John Lodge - An interview with Moody Blues legend John Lodge.
From Birmingham to the Bahamas, this long-distance voyager has proved himself to be much more than just a singer in a rock’n’roll band. Joining iconic band The Moody Blues in 1967, John’s powerful and melodic bass style was the perfect counterpoint to Justin Hayward’s lyrical guitar and ethereal vocals. This helped to re-architect the band’s original blues-oriented sound towards a unique and thrilling combination of folk-tinged psychedelic prog, epitomised by the eight classic albums, from 'Days of Future Past’ to ‘Octave’, that feature the ‘classic’ line-up of Hayward, Lodge, Edge, Pinder and Thomas.
A reluctant solo artist for many years, there was a 38-year gap in between his 1977 solo debut ‘Natural Avenue’ and its successor ‘10,000 Light Years Ago’. With the recent retirement of Moody’s drummer Graeme Edge from live performance, there are doubts when or even whether the band will perform live again. This has provided renewed impetus for Lodge to ignite a now-burgeoning solo career, with an established solo band, featuring Moody Blues MD Alan Hewitt and a well-received ‘Live from Birmingham’ DVD release in 2018.
On 27th September 2019, Lodge is releasing a new album ‘B Yond - The Very Best Of’. This twelve-track collection is not your typical greatest hits album, as it combines recent live versions of classic Moody tunes, like ‘Ride My See-Saw’ and ‘I’m Just A Singer…’ with brand-new recordings of album favourites including ‘Legend Of A Mind’ and ‘Evening (Time To Get Away)’ plus master remixes of lesser-known tracks such as: ‘Summer Breeze, Summer Song’ (from his 1977 solo debut) and 1980 solo rarity ‘Street Cafe’.
Decibel Report met-up with John to find out more about the new album, as well as a reviewing a number of his career milestones. From discovering the bass as his musical weapon of choice to producing the first two albums by Brummy groove-rock masters Trapeze. Including the 1970 genre classic ‘Medusa’, by the classic power trio line-up of Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley and Dave Holland, who all subsequently stepped-up to premier division bands, including Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Judas Priest. He also reveals his passion for wine-making and his award-winning brand ‘Krisemma’, which is a portmanteau of the names of his children Kristian and Emma.