The melding of classical instruments with rock and pop song forms began in earnest in the middle of the ’60s. But you have to give credit to The Moody Blues for being the first band to truly go all-in with this hybrid style on their majestic 1967 album Days of Future Passed.
It’s striking that this was the band to make it happen, because their original incarnation sounded nothing like the reinvented version of the group that created this landmark album. Here’s the story of how The Moody Blues found their true calling as a rock band, even as orchestral instruments rained all around them.
Blues in the Night
In January 1965, The Moody Blues’ second single, a cover of the R&B song “Go Now,” topped the charts in the United Kingdom. A month later, it scraped the Top 10 in the U.S., making The Magnificent Moodies, as they were dubbed on their debut album, one of the more promising acts to come out of the British Invasion.
A little more than a year later, the group was in utter turmoil after their follow-up singles flopped. Their lineup changed drastically, with Denny Laine, the band’s chief songwriter and the guy who soulfully crooned the lead vocal to “Go Now,” among the departures. In came Justin Hayward and John Lodge to join remaining members Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas, and Graeme Edge.
Scraping around to find a new direction that suited them more than the R&B-tinged rock they’d been playing, the band began working on a concept wherein an entire album would consist of songs depicting how humans are affected by different times in a single day, from morning through evening. Around the same time, they were approached by their record label to participate in a project demonstrating the capabilities of new stereo recording techniques.
Their label’s original idea was that the Moodies’ music would be sprinkled in between a renowned classical piece that had been written by the composer Antonin Dvořák. But left to their own devices, the band simply worked out a structure that would consist mostly of their music, with the classical pieces used to briefly separate them.
Days of Future Passed arrived in November 1967, that particular year being ideal for bands who were willing to push the musical envelope. Although it was a minor hit at the time, it grew in stature over the years to the point where its closing track, “Nights in White Satin,” became a U.S. No. 1 single five years after the album was released.
Reexamining Days of Future Passed
In case you haven’t heard it in a while, you might be surprised to find Days of Future Passed is somewhat less orchestral than its reputation suggests. “Nights in White Satin” is one major exception, in that the song makes room for towering crescendos of brass and strings in-between Justin Hayward’s plaintive melody.
But for the most part, The Moodies’ were able to create a lot of drama and grandeur all on their own. Their lineup had a lot to do with that. While Hayward (guitar), Lodge (bass), and Edge (drums) came through with the typical rock instrumentation, Thomas added exotic flavors on his flute. Meanwhile, Pinder delivered all kinds of colors and moods via his mastery of the Mellotron.
The songwriting is uniformly strong throughout. Hayward may have churned out the hits with “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon,” but the rest of the band all contributed to the writing to fill out this musical survey of a day in the life. There’s something innocent and quaint about the poetry recitations (Breathe deep the gathering gloom) that pop up throughout the record that adds to its charm.
The Moody Blues certainly discovered a formula on Days of Future Passed, one to which they would often return throughout their Hall of Fame career. Their willingness to follow their own musical passions instead of sticking with the norm led to not just a classic album, but also a whole new offshoot of rock music.
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