Moody Blues - "Sands of Times"

 

In 1974, several members of the Moody Blues were burnt out from constant recording and touring, and the band decided to take a hiatus that lasted nearly three years. But the band members didn't just sit around and relax. Instead, they all put out solo albums, and some members toured to promote the albums. I wanted to look at the solo albums of the group members to see if I could take tracks from each to create what could have been a new Moody Blues album for 1975 or 1976. 

SIDE A

1. This Morning

2. Free as a Dove

3. I Wish We Could Fly

4. Island

5. Saved by the Music

SIDE B

1. Remember Me (My Friend)

2. The Promise

3. High Above My Head

4. I Dreamed Last Night

5. When You Wake Up

Actually, we have one real Moody Blues song to include: "Island." The band recorded it in 1973 for what was to be their next album. However, since they went on hiatus, the song remained unreleased until 2007, when it was added to the album Seventh Sojourn as a bonus track. 

Of the five members, the only solo work I felt I couldn't use was that of drummer Graeme Edge's Kick Off Your Muddy Boots, credited to the Graeme Edge Band featuring Adam Gurvitz. That's because Gurvitz sings lead vocals on all the tracks, and since he wasn't a member of the Moody Blues, none of the songs seemed appropriate. Moodies Justin Hayward and John Lodge collaborated on an album titled Blue Jays. I ended up using five tracks from this album. Ray Thomas issued the album From Mighty Oaks, and I used two tracks from this. I also used two tracks from Mike Pinder's The Promise album.

Not surprisingly, Hayward-penned tracks dominated as they usually did on Moody Blues albums. 

I started the album with "This Morning" from the Blue Jays album, as I think it's the only track here with that classic Moody Blues sound. And because of this, I'm a little surprised it wasn't the single taken from the album. Making up the rest of Side 1 are "Free as a Dove" from Pinder, "I Wish We Could Fly" from Thomas, the sole actual Moody Blues song, "Island," and finally, another Blue Jays track, "Saved by the Music."

"Remember Me (My Friend)," "I Dreamed Last Night" and "When You Wake Up" are all Blue Jays tracks on Side 2. Also included are Pinder's "The Promise" and "High Above My Head" from Thomas' From Mighty Oaks.

Overall, I think these tracks fit together fairly well. I still find it odd that group members would declare burn out as a reason for a hiatus, only to turn around and work just as much as they would normally.

For an album cover, I would have liked to use some otherwise unused artwork by Phil Travers, who usually created the band's cover art. But I couldn't find any searching the web. However, I found this artwork of sand dunes that I thought was sorta, kinda similar to Travers' style -- but I couldn't find info on who created it. With the cover art chosen, I came up with Sands of Time for the title.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the album.