Justin Hayward is the celebrated singer-songwriter from The Moody Blues. At some point, he became the frontman for the band, despite being a latecomer to an already existing group, probably because he is the main singer and lead guitar player. Or maybe it could be chalked up to his insightful and philosophically introspective reflections of life and love. Maybe it was his melodic voice or skillful guitar playing. Or maybe it was the long list of songs he has written over the years, this compilation credited to The Moody Blues' website:
"Justin’s much-respected and comprehensive songwriting and recording career can be listed under various categories, as follows:
Compositions for The Moody Blues:
“Fly Me High”
“Leave This Man Alone”
“Cities”
“Tuesday Afternoon”
“Nights in White Satin”
“Voiced In The Sky”
“Visions of Paradise” (with Ray)
“The Actor”
“Lovely To See You”
“Never Comes the Day”
“Are You Sitting Comfortably?” (with ray)
“I Never Thought I’d Live To Be A Hundred”
“Gypsy”
“I Never Thought I’d Live To Be A Million”
“Watching and Waiting”
“What Am I Doing Here?”
“King and Queen”
“Long Summer Days”
“Question”
“It’s Up to You”
“Dawning Is The Day”
“Procession” (with the band)
“The Story In Your Eyes”
“You Can Never Go Home”
“New Horizons”
“You and Me” (with Graeme)
“The Land of Make Believe”
“Had to Fall in Love”
“Driftwood”
“Top Rank Suite”
“The Day We Meet Again”
“The Voice”
“Gemini Dream” (with John)
“In My World”
“Meanwhile”
“Blue World”
“Meet Me Halfway” (with John)
“It’s Cold Outside Of Your Heart”
“Running Water”
“Your Wildest Dreams”
“Talkin’, Talkin’” (with John)
“I Just Don’t Care”
“Running Out Of Love” (with John)
“The Other Side of Life”
“Slings and Arrows” (with John)
“I Know You’re Out There Somewhere”
“Want To Be With You” (with John)
“River of Endless Love” (with John)
“No More Lies”
“Vintage Wine”
“Breaking Point” (with John)
“Miracle” (with John)
“Deep”
“Say It With Love”
“Bless The Wings” (That Bring You Back)
“Is This Heaven?” (with John)
“Say What You Mean (Part 1 & 2)”
“Hope and Pray”
“Once Is Enough” (with John)
“Never Blame The rainbows For the Rain” (with Ray)
“Highway” (with John)
“English Sunset”
“Haunted”
“Sooner or Later (Walkin’ on Air)” (with John)
‘Foolish Love”
“All That is Real is You”
“Strange Times” (with John)
“The One” (with John)
“The Swallow”
“Water”
“We Can Fly”
“Don’t Need a Reindeer”
“Yes I Believe”
“December Snow”
A lot of those songs were written when he was in his late teens and early 20s, making this list even more amazing.
The discography is long and one can argue many songs would be the one to pick as his #1 Best. A very strong candidate must surely be "Question". Written in April of 1970 when Justin was 24 years old, it hits all the notes musically, philosophically, in its complex arrangement, and melodically. Here is a wonderful video from the 1970s, most likely one of the early performances of it:
The discography is long and one can argue many songs would be the one to pick as his #1 Best. A very strong candidate must surely be "Question". Written in April of 1970 when Justin was 24 years old, it hits all the notes musically, philosophically, in its complex arrangement, and melodically. Here is a wonderful video from the 1970s, most likely one of the early performances of it:
Here is another great rendition, this time Justin is performing an acoustic version of it by himself. Note how well he carries this on his own. Never mind the complacent crowd, at least they seem to be somewhat roused by the end. I wonder if some of them wanted to dance but felt they should just go along with the crowd and stayed seated.
And lastly, I sadly missed the Moody's performance in late August here in Minnesota. They played at the newly remodeled Northrup Auditorium but tickets were priced especially high and it just wasn't in the cards for me right now. Fortunately, someone videotaped it for our viewing pleasure and here is a brand spanking new version of it.
I have a feeling I will be talking about The Moody Blues or Justin Hayward again in the future. I am a renewed-old fan of theirs, it actually all started about 25 years ago and involved a box of Suddenly Salad, shrimp impostors, a Magritte poster ("Golconda"), In Search Of The Lost Chord, and my friends Jes and Martha, so thanks a lot Jes, this is all your doing. Actually, I really mean that, thanks Jes and thanks to The Moody Blues for reminding us still, after all these years, to think a little deeper and for raising more questions than answers.
Until next time, and I do hope they become more frequent, thanks for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying the beginning of the change to the fabulous colors of fall.
Until next time, and I do hope they become more frequent, thanks for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying the beginning of the change to the fabulous colors of fall.
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