I discovered on Saturday that John Lodge, bassist, vocalist and songwriter of The Moody Blues has died.
Long-standing readers of the blog will know the Moodies were my favourite 1960s band.
This was the band’s second incarnation though, after Denny Laine and Clint Warwick had left and Lodge and Justin Hayward become members. This presaged a switch from playing blues and R&B to the more prog rock sound with which the band is now principally associated. Indeed the Days of Future Passed LP could be claimed to have started off the prog boom.
Lodge was a major contributor in a song-writing sense, penning at least two songs on each of the band’s LPs and of course even more to Blue Jays, his collaboration with Hayward at the beginning of the brief hiatus when the Moodies took a collective break in the mid 1970s. I actually saw the pair play in Glasgow on the Blue Jays tour which promoted the album and the subsequent Hayward written single Blue Guitar.
Given the prog emphasis above it might seem perverse that I’ve chosen this song, but it shows that the Moodies could rock with the best of them and it features Lodge’s bass heavily.
The Moody Blues: I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
John Charles Lodge: 20/7/1943 – 10/10/2025. So it goes.
Supertramp’s singer, keyboardist and co-composer Rick Davies died last week.
Supertramp were not quite prog rockers and eventually drifted into a more ‘pop’py sound.
This song was the B-side of the band’s first UK hit single, Dreamer, but became the hit in the US. Unlike most of Supertramp’s songs (mostly written by singer and guitarist Roger Hodgson with contributions by Davies) this was fully composed by Davies.
Supertramp: Bloody Well Right
Richard (Rick) Davies: 22/7/1944 – 6/9/2025. So it goes.
Singer/songwriter Bobby Whitlock, who worked with many rock music luminaries over the years, has died.
He came to Eric Clapton’s attention when he was with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends was a founder member of Derek and the Dominos with Eric Clapton and others. He was of the opinion that that band was the best on the planet, “better than anybody.”
He was a major contributor to their LP Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, the only one the band managed to complete, co-writing six songs with Clapton and was the sole writer of Thorn Tree in the Garden.
Derek and the Dominos: Thorn Tree in the Garden
The band’s first single was Tell the Truth.
Derek and the Dominos: Tell the Truth (Single Version)
Clapton thought it was too fast (it does undeniably have energy) and it was re-recorded for the album.
This is a reworking of the song Whitlock made for his second solo album.
Bobby Whitlock: Tell the Truth
Robert Stanley Whitlock: 18/3/1948 – 10/8/2025. So it goes.
Despite the fact that he had health problems it was still a surprise to hear of the death of Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne since he had appeared on stage at the band’s final concert only a few weeks ago, albeit from a sitting position.
His band has a claim to be the founders of heavy metal. Whatever, they certainly had a profound influence on the genre.
I featured their – perhaps untypical – song, Changes, here.
This was the first track on their second LP, Paranoid, which gave them their first and biggest hit.
Black Sabbath: War Pigs
John Michael (Ozzy) Osbourne: 3/12/1948 – 22 /7/2025. So it goes.
Mick Ralphs, guitarist with Mott the Hoople and Bad Company among others, died last week. He apparently left Mott the Hoople as the songs he was writing were not suited to singer Ian Hunter’s voice.
They found a compatible home with Paul Rodgers, though, when they formed Bad Company along with Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell.
This is a live version of their first hit, which Ralphs wrote.
Bad Company: Can’t Get Enough
Michael Geoffrey (Mick) Ralphs: 31/3/1944 – 23/6/2025. So it goes.
I’ve said before that writing love songs, good love songs, is not easy but that David Gates seemed to do it effortlessly. (That last word is doing him a disservice I’m sure.)
The lyric of this song again has issues with grammar but that’s popular music for you.
The Guardian only printed the obituary of Joey Molland, guitarist with Badfinger on Wednesday 7/5/25 but it must have been on its website for over a month.
Clem Burke, the driving force behind Blondie’s insistent sound, died last week.
While singer Debbie Harry grabbed most of the attention it is doubtful if Blondie would have achieved the success they did without Burke’s powerful drumming propelling them along.
This was their second UK hit.
Blondie: (I’m Always Touched by) Your Presence, Dear
Clement Anthony Bozewski (Clem Burke:) 24/11/954 – April 6/4/2025. So it goes.
