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) ** **