| In Search of the Lost Chord (1968) put the Mellotron | | | | modest hit single. |
| in the spotlight, and it quickly became a part of The | | | | Ironically, in 1972, the group was suddenly competing |
| Moody Blues Tickets signature sound. The album, | | | | with itself when “Nights in White Satin” |
| sublimely beautiful and steeped in a strange mix of | | | | charted again in America and England, selling far more |
| British whimsy (“Dr. Livingston I Presume”) | | | | than it had in 1967; that new round of single sales |
| and ornate, languid Eastern-oriented songs | | | | also resulted in Days of Future Passed selling anew |
| (“Visions of Paradise,” “Om”), also | | | | by the tens of thousands. |
| introduced one psychedelic-era anthem, “Legend | | | | In the midst of all of this activity, the members, |
| of a Mind”; authored by Ray Thomas and utilizing | | | | finally slowing down and enjoying the fruits of Moody |
| the name of LSD guru Timothy Leary in its lyric and | | | | Blues success, had reached an impasse. As Moody |
| choruses, along with swooping cellos and lilting flute, it | | | | Blues prepared to record their new album, Seventh |
| helped make the band an instant favorite among the | | | | Sojourn (1972), the strain of touring and recording |
| late-’60s counterculture. (The group members | | | | steadily for five years had taken its toll. Good songs |
| have since admitted at various times that Moody | | | | were becoming more difficult to deliver and record, |
| Blues were, as was the norm at the time, indulging in | | | | and cutting that album had proved nearly impossible. |
| various hallucinogenic substances.) | | | | The public never saw the problems, and its release |
| That album and its follow-up, 1969’s To Our | | | | earned them Moody Blues best reviews to date and |
| Children’s Children’s Children, were | | | | was accompanied by a major international tour, and |
| magnificent achievements, utilizing Moody Blues | | | | the sales and attendance were huge. |
| multi-instrumental skills and the full capability of the | | | | Once the tour was over, however, it was announced |
| studio in overdubbing voices, instruments, etc. But in | | | | that the group was going on hiatus — Moody |
| the process of making those two LPs, the Moody | | | | Blues wouldn’t work together again for five |
| Blues group found that they’d painted | | | | years. Hayward and Lodge recorded a very |
| themselves into a corner as performing musicians | | | | successful duet album, Blue Jays (1975), and all five |
| — thanks to overdubbing, those albums were | | | | members did solo albums. All were released through |
| essentially the work of 15 or 20 Moody Blues, not a | | | | Threshold, which was still distributed by English Decca |
| quintet, and Moody Blues were unable to re-create | | | | (then called London Records in the United States), |
| their sound properly in concert. | | | | and Threshold even maintained a small catalog of |
| Meanwhile, a significant part of their audience | | | | other artists, including Trapeze and Providence, |
| didn’t think of the Moody Blues merely as | | | | though they evidently missed their chance to sign a |
| musicians but, rather, as spiritual guides. John | | | | group that might well have eclipsed the Moody Blues |
| Lodge’s song “I’m Just a Singer (In a | | | | musically, King Crimson. |
| Rock & Roll Band)” was his answer to this | | | | (Ironically, the latter also used the Mellotron as a |
| phenomenon, renouncing the role that had been | | | | central part of their sound, but in a totally different |
| thrust upon the band — it was also an unusually | | | | way, and were the only group ever to make more |
| hard-rocking number for the group, and was also a | | | | distinctive use of the instrument. |