by The Moody Blues

Their dual-speed No 2 hit thrilled festival crowds and then calmed them down. “It was like the waves on the beach…”

KEY PLAYERS

CHRIS WALTER/WIREIMAGE; VALERIA MASELLI; BRIAN ARIS

AS The Moody Blues travelled across America during the late 1960s, they often encountered young men the same age as them at airports and bus stations, on their way home from Vietnam. These encounters inspired Justin Hayward to write “Question”, the single the band released in April 1970. While “Question” wasn’t an obvious candidate for a hit – subject matter aside, it lacked the richly orchestrated sound that The Moody Blues were known for since 1967’s “Nights In White Satin” – the single climbed to No 2, giving them their biggest chart success since “Go Now”. Later that year, “Question” was at the heart of the Moodies’ set at the Isle Of Wight Festival, helping to charm a

The Moody Blues in 1969: (c/wise from top left) Mike Pinder, John Lodge, Graeme Edge, Ray Thomas and Justin Hayward febrile audience. “I had no thoughts about a single when I wrote it, because a five-minute song with two tempo changes is not usually single material,” says Hayward.

The Moodies had a warmer, calmer sound than many of their peers, but were no less tuned in to the beats of the counterculture. They dropped acid in 1967 and never looked back, writing songs like “Fly Me High” and “The Best Way To Travel” about their experiences. Ray Thomas’s tribute to Timothy Leary, “Legend Of A Mind” was met with the approval by the doctor himself – in 1969, he even joined the band on stage at a free concert in Los Angeles. Musically, they were imaginative and unpredictable, fusing Hayward’s melodic impulses with Mike Pinder’s creative use of Mellotron to

forge a uniquely identifiable sound. The Moody Blues are nothing less than the forgotten heroes of psychedelia.

While “Question” was a product of this questing environment, it also reflected the band’s desire to write songs that were easier to recreate on stage. Built around Justin Hayward’s 12-string guitar, “Question” toned down the band’s backing vocals and limited the Mellotron to a couple of vibrant flourishes. More prominent now was Pinder’s energetic tambourine, which kept pace with Graeme Edge’s epic drum fills and John Lodge’s expressive basslines. The Moodies were able to recreate this harder sound on stage across Europe – but especially America, where the band found their biggest fans. “I don’t know why we got on better in America than we did at home,” ponders John Lodge. “Maybe it was about respect.” PETER WATTS