Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues Passes Away
Red State,
by
Jerry Wilson
Original Article
Posted By: Hazymac,
4/26/2024 9:28:56 AM
Mike Pinder, original keyboardist for The Moody Blues in both their original mid-1960s configuration as a pop/blues outfit and their better-known late-1960s/early-1970s gentle progressive rock quintet entity, died in his Northern California home on April 25, 2024, from an as-yet unstated cause. Pinder was 82. Pinder first came to public attention in 1965, when alongside singer/vocalist Ray Thomas and guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine, he appeared on the first Moody Blues album, “The Magnificent Moodies.” The album contained the band's first hit, “Go Now,” written by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett. With Laine on lead vocal, the Moody Blues’ version reached #1 in England and #10 in the United States. Follow-up success
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
Quigley 4/26/2024 9:34:01 AM (No. 1706418)
I spent many a wasted night listening to their cosmic sounds.
19 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Italiano 4/26/2024 9:34:32 AM (No. 1706420)
Great group. Days of Future Passed was and is a classic.
Truth be told though, a lot of their lyrics were 60's / 70's-era semi-coherent psychobabble (be honest, they were), but the music was wonderful.
16 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 4/26/2024 9:35:06 AM (No. 1706421)
Rest peacefully and eternally, Mike. I still have your records at home. Scratch-free, I might add.
8 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Hazymac 4/26/2024 9:38:54 AM (No. 1706424)
In the old days when the Mellotron, an early synthesizer, was employed by some bands, Mike Pinder had to become a sort of mechanic, and learn to fix the seven second tape loops when they malfunctioned on stage. (The Mellotron was tough to keep running perfectly.) Better keyboards such as the Chamberlain he used on 1972's Seventh Sojourn would be invented and used by keyboardsman Pinder, but the spooky sound of the Mellotron's fake strings still send chills down my spine whenever I hear it. It was of its time. The Moody Blues had a string of great albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Then they came back in 1981, sounding like themselves. I've seen videos of the Moodys in recent decades, and they are always wonderful.
15 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Hazymac 4/26/2024 9:57:09 AM (No. 1706442)
Here's "Legend of a Mind" from In Search of the Lost Chord (1967). You've probably heard it before. Pinder's Mellotron sounds very nice in this song. The song starts: "Timothy Leary's dead." That's true.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WMA3LVi6Zg
6 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Mushroom 4/26/2024 10:28:14 AM (No. 1706476)
I echo poster#1, except reverse the words wasted and night.
2 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 4/26/2024 10:30:55 AM (No. 1706480)
Saw the Moody Blues in concert with Omaha Symphony in early 90s. Outstanding show!
Poster 2 there was babble, but I was amused by “Blasting, billowing, bursting forth with the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes . . . “
6 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 4/26/2024 10:31:45 AM (No. 1706481)
Time to play some Moody Blues. Rest well, sir.
7 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 4/26/2024 11:17:43 AM (No. 1706532)
And Ive been losing too many of my friends, too. It is that sad time of life when you and your friends of 40 and 50 and 60 years standing are reaching the end of the line. Sad times.
17 people like this.
Finally saw the band in concert, post-2000. They were gettin' old but the biggest impression I came away with: Justin Hayward can play some mean guitar.
4 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
franq 4/26/2024 12:16:04 PM (No. 1706581)
Breathe deep the gathering gloom...
I remember listening to NIWS on the way to a youth group retreat. My best friend and I had the good fortune to ride in a Winnebago... It was dark, and the music took you away from the small town we lived in.
3 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Illinois Mom 4/26/2024 12:40:18 PM (No. 1706601)
I lost my husband of 49 years the other day. We were talking...and then he stopped. My memories are in overload and one of best was listening to the Moody Blues. He told me that "My Lady" was his song for me, which made me melt. What a wonderful time that was for us.
Now another death. Another thread from my past snapped.
8 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Safari Man 4/26/2024 1:04:24 PM (No. 1706626)
I am really only familiar with MoodyBlues greatest hits (ie that got radio play). But I feel like I know them very well since whenever one of those tunes came on the radio, I turned it up and listened intently. Incredible stuff. When I used to play tennis under the lights, the yellow balls would appear white. I would always harken to the cold hearted orb that rules the night, removes the colors from our sight. Their music in ingrained my DNA.
4 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Newtsche 4/26/2024 1:06:45 PM (No. 1706629)
Prayers for you and your husband, Illinois Mom, bless you.
I bumped into Ray Thomas in the crowd on the floor of Chicago's Kinetic Theatre, maybe 1968, he was very nice.
The Moody Blues shared the bill with Ten Years After, quite a night with a girl who changed things forever.
With all the music of that era, nobody sounded like the Moody Blues, a lovely interlude in a world of chaos.
RIP Mike Pinder, thank you.
3 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
franq 4/26/2024 1:47:21 PM (No. 1706647)
My prayers and condolences, #12.
5 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
caljeepgirl 4/26/2024 2:51:48 PM (No. 1706698)
Yes, #s 9 & 12. It's that time of life indeed. Moody Blues collection is still on my personal playlist, and will remain there til my death. Never really tire of their sound.....
2 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
DVC 4/26/2024 4:07:24 PM (No. 1706737)
My very sincere condolences, #12. Best wishes for you being able to knit up your life and continue without your partner of so many years.
2 people like this.
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Comments:
Godspeed, indeed. The Moody Blues have been one of the essential bands of their time.