By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to this special report for the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my father about the best Moody Blues albums.  My father is very opinionated and we had a nice argument about the subject.  He decided to make a list.  I’m not sure if it’s because we were arguing and he knew I had some differing opinions, but I couldn’t believe how similar his answers were to what mine might have been!  In fact, there’s very few on this list I would disagree with (I’d put “Every Good Boy…” lower and definitely “December” a lot higher…).  So, without further ado, here’s my father’s list of Best Moody Blues albums…including solo albums!

Moody Blues albums:

1. On the Threshold of A Dream
2. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
3. To Our Children’s Children’s Children
4. Long Distance Voyager
5. Strange Times
6. Question of Balance
7. The Present
8. In Search of the Lost Chord
9. Seventh Sojourn
10. Days of Future Passed
11. Octave
12. This is the Moody Blues (A really good Best-Of compilation, mixed like a real Moody Blues album.  However, if a compilation album lands here, you can only imagine how…not great…the albums below it must be!)
13. Prelude (Another compilation, but this is of their early stuff before “Days of Future Passed”)
14. Caught Live +5 (I’ve always been a fan of the five unreleased songs at the end, myself)
15. Keys of the Kingdom
16. December
17. The Other Side of Life
18. Sur La Mer

Moody Blues Members’ Solo Albums:

1. The Promise – Mike Pinder
2. View From the Hill – Justin Hayward
3. Blue Jays – Justin Hayward and John Lodge
4. Among the Stars – Mike Pinder
5. From Mighty Oaks – Ray Thomas
6. Kick Off Your Muddy Boots – Graeme Edge
7. Natural Avenue – John Lodge
8. Songwriter – Justin Hayward
9. Hopes Wishes Dreams – Ray Thomas
10. Paradise Ballroom – Graeme Edge

Now that we’ve had our say, we’d love to hear what you think!  What would you change about this list?  Turn it upside down?  A few tweaks?  Let us hear from you in the comments section below!

To see how it’s played in the cover song music video, CLICK HERE!

“A Winter’s Tale”
The Moody Blues

Intro: F   Bb   F   Bb   F   C   F

F                                Bb
The nights are colder now
Am                                   Bb
Maybe I should close the door
F              C                       Dm
And anyway the snow has covered all your footsteps
Gm                         C
And I can follow you no more

The fire still burns at night
My memories are warm and clear
F
But everybody knows
C                 Bb              C         F
It’s hard to be alone at this time of year

F                                Bb
It was only a winter’s tale
Just another winter’s tale
And why should the world take notice
F                                    C
Of one more love that’s failed?

F                                Bb
A love that can never be
Though it meant a lot to you and me
F
On a world-wide scale
C                                        F
We’re just another winter’s tale

Instrumental:  F   C   Dm   Dm/C/Bb   C   F

While I stand alone
A bell is ringing far away
I wonder if you’re here
I wonder if you’re listening
I wonder where you are today
Good luck, I wish you well
For all that wishes may be worth
I hope that love and strength
Are with you for the length
Of your time on earth

CHORUS

Instrumental

CHORUS

Instrumental (x2)

Sing the following over the end of the instrumental:
Bb                           C           F            C – F
We’re just another winter’s tale.

** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **

For Moody Blues chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to an all-new week of cover song music videos at my personal favorite blog on the web today — and I swear I’m not biased!  I had a busy but very enjoyable weekend, including going to see the Moody Blues as they tore the house down at the “Chevrolet” Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut.  (I put the Chevrolet part in quotations because I refuse to recognize that as the name.  Just about everyone I know still calls it the Oakdale, despite Chevy’s blatant self-promotion.)

The song I chose to learn and record came out of the music I listened to on the way home from the concert on Saturday night, namely the Moody Blues’ “Live at the Isle of Wight Festival,” a concert from 1970 that was released a year or so ago on CD and, more recently, on DVD.  As could be expected, this concert includes songs from their first three LPs, but it certainly includes a healthy portion of songs from their A Question of Balance album, released that same year.  My session tonight, a John Lodge track titled “Minstrel’s Song,” is a song from that aforementioned album.

The live version from 1970 is an upbeat version and a great performance, but there really is no comparison to the studio recording on the album.  Even though I agree that A Question of Balance simply doesn’t hit the same peaks of concept album perfection that On the Threshold of a Dream and To Our Children’s Children’s Children did — what a year 1969 must have been for Moody Blues fans and music lovers in general! — in my opinion, it can’t be beat in terms of production quality and a constant flow of catchy, interesting songs.  I suppose this makes sense, as it has been said that the album was an effort on their part to record songs that would be more easily reproduced in concert.  Thankfully, though, they did return to their inventive soundscapes for their following two releases.

Now, let’s pause for a moment to add in some Laptop Sessions trivia.  In the past, there have been two other tracks from A Question of Balance recorded as cover song music videos here at the blog.  One is a foregone conclusion — the truly amazing album opener “Question,” a true acoustic masterpiece, if only for the opening guitar strum pattern.  And I’ll even tell you that Jim recorded it.

My question is: what was the second song from this album to be recorded by a Laptop Sessions contributor, and which guitarist here at the blog recorded it?  If you know, then be the first to add a comment below!

The reason I chose this song is the same reason I have spent the past two days listening to the Moody Blues nonstop — first the concert CD, then A Question of Balance, followed by Strange Times — namely, because the concert was such an entertaining experience.  This is probably the third or fourth time I have seen Justin Hayward, John Lodge, and Graeme Edge in concert, and they continue to impress every year they come around.  (They must have a decent fanbase in Connecticut, as they appeared at the Mohegan Sun on Sunday, the next night after performing at the Oakdale!)  As my third and final concert of the summer, there was some pressure here based on how much I enjoyed my previous two, Bob Dylan and Wilco respectively.  And, again, there was no contest; the Moody Blues only get better — or, more realistically, stay at the same level of greatness — with age.

Some highlights from this stop on the Moody Blues’ “Summer Nights Tour 2009″ included Justin Hayward foregoing his usual collared shirt for a lime green t-shirt with a definite summer feel to it, then a white t-shirt after the intermission break.  The set list included some interesting song choices, most notably “Peak Hour” from the “Lunch Break” segment of their debut album Days of Future Passed.  Supposedly, this song has not been performed in concert for about 40 years!  Regardless, it was one of the highlights of the night, combining catchy vocals and impressive harmonies with amazing instrumental work.

Perhaps the funniest moment of the night came when Graeme Edge, before performing “Higher and Higher,” recalled the classic mentality that it’s all about “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.”  He claimed that it was still true, even if the drug of choice may have changed to Viagra.

Obvious crack at their age aside, I can’t stress enough that the Moody Blues are still at the top of their game.  Ever since Jim and I spent a summer a couple years ago listening to all of their albums (each one repeatedly) in sequence, the Moody Blues have held a special place in my heart and in my thoughts of the summer time.  Each time they come around, I realize they have a lot to live up to in terms of their past performances and their impressive discography.  All in all, they played for almost two hours and included at least one song from just about every studio album they ever released, with the exception of two of my favorites, The Present and Strange Times.  Jim might correct me here, as I decided to entirely enjoy this concert without keeping track of the set list or writing a full review, but my full review would have gone something like this: don’t miss out on the chance to see the Moody Blues if you get the chance!

Well, that about does it for me.  On a final note, is it a bad sign if, after playing my finished Laptop Session as I wrote this post tonight, my cat reached over and hit the “Volume Down” key on my MacBook?  I’m not even kidding here.  I hope you don’t have the same reaction!

See you next session!

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, welcome to another version of Jim Fusco Tuesdays here on the best music video blog ever created: the Laptop Sessions!

My special guest is coming, I promise, but we’ll have to wait at least another week.  But, it’ll be a great performance and I’m really looking forward to it.

So, I had to do an impromptu video tonight.  I have been practicing this song for many months now, but I always had other Moody Blues songs cued-up so I never got to it.  But, I had to do this video tonight up in my room because it’s just simply too cold in the studio now and I don’t wanna wait for the heat to kick in.

So, the video doesn’t look that great, but the sound is there, and that’s the most important thing, isn’t it?

Tonight, I bring you a great song by the Moody Blues from their album “The Present”.  This might be considered the last great Moody Blues album, because they were still popular, relevant, and had all four members contributing in a significant way.  I, of course, love the “Strange Times” album, but I definitely feel like I’m the only person in Connecticut (other than people I know personally) that knows of that album.

“Blue World” is a well-done song and has a classic Justin Hayward sound to it.  I love the chorus and I even love that over-the-top Pat Moraz keyboard/synth work.

The only problem with this song is the introspective lyrics that Hayward is so accustomed to writing.  He’s like the Mike Love of the band.  I mean, in this song, Hayward mentions his songs “The Voice” and “Fly Me High”.  He’s done this in other songs, as well.  But the thing is that “The Voice” was from the PREVIOUS album!  It’s not like he had a lot of time to reflect on the message of that song…

Well, I hope you enjoy tonight’s entry into the Laptop Sessions’ catalog.  Chris and I are going to have a battle to the death to find out who’s stuck with Original Wednesday tomorrow, but I may guilt him into it, seeing that I’ll be away on business for the first time!  I may be back in time and I’ll have stories to tell.  I’ve never been to New York City alone before, so tomorrow should be interesting!  Have a great one and I’ll be back sooner than you think!