideal coda to the album but not really single material.
The single that came after, Question, was the Moodies most successful in the new era, only being kept off the No. 1 slot by the England World Cup squad’s Back Home. (Oh tempora!) Despite being described as, “One of the world’s most advanced groups,” while promoting the song on Top of the Pops, the LP it prefaced, A Question of Balance, gave the first indication that collectively the band was going off the boil.
Their next single didn’t even make the UK charts despite being a belter. First below is not the album version from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. This one has a different vocal performance and a more lush mellotron sound. The more familiar album edition follows.
