The Moody Blues' John Lodge goes "B Yond" his famous band with new solo compilation

Posted By: Staff
August 23, 2019 @ 6:00 am
Music News

BMG

Moody Blues singer/bassist John Lodge‘s first solo compilation, B Yond: The Very Best Of, gets released today on CD and digitally.

With The Moody Blues apparently on indefinite hiatus, Lodge has been focusing on his solo career lately, and he tells ABC Radio that he put together the new album partly to introduce people to his work outside of his famous group.

“I said [to my label]…’People know me because of The Moody Blues…But what I’m actually doing right now is John Lodge as John Lodge,'” he recalls. “And I thought, ‘What is the best…platform to try and bring an audience up to date really quickly with who I am?'”

B Yond includes selections from Lodge’s 2015 solo album, 10,000 Light Years Ago, and his 2017 concert album, Live from Birmingham, plus new remixes of two songs from his 1977 solo debut, Natural Avenue.

Regarding the remixed Natural Avenue tunes, John says, “I didn’t want to take away at all from anything that I’d created, or the other musicians had created with me. I wanted it to be exactly the same, but I wanted it to feel as though it was produced in 2019.”

Perhaps most interestingly, B Yond includes newly recorded versions of three songs from John’s past — the 1980 solo rarity “Street Café,” and two late-1960s Moody Blues tunes, “(Evening) Time to Get Away” and “Legend of a Mind.”

John says he recorded “Legend of a Mind” in tribute to late Moody Blues flutist/singer Ray Thomas, who wrote and originally sang the tune.

“I wanted to keep Ray’s music alive and keep The Moody Blues’ music alive within me,” Lodge notes.

Meanwhile, Lodge tells ABC Radio that the future of The Moody Blues is uncertain.

“I will always tour with The Moodies,” he says. “But getting the other guys to tour, it doesn’t seem to be on the horizon.”

Here’s the B Yond track list:

“I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)” (Live)
“Summer Breeze, Summer Song” (2019 remix)
“In My Mind”
“Street Café” (2019 version)
“(Evening) Time to Get Away” (2019 version)
“Saved by the Music” (Live)
“Legend of a Mind” (2019 version)
“Say You Love Me” (2019 remix)
“Get Me Out of Here”
“Gemini Dream” (Live)
“Isn’t Life Strange” (Live)
“Ride My See-Saw” (Live)