Esoteric Recordings, a label of the Cherry Red Records Group announces the release of an official 50th Anniversary edition of The Magnificent Moodies, the 1965 debut album by the Moody Blues.
Before being known as pioneers of progressive and orchestral rock, the Moody Blues were popular between 1964-1966, as one of Britain's foremost rhythm'n'blues influenced acts. With a lineup of Denny Laine (guitar, vocals, harmonica), Ray Thomas (vocals, harmonica, flute), Mike Pinder (keyboards, vocals), Clint Warwick (bass, vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums), the band signed to a London-based management company who leased recordings to Decca Records. The band's second single, a cover version of Bessie Banks' "Go Now!" was a huge chart success across the world.
The Magnificent Moodies received great acclaim and tours with the Beatles eventually led them to become part of Brian Epstein's management stable. The band kept recording a series of singles, enjoying further chart hits in the UK and Europe, before Clint Warwick departed to be replaced by Rod Clarke and then finally dissolving in the Autumn of 1966 and reinventing themselves stylistically with a new lineup including Justin Hayward and John Lodge.
The official 50th anniversary reissues consist of a deluxe edition including the original album, re-mastered from the first generation master tapes, along with all the singles the band recorded between 1964 and 1966 (including the rare "People Gotta Go" - released only in France on an EP). Moreover this collection also includes 29 previously unreleased bonus tracks, including the band's entire July 1964 sessions at Olympic studios in London produced by Alex Murray, all surviving BBC radio sessions recorded in 1965 and nine tracks recorded in the Summer of 1966 with producer Denny Cordell for a proposed but unreleased second album (all newly mixed from the original four-track master tapes). The set is packaged in a clamshell box, with a lavishly illustrated booklet (with previously unseen photographs designed by Phil Smee) and essay written by Mark Powell, three rare promotional postcards and a poster.
There is also a single CD edition, which features 15 bonus tracks (drawn from the band's singles released between 1964 and 1966). Both editions of The Magnificent Moodies are the definitive statement on the formative years of one of Britain's greatest bands.
The Magnificent Moodies tracklist:
CD1:
01. I’ll Go Crazy (Brown)
02. Something You Got (Kenner)
03. Go Now (Banks / Bennett)
04. Can't Nobody Love You (Mitchell)
05. I Don’t Mind (Brown)
06. I've Got a Dream (Barry / Greenwich)
07. Let Me Go (Laine / Pinder)
08. Stop (Laine / Pinder)
09. Thank You Baby (Laine / Pinder)
10. It Ain't Necessarily So (Gershwin / Gershwin / Heyward)
11. True Story (Laine / Pinder)
12. Bye Bye Bird (Williamson / Dixon)
Bonus tracks:
13. Lose Your Money (But Don't Lose Your Mind) (Laine / Pinder)
14. Steal Your Heart Away (Parker)
A & B-side of single, released in September 1964
15. Go Now! (first version)
Recorded at Olympic Studios on 24th July 1964; previously unreleased
16. It's Easy Child (Sandler / Bennett / Redd)
B-side of single, released as November 1964
17. I Don;t Want to Go On Without You (Berns / Wexler)
18. Time is on My Side (Meade / Norman)
A & B-side of single, released in February 1965
19. From the Bottom of My Heart (I Love You) (Laine / Pinder)
20. And My Baby's Gone (Laine / Pinder)
A & B-side of single, released in May 1965
21. Everyday (Laine / Pinder)
22. You Don't (All the Time) (Laine / Pinder)
A & B-side of single, released in October 1965
23. Boulevard de Madeleine (Laine / Pinder)
24. This is My House (But Nobody Calls) (Laine / Pinder)
A & B-side of single, released in October 1966
25. People Gotta Go (Laine / Pinder)
Taken from the 'Boulevard de Madeleine' EP, released in France in October 1966
26. Life's Not Life (Laine / Pinder)
27. He Can Win (Laine / Pinder)
A & B-side of single, released in January 1967
CD 2: (Previously unreleased studio sessions & BBC Radio sessions:)
01. Go Now! (second version) (Banks / Bennett)
02. Lose Your Money (But Don’t Lose Your Mind) (early version) (Laine / Pinder)
03. Steal Your Heart Away (first version) (Parker)
04. I'll Go Crazy (first version) (Brown)
05. You Better Move On (Alexander)
06. Can't Nobody Love You (first version) (Mitchell)
07. 23rd Psalm (Trad. Arr. Laine / Pinder / Thomas / Edge / Warwick)
Recorded and mixed at Olympic Studios on 24th July 1964; produced by Alex Murray
8. Go Now (Banks / Bennett)
9. I Don't Want to Go On Without You (Berns / Wexler)
10. I'll Go Crazy (Brown)
'Saturday Club' session - BBC Light Programme; recorded 12th April 1965
11. From the Bottom of My Heart (I Love You) (Laine / Pinder)
12. Jump Back (Rufus Thomas)
'Saturday Club' session - BBC Light Programme; recorded 3rd May 1965
13. I've Got a Dream (Barry / Greenwich)
14. And My Baby's Gone (Laine / Pinder)
'Saturday Club' session - BBC Light Programme; recorded 1st June 1965
15. It's Easy Child (Sandler / Bennett / Redd)
16. Stop (Laine / Pinder)
17. Everyday (Laine / Pinder)
'Saturday Club' session - BBC Light Programme; recorded 21st September 1965
18. Interview with Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge /You Don't (All the Time) (Laine / Pinder)
19. I Want You to Know (Domino / Bartholomew)
'Saturday Club' session - BBC Light Programme; recorded 9th November 1965
20. Coca Cola Radio Commercial 1965
The 1966 Denny Cordell sessions (previously unreleased):
21. Sad Song (Laine / Pinder)
22. This is My House (But Nobody Calls) (first version) (Laine / Pinder)
Recorded at Advision studios - 5th April 1966
23. How Can We Hang on to a Dream (first version) (Hardin)
Recorded at Advision studios - 5th July 1966
24. How Can We Hang on to a Dream (remake) (Hardin)
Recorded at Decca studio No. 2, West Hampstead - 15th July 1966
25. Jago & Jilly (Laine / Pinder)
Recorded at Decca studio No. 2, West Hampstead - 18th August 1966
26. We're Broken (Laine / Pinder)
Recorded at Decca studio No. 2, West Hampstead - 19th August 1966
27. I Really Haven't Got the Time (September 1966 version) (Pinder)
28. Red Wine (Laine / Pinder)
29. This is My House (But Nobody Calls) (stereo mix) (Laine / Pinder)
Recorded at Decca studio No. 2, West Hampstead - 8th September 1966