9315 - JUSTIN HAYWARD & JOHN LODGE - BLUE JAYS (1975)

JUSTIN HAYWARD/JOHN LODGE
''BLUE JAYS''
MARCH 14 1975
50:42

1 This Morning (Justin Hayward) 5:55
2 Remember Me (My Friend) (Justin Hayward, John Lodge) 5:28
3 My Brother (Justin Hayward) 3:28
4 You (John Lodge) 4:35
5 Nights Winters Years (Justin Hayward) 3:36
6 Saved by the Music (John Lodge) 6:09
7 I Dreamed Last Night (Justin Hayward) 4:28
8 Who Are You Now (Justin Hayward) 2:29
9 Maybe (John Lodge) 5:38
10 When You Wake Up (Justin Hayward, John Lodge) 5:14
11 Blue Guitar (Bonus Track) (Justin Hayward) 3:35

John Lodge/Bass, Vocals
Tim Tompkins/Cello
Graham Deakin/Drums
Justin Hayward/Guitar, Vocals
Kirk Duncan/Piano
Tom Tompkins/Viola
Jim Cockey/Violin
Lol Creme/Guitar, Vocals On 11
Kevin Godley/Drums, Vocals On 11
Graham Gouldman/Bass, Vocals On 11
Eric Stewart/Keyboards, Vocals On 11

REVIEW/AMG
by Bruce Eder
****1/2 / *****
The most romantic album to come out of the Moody Blues' orbit, and the biggest success of their five-year hiatus. Hayward has the more distinctive body of songs, but their strength as a unit lies in their vocal pairing, which is as strong here as it ever was with the group. The pair play the guitars and basses, backed by a group that includes members of the Threshold-signed band Providence. Hayward wrote or co-wrote seven of the original album's ten songs, and most of it is fairly impressive as soft romantic rock, although "Nights Winters Years" is a little bit too melodramatic. Lodge has one of the better rockers to come out of the group's orbit, however, in "Saved By the Music," which is also a surprisingly spiritual song. The production by Tony Clarke echoes the best Moody Blues sound. The bonus track, "Blue Guitar," is an added attraction to the CD.

ABOUT THE ALBUM
By Wikipedia
Blue Jays is a 1975 album by Justin Hayward and John Lodge. It was recorded and released during the Moody Blues' five-year hiatus.

During work on the Moody Blues album that was to follow Seventh Sojourn, bandmates Lodge, Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge summoned Hayward and producer Tony Clarke out of a recording session to call off the project. The tension-fraught recording of Seventh Sojourn and subsequent world tour had left the band exhausted and relationships frayed. Pinder, who had emigrated to the United States, was not happy in England and was determined to return home to California. According to Hayward:

I was under a lot of pressure from Decca to come up with something to release. So I actually went to America to do something with Mike [Pinder], between the two of us. Then Tony Clarke and John [Lodge] turned up at Mike's house as well. Mike took me in the other room and said, "I don't want to work with anybody else. I'm out of this project." So then it became me and John and Tony Clarke, and we made an album called Blue Jays.

The album was recorded in Threshold Westlake Audio Studios in West Hampstead, London.

On March 11, 1975 Blue Jays made its debut in the form of a staged playback of the album at Carnegie Hall. Hayward and Lodge wanted to pipe the music into the street, but New York police said they feared a traffic jam.

The track "Blue Guitar", originally released as a non-album single credited to Hayward and Lodge in September 1975 but performed by Hayward with the band 10cc, was added to the album upon its re-release on CD in 1987.

In 2004, the album was remastered and released on CD with the same bonus tracks.

WEBSITE (HAYWARD)
WEBSITE (LODGE)

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8848 - JUSTIN HAYWARD - SPIRITS OF THE WESTERN SKY (2013) (REPOST)

JUSTIN HAYWARD
''SPIRITS OF THE WESTERN SKY''
FEBRUARY 26 2013
66:32

1/In Your Blue Eyes/4:08
2/One Day, Someday/4:23
3/The Western Sky/6:53
4/The Eastern Sun/4:12
5/On the Road to Love/(Justin Hayward, Kenny Loggins)/3:33
6/Lazy Afternoon/3:54
7/In the Beginning/3:37
8/It's Cold Outside of Your Heart/4:00
9/What You Resist Persists/4:31
10/Broken Dream/5:54
11/Captivated by You/3:51
12/One Day, Someday/6:14
13/Rising/0:22
14/Out There Somewhere/(Peo Haggstrom, Justin Hayward, Carl Ryden)/2:46
15/Out There Somewhere/(Peo Haggstrom, Justin Hayward, Carl Ryden)/8:06
Tracks By Hayward, Except As Indicated

Tracey Ackerman/Vocals (Background)
Frederic Arturi/Keyboards
Alison Brown/Banjo
Paolo Costa/Bass
Barry Crabtree/Banjo
Jill Crabtree/Vocal Harmony
Anne Dudley/Orchestra
Glen Duncan/Fiddle, Violin
Peo Haggstrom/Keyboards
Andy Hall/Dobro
David Harvey/Mandocello, Mandola, Mandolin
Jan Harvey/Vocal Harmony
Aubrey Haynie/Fiddle
Justin Hayward/Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Keyboards, Programming, Vocals
Kenny Loggins/Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals (Background)
Timothy May/Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm)
Lele Melotti/Drums
Patty Mitchell/Vocal Harmony
Carl Ryden/Keyboards
Andy Todd/Bass

REVIEW / AMG
by James Christopher Monger
Spirits of the Western Sky, Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward's first solo outing since 1996's View from the Hill, offers up a well-stocked selection of songs that pay homage to all eras of his meal-ticket band while introducing elements of rural folk and country into the mix. Lyrically simple, yet warm and soulful, songs like the gently fingerpicked "Eastern Sun" and the expansive title track should please "Watching and Waiting"-era Moody fans, while twang-tinged, dobro-propelled ballads like "It's Cold Outside of Your Heart" and "What You Resist Persists" retain the autumnal sentimentality that always resides in the heart of a Hayward composition, despite their folksy, Nashville trappings.

BIOGRAPHY / AMG
by Bruce Eder
Justin Hayward (b. Swindon, October 14, 1946; full name David Justin Hayward) got his first guitar at age nine. In 1965, he joined pre-Beatles English rocker Marty Wilde as a member of his backing band, the Wilde Cats. By the end of 1965, Hayward had four songs that he felt ready to record on his own, which led him to former skiffle king-turned-producer Lonnie Donegan. It was Donegan's intention to record the songs himself, but Hayward insisted upon recording them, and Donegan duly agreed to serve as producer. Released by Pye Records on the last day of 1965, Hayward's solo recording debut "London Is Behind Me" vanished from sight without a trace. The follow-up, "I Can't Face the World Without You," was released by Parlophone on August 26, 1966, to similar results. It was at this same time that Hayward answered Eric Burdon's ad for a lead guitarist. But Burdon had already filled the spot, and offered the Moody Blues -- who were in the market for a new guitarist/singer to replace Denny Laine, who had quit earlier that year -- their pick of responses filling mail sacks in his office. Hayward's letter was picked out by Ray Thomas, and he was called by Mike Pinder. A meeting between the two, and a subsequent meeting with the band, brought Hayward into the Moody Blues lineup permanently.
For the first six months, the group continued doing the R&B-based repertory that they'd been known for prior to Hayward's arrival. Gradually, however, they began to work new songs into their stage act and their recording schedule, which took a big jump when the group was picked by Decca/London Records to participate in a stereo-demonstration record mixing rock and orchestral sounds. The resulting album, Days of Future Passed (1967), revived the band's fortunes, not least through the success of a Justin Hayward song called "Nights in White Satin." Although Hayward proved he could also rock out, he quickly became established as the romantic/mystic of the band, known not only for "Nights in White Satin" but songs such as "New Horizons" and "Your Wildest Dreams."
Hayward's career as a solo artist began in 1977 with the release of Songwriter, which displayed a somewhat leaner and more lively, acoustically textured sound than his work with the Moody Blues. He followed this up in 1980 with Night Flight, a major departure from his work with the group, with very much of a belated disco sound. During the next several years, Hayward devoted much of his attention to the revived Moody Blues, who had a full touring and recording schedule in front of them. His Moving Mountains (1985) was strongly reminiscent of his earlier work with the band from the start of the 1970s. Since then, when he is not working with the band and writing new material (his "Your Wildest Dreams" reached number nine in America in 1986), Hayward seems to devote his time to reviving older Moody Blues songs in solo settings, as on the 1994 release Classic Blue in which he sings Moody Blues songs with orchestral accompaniment. A guitarist of great skill and a unique sound, Hayward remained one of the few stars of the 1960s who retained a devoted international following into the 1990s, though most critics -- as with the Moody Blues -- had ceased to consider him a serious contemporary artist.

OFFICIAL SITE

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8847 - JUSTIN HAYWARD - SONGWRITER (1977) (REPOST)

JUSTIN HAYWARD
''SONGWRITER''
FEBRUARY 1977
54:11

1 Tight Rope 04:48
2 Songwriter (Part 1) 03:32
3 Songwriter (Part 2) 02:33
4 Country Girl 03:59
5 One Lonely Room 05:17
6 Lay It On Me 02:54
7 Stage Door 05:09
8 Raised On Love 03:12
9 Doin' Time 04:21
10 Nostradamus 06:31
11 Wrong Time, Right Place 02:31
12 Marie 03:48
13 Heart Of Steel 03:21
14 Learning The Game 02:10
Tracks By Hayward, Except 14 By Buddy Holly

Clem Cattini /Drums
Mel Galley /Guitar
Justin Hayward /Brass, Drums, Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, Percussion, Piano, String Arrangements, Synthesizer, Vocals
Peter Knight /Strings
Peter Knight /Strings
David Snell /Harp
Dave Holland
Ken Freeman
Peter Morgan
Terry Rowley
A.J. Webber

REVIEW
by Bruce Eder
Hayward has always been at his best as a mystical/romantic, and Songwriter is the solo album that best displays these qualities around a relatively lean sound. From the gentle, lullaby-like "Raised on Love" to the ethereal mystical "Nostradamus," the album is a beguiling collection of material, more personal than his work with The Moody Blues. The material is richly scored, yet lean enough to seem like chamber music next to The Moody Blues' rock symphonies.

MORE REVIEW
By Bruce Eder
Justin Hayward's Songwriter was the best of the solo albums to come out from the members of the Moody Blues during their 1974-1978 hiatus, and it has held up better than any of the others, a fact reflected in that it not only managed to stay in print on CD longer than any of the others, but was reissued in significantly upgraded sound with three superb bonus tracks in May of 2004. First and foremost is "Wrong Time, Right Place," a driving electric rocker with a great beat and a wryly ironic lyric, which was recorded for Songwriter but lost before the album was assembled; the follow-up single "Marie," an electric ballad with a rich, dramatic vocal performance by Hayward, surrounded by several layers of electric and acoustic guitars; and "Heart of Steel," an ornate slowie with some intelligent and restrained synthesizer work. The new annotation answers many questions concerning the album and its origins, and the producers have also included the bonus track from the old CD edition, Hayward's surprisingly effective rendition of Buddy Holly's "Learning the Game."

BIOGRAPHY
by Bruce Eder
Justin Hayward (b. Swindon, October 14, 1946; full name David Justin Hayward) got his first guitar at age nine. In 1965, he joined pre-Beatles English rocker Marty Wilde as a member of his backing band, the Wilde Cats. By the end of 1965, Hayward had four songs that he felt ready to record on his own, which led him to former skiffle king-turned-producer Lonnie Donegan. It was Donegan's intention to record the songs himself, but Hayward insisted upon recording them, and Donegan duly agreed to serve as producer. Released by Pye Records on the last day of 1965, Hayward's solo recording debut "London Is Behind Me" vanished from sight without a trace. The follow-up, "I Can't Face the World Without You," was released by Parlophone on August 26, 1966, to similar results. It was at this same time that Hayward answered Eric Burdon's ad for a lead guitarist. But Burdon had already filled the spot, and offered the Moody Blues -- who were in the market for a new guitarist/singer to replace Denny Laine, who had quit earlier that year -- their pick of responses filling mail sacks in his office. Hayward's letter was picked out by Ray Thomas, and he was called by Mike Pinder. A meeting between the two, and a subsequent meeting with the band, brought Hayward into the Moody Blues lineup permanently.

For the first six months, the group continued doing the R&B-based repertory that they'd been known for prior to Hayward's arrival. Gradually, however, they began to work new songs into their stage act and their recording schedule, which took a big jump when the group was picked by Decca/London Records to participate in a stereo-demonstration record mixing rock and orchestral sounds. The resulting album, Days of Future Passed (1967), revived the band's fortunes, not least through the success of a Justin Hayward song called "Nights in White Satin." Although Hayward proved he could also rock out, he quickly became established as the romantic/mystic of the band, known not only for "Nights in White Satin" but songs such as "New Horizons" and "Your Wildest Dreams."

Hayward's career as a solo artist began in 1977 with the release of Songwriter, which displayed a somewhat leaner and more lively, acoustically textured sound than his work with the Moody Blues. He followed this up in 1980 with Night Flight, a major departure from his work with the group, with very much of a belated disco sound. During the next several years, Hayward devoted much of his attention to the revived Moody Blues, who had a full touring and recording schedule in front of them. His Moving Mountains (1985) was strongly reminiscent of his earlier work with the band from the start of the 1970s. Since then, when he is not working with the band and writing new material (his "Your Wildest Dreams" reached number nine in America in 1986), Hayward seems to devote his time to reviving older Moody Blues songs in solo settings, as on the 1994 release Classic Blue in which he sings Moody Blues songs with orchestral accompaniment. A guitarist of great skill and a unique sound, Hayward remained one of the few stars of the 1960s who retained a devoted international following into the 1990s, though most critics -- as with the Moody Blues -- had ceased to consider him a serious contemporary artist.

OFFICIAL SITE

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7463 - JUSTIN HAYWARD Live At The Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta: Spirits... Live (2014)

JUSTIN HAYWARD
''LIVE AT THE BUCKHEAD THEATRE, ATLANTA: SPIRITS... LIVE''
AUGUST 19 2014
77:11

1 Tuesday Afternoon 4:25
2 It's Up To You - Lovely To See You 6:12
3 In Your Blue Eyes 4:28
4 The Western Sky 7:16
5 Land of Make Believe 5:05
6 New Horizons 5:08
7 In the Beginning 3:54
8 one Day Someday 5:09
9 The Eastern Sun 4:25
10 It's Cold Outside of Your Heart 4:18
11 Your Wildest Dreams 4:52
12 Forever Autumn 4:27
13 Question 6:36
14 Nights In White Satin 5:41
15 I Know You're Out There Somewhere 5:15

REVIEW
By Timothy Monger
Tender-voiced Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward trims down the orchestrations for this 2013 acoustic set recorded live at the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta. Peppered with classic Moodies hits and select solo offerings, Hayward puts the focus on a career's worth of quality songwriting, scaling back some of the elaborate productions that have come to represent his band's output. However, billing this as an acoustic album is slightly misleading. While Hayward eschews the use of his iconic red Gibson ES-335 electric in favor of acoustic six- and 12-string guitars, he's backed here by a trio of multi-instrumentalists who embellish most of this well-known material with synth parts, electric guitar, and tambourine to the point where "Your Wildest Dreams" and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" come across more as drummerless renditions rather than acoustic adaptations. Songs like "New Horizons" and "In the Beginning" (the 2013 solo cut, not the intro to 1969's On the Threshold of a Dream) fare a bit better, but there is still a feeling of only going halfway with the stripped-down vibe. It's true that many of his songs are forever tied to their heavily romantic arrangements, but Hayward is an ace songwriter with a large and diverse back catalog, and it seems like this could have been a great opportunity to really pare away the layers and offer fans the kind of organic experience they've never heard before. His voice sounds as warm and lovely as ever and his guitar playing has always been underrated, but this release, while enjoyable, sounds like he merely borrowed the Moodies' backup keyboard players for a series of weekend solo gigs.

ABOUT
By Official Site
It’s easy enough to focus on the intimate readings here of familiar Moody Blues favorites, but Spirits … Live (due August 19, 2014 via Eagle Rock) also draws interesting, previously unheard contours around Justin Hayward’s newer songs — with “One Day Someday” as a standout example.

Most involving of all is how confidentially open Hayward himself sounds in these wide open spaces. After all, throughout his career with the Moody Blues, he’s consistently involved himself in broadly sketched productions — be that the muscular orchestral sweep of “Nights in White Satin,” the synthesized sheen of “Your Wildest Dreams” or, actually, his original take on “One Day Someday,” from last year’s Spirits of the Western Sky.

Joined by only fellow guitarist Mike Dawes and keyboardist/vocalists Alan Hewitt and Julie Ragins at the Atlanta’s Buckhead Theatre a year ago on August 17, 2013, Hayward strips away the studio version’s more mechanical flourishes, revealing something deeper and far more lastingly connective. Hayward also tackles “Question,” “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” and “Tuesday Afternoon,” as well as a number of other tracks from Spirits, his first solo album since The View from the Hill in 1996.

Deep within it all, there clearly always lurked something that sounded like Spirits … Live. That is to say, just a guy and his guitar. We knew that, intuitively. Still, to hear it is another thing entirely. Hayward has never sounded closer to the material, or closer to us. It’s a thrilling revelation.

BIOGRAPHY
by Bruce Eder
Justin Hayward (b. Swindon, October 14, 1946; full name David Justin Hayward) got his first guitar at age nine. In 1965, he joined pre-Beatles English rocker Marty Wilde as a member of his backing band, the Wilde Cats. By the end of 1965, Hayward had four songs that he felt ready to record on his own, which led him to former skiffle king-turned-producer Lonnie Donegan. It was Donegan's intention to record the songs himself, but Hayward insisted upon recording them, and Donegan duly agreed to serve as producer. Released by Pye Records on the last day of 1965, Hayward's solo recording debut "London Is Behind Me" vanished from sight without a trace. The follow-up, "I Can't Face the World Without You," was released by Parlophone on August 26, 1966, to similar results. It was at this same time that Hayward answered Eric Burdon's ad for a lead guitarist. But Burdon had already filled the spot, and offered the Moody Blues -- who were in the market for a new guitarist/singer to replace Denny Laine, who had quit earlier that year -- their pick of responses filling mail sacks in his office. Hayward's letter was picked out by Ray Thomas, and he was called by Mike Pinder. A meeting between the two, and a subsequent meeting with the band, brought Hayward into the Moody Blues lineup permanently.

For the first six months, the group continued doing the R&B-based repertory that they'd been known for prior to Hayward's arrival. Gradually, however, they began to work new songs into their stage act and their recording schedule, which took a big jump when the group was picked by Decca/London Records to participate in a stereo-demonstration record mixing rock and orchestral sounds. The resulting album, Days of Future Passed (1967), revived the band's fortunes, not least through the success of a Justin Hayward song called "Nights in White Satin." Although Hayward proved he could also rock out, he quickly became established as the romantic/mystic of the band, known not only for "Nights in White Satin" but songs such as "New Horizons" and "Your Wildest Dreams."

Hayward's career as a solo artist began in 1977 with the release of Songwriter, which displayed a somewhat leaner and more lively, acoustically textured sound than his work with the Moody Blues. He followed this up in 1980 with Night Flight, a major departure from his work with the group, with very much of a belated disco sound. During the next several years, Hayward devoted much of his attention to the revived Moody Blues, who had a full touring and recording schedule in front of them. His Moving Mountains (1985) was strongly reminiscent of his earlier work with the band from the start of the 1970s. Since then, when he is not working with the band and writing new material (his "Your Wildest Dreams" reached number nine in America in 1986), Hayward seems to devote his time to reviving older Moody Blues songs in solo settings, as on the 1994 release Classic Blue in which he sings Moody Blues songs with orchestral accompaniment. A guitarist of great skill and a unique sound, Hayward remained one of the few stars of the 1960s who retained a devoted international following into the 1990s, though most critics -- as with the Moody Blues -- had ceased to consider him a serious contemporary artist.


OFFICIAL SITE

6222 - JUSTIN HAYWARD - Songwriter (1977)

JUSTIN HAYWARD
''SONGWRITER''
FEBRUARY 1977
54:35

01 - Tight Rope/00:04:48
02 - Songwriter (Part 1)/00:03:32
03 - Songwriter (Part 2)/00:02:33
04 - Country Girl/00:04:00
05 - One Lonely Room/00:05:17
06 - Lay It On Me/00:02:54
07 - Stage Door/00:05:09
08 - Raised On Love/00:03:12
09 - Doin' Time/00:04:22
10 - Nostradamus/00:06:31
11 - Wrong Time, Right Place/00:02:31
12 - Marie/00:03:48
13 - Heart Of Steel/00:03:21
14 - Learning The Game/00:02:10
Tracks By Hayward, Except 14 By Buddy Holly

Clem Cattini /Drums
Mel Galley /Guitar
Justin Hayward /Brass, Composer, Drums, Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Keyboards, Percussion, Piano, Producer, String Arrangements, Synthesizer, Vocals
Peter Knight /Strings
Dave Holland /Unknown Contributor Role
Ken Freeman /Unknown Contributor Role
Peter Knight /Strings
Peter Morgan /Unknown Contributor Role
Terry Rowley /Unknown Contributor Role
David Snell /Harp
A.J. Webber /Unknown Contributor Role

REVIEW
by Bruce Eder
Hayward has always been at his best as a mystical/romantic, and Songwriter is the solo album that best displays these qualities around a relatively lean sound. From the gentle, lullaby-like "Raised on Love" to the ethereal mystical "Nostradamus," the album is a beguiling collection of material, more personal than his work with The Moody Blues. The material is richly scored, yet lean enough to seem like chamber music next to The Moody Blues' rock symphonies.

MORE REVIEW
By Bruce Eder
Justin Hayward's Songwriter was the best of the solo albums to come out from the members of the Moody Blues during their 1974-1978 hiatus, and it has held up better than any of the others, a fact reflected in that it not only managed to stay in print on CD longer than any of the others, but was reissued in significantly upgraded sound with three superb bonus tracks in May of 2004. First and foremost is "Wrong Time, Right Place," a driving electric rocker with a great beat and a wryly ironic lyric, which was recorded for Songwriter but lost before the album was assembled; the follow-up single "Marie," an electric ballad with a rich, dramatic vocal performance by Hayward, surrounded by several layers of electric and acoustic guitars; and "Heart of Steel," an ornate slowie with some intelligent and restrained synthesizer work. The new annotation answers many questions concerning the album and its origins, and the producers have also included the bonus track from the old CD edition, Hayward's surprisingly effective rendition of Buddy Holly's "Learning the Game."

BIOGRAPHY
by Bruce Eder
Justin Hayward (b. Swindon, October 14, 1946; full name David Justin Hayward) got his first guitar at age nine. In 1965, he joined pre-Beatles English rocker Marty Wilde as a member of his backing band, the Wilde Cats. By the end of 1965, Hayward had four songs that he felt ready to record on his own, which led him to former skiffle king-turned-producer Lonnie Donegan. It was Donegan's intention to record the songs himself, but Hayward insisted upon recording them, and Donegan duly agreed to serve as producer. Released by Pye Records on the last day of 1965, Hayward's solo recording debut "London Is Behind Me" vanished from sight without a trace. The follow-up, "I Can't Face the World Without You," was released by Parlophone on August 26, 1966, to similar results. It was at this same time that Hayward answered Eric Burdon's ad for a lead guitarist. But Burdon had already filled the spot, and offered the Moody Blues -- who were in the market for a new guitarist/singer to replace Denny Laine, who had quit earlier that year -- their pick of responses filling mail sacks in his office. Hayward's letter was picked out by Ray Thomas, and he was called by Mike Pinder. A meeting between the two, and a subsequent meeting with the band, brought Hayward into the Moody Blues lineup permanently.

For the first six months, the group continued doing the R&B-based repertory that they'd been known for prior to Hayward's arrival. Gradually, however, they began to work new songs into their stage act and their recording schedule, which took a big jump when the group was picked by Decca/London Records to participate in a stereo-demonstration record mixing rock and orchestral sounds. The resulting album, Days of Future Passed (1967), revived the band's fortunes, not least through the success of a Justin Hayward song called "Nights in White Satin." Although Hayward proved he could also rock out, he quickly became established as the romantic/mystic of the band, known not only for "Nights in White Satin" but songs such as "New Horizons" and "Your Wildest Dreams."

Hayward's career as a solo artist began in 1977 with the release of Songwriter, which displayed a somewhat leaner and more lively, acoustically textured sound than his work with the Moody Blues. He followed this up in 1980 with Night Flight, a major departure from his work with the group, with very much of a belated disco sound. During the next several years, Hayward devoted much of his attention to the revived Moody Blues, who had a full touring and recording schedule in front of them. His Moving Mountains (1985) was strongly reminiscent of his earlier work with the band from the start of the 1970s. Since then, when he is not working with the band and writing new material (his "Your Wildest Dreams" reached number nine in America in 1986), Hayward seems to devote his time to reviving older Moody Blues songs in solo settings, as on the 1994 release Classic Blue in which he sings Moody Blues songs with orchestral accompaniment. A guitarist of great skill and a unique sound, Hayward remained one of the few stars of the 1960s who retained a devoted international following into the 1990s, though most critics -- as with the Moody Blues -- had ceased to consider him a serious contemporary artist.

4140 - JUSTIN HAYWARD - Spirits Of The Western Sky (2013)

JUSTIN HAYWARD
''SPIRITS OF THE WESTERN SKY''
FEBRUARY 26 2013
67:51

1/In Your Blue Eyes/4:12
2/One Day, Someday/4:30
3/The Western Sky/6:59
4/The Eastern Sun/4:18
5/On the Road to Love/3:39
6/Lazy Afternoon/3:59
7/In the Beginning/3:43
8/It's Cold Outside of Your Heart/4:05
9/What You Resist Persists/4:36
10/Broken Dream/5:59
11/Captivated by You/3:57
12/One Day, Someday/6:22
13/Rising/0:25
14/Out There Somewhere/2:48
15/Out There Somewhere/8:19

BIOGRAPHY
by Bruce Eder
Justin Hayward (b. Swindon, October 14, 1946; full name David Justin Hayward) got his first guitar at age nine. In 1965, he joined pre-Beatles English rocker Marty Wilde as a member of his backing band, the Wilde Cats. By the end of 1965, Hayward had four songs that he felt ready to record on his own, which led him to former skiffle king-turned-producer Lonnie Donegan. It was Donegan's intention to record the songs himself, but Hayward insisted upon recording them, and Donegan duly agreed to serve as producer. Released by Pye Records on the last day of 1965, Hayward's solo recording debut "London Is Behind Me" vanished from sight without a trace. The follow-up, "I Can't Face the World Without You," was released by Parlophone on August 26, 1966, to similar results. It was at this same time that Hayward answered Eric Burdon's ad for a lead guitarist. But Burdon had already filled the spot, and offered the Moody Blues -- who were in the market for a new guitarist/singer to replace Denny Laine, who had quit earlier that year -- their pick of responses filling mail sacks in his office. Hayward's letter was picked out by Ray Thomas, and he was called by Mike Pinder. A meeting between the two, and a subsequent meeting with the band, brought Hayward into the Moody Blues lineup permanently.
For the first six months, the group continued doing the R&B-based repertory that they'd been known for prior to Hayward's arrival. Gradually, however, they began to work new songs into their stage act and their recording schedule, which took a big jump when the group was picked by Decca/London Records to participate in a stereo-demonstration record mixing rock and orchestral sounds. The resulting album, Days of Future Passed (1967), revived the band's fortunes, not least through the success of a Justin Hayward song called "Nights in White Satin." Although Hayward proved he could also rock out, he quickly became established as the romantic/mystic of the band, known not only for "Nights in White Satin" but songs such as "New Horizons" and "Your Wildest Dreams."
Hayward's career as a solo artist began in 1977 with the release of Songwriter, which displayed a somewhat leaner and more lively, acoustically textured sound than his work with the Moody Blues. He followed this up in 1980 with Night Flight, a major departure from his work with the group, with very much of a belated disco sound. During the next several years, Hayward devoted much of his attention to the revived Moody Blues, who had a full touring and recording schedule in front of them. His Moving Mountains (1985) was strongly reminiscent of his earlier work with the band from the start of the 1970s. Since then, when he is not working with the band and writing new material (his "Your Wildest Dreams" reached number nine in America in 1986), Hayward seems to devote his time to reviving older Moody Blues songs in solo settings, as on the 1994 release Classic Blue in which he sings Moody Blues songs with orchestral accompaniment. A guitarist of great skill and a unique sound, Hayward remained one of the few stars of the 1960s who retained a devoted international following into the 1990s, though most critics -- as with the Moody Blues -- had ceased to consider him a serious contemporary artist.

DoWnLoAd