Moody Blues debut gets anniversary release

The Moody Blues’ debut album has been launched in a 50th anniversary edition, complete with 29 bonus tracks including material from an abandoned record.

The Magnificent Moodies was recorded in 1965 by Denny Laine, Ray Thomas, Mike Pinder, Clint Warwick and Graeme Edge, a year before the band was reinvented with the arrival of Justin Hayward and John Lodge – who, along with Edge, remain in the veteran outfit.

Released by Esoteric Recordings, the new double-disc Deluxe edition contains the original 12-track album, remastered from the original master tapes, along with nine songs recorded in 1966 from an LP that was never completed. The clamshell box also features a booklet with previously unseen pictures, an essay, three postcards and a poster. A single-disc edition is also available.

The Moodies are planning a return to the UK next year. Frontman Hayward recently confirmed a solo tour, after saying he wasn’t sure whether fans wanted a new album from the band.

Deluxe edition tracklist

CD1

  1. I’ll Go Crazy

  2. Something You Got

  3. Go Now

  4. Can’t Nobody Love You

  5. I Don’t Mind

  6. I’ve Got a Dream

  7. Let Me Go

  8. Stop

  9. Thank You Baby

  10. It Ain’t Necessarily So

  11. True Story

  12. Bye Bye Bird

Bonus tracks:

  1. Lose Your Money (But Don’t Lose Your Mind)

  2. Steal Your Heart Away

  3. Go Now! (unreleased first version)

  4. It’s Easy Child

  5. I Don’t Want to Go On Without You

  6. Time is on My Side

  7. From the Bottom of My Heart (I Love You)

  8. And My Baby’s Gone

  9. Everyday

  10. You Don’t (All the Time)

  11. Boulevard de Madeleine

  12. This is My House (But Nobody Calls)

  13. People Gotta Go (rare, only previously released in France)

  14. Life’s Not Life

  15. He Can Win

CD2

  1. Go Now! (second version)

  2. Lose Your Money (But Don’t Lose Your Mind) (early version)

  3. Steal Your Heart Away (first version)

  4. I’ll Go Crazy (first version)

  5. You Better Move On

  6. Can’t Nobody Love You (first version)

  7. 23rd Psalm

  8. Go Now

  9. I Don’t Want to Go On Without You

  10. I’ll Go Crazy (BBC radio)

  11. From the Bottom of My Heart (I Love You)

  12. Jump Back (BBC radio)

  13. I’ve Got a Dream

  14. And My Baby’s Gone (BBC radio)

  15. It’s Easy Child

  16. Stop

  17. Everyday (BBC radio)

  18. Interview with Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge /You Don’t (All the Time)

  19. I Want You to Know (BBC radio)

  20. Coca Cola radio commercial 1965

Abandoned album tracks

  1. Sad Song

  2. This is My House (But Nobody Calls) (first version)

  3. How Can We Hang on to a Dream (first version)

  4. How Can We Hang on to a Dream (remake)

  5. Jago & Jilly

  6. We’re Broken

  7. I Really Haven’t Got the Time

  8. Red Wine

  9. This is My House (But Nobody Calls) (stereo mix) ** **

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Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.