Featured Album – To Our Children’s Children’s Children – Moody Blues

Written by Jim S.

It came to my attention recently that drummer Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues passed away on 11 November 2021. In tribute to him, I am reposting this piece which I first featured in 2017 before a lot of you were following my blog. Graeme wrote one my favorite tunes on this album, the opener “Higher and Higher.” I’ll give this album a spin today and I think you will dig it too.

Proto-prog is the first wave of British progressive rockΒ musicians who branched from psychedelia … that slightly predates the full-fledged prog era.Β Progressive rock evolved from … a strain of classical/symphonic rock led by the Nice (Keith Emerson’s band – ME), Procol Harum, and the Moody Blues. Proto-prog musicians harnessed modern classical and other genres usually outside of traditional rock influences, longer and more complicated compositions, interconnected songs as medley, and studio composition.

When the Moody Blues released their first single, “Go Now,” in 1964, they seemed like pretty much every other British Invasion band. It was a good song, well-played, well-sung (by Denny Laine who later joined Wings) which still holds up today. (Historical note – This song was originally written for and recorded by an American R&B artist named Bessie Banks. It was supposed to be her big breakthrough but the Moodies version clobbered it.)

By 1967, the Moodies had shifted gears and started going in the direction of early progressive or symphonic rock. They hit it big with an album called Days of Future Passed and its still popular song, “Nights In White Satin.” (Never really been a fan of that one, actually. Seems a bit overwrought.)

But that album was the first of what the Moody Blues fans consider their “core” or classic seven. (Days of Future Passed, In Search of the Lost Chord, On the Threshold of a Dream, To Our Children’s Children’s Children, A Question of Balance, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Seventh Sojourn.) These were all released between 1967 and 1972 or what one might refer to as the magic years for the number of great albums released.

But I want to focus here on To Our Children’s Children’s Children which was released in November of 1969. I’m pretty sure what got me thinking about the Moodies was when I posted about Justin Hayward’s rendition of “Forever Autumn.” Because until the other day, I had not listened to this album in years.

And I want to say that I found it every bit as enjoyable as I remember it being when I used to listen to it all the time. It is a lush, melodic concept album about space travel, bouncing around the moon, and ultimately, isolation. The date of release is significant as it is only a couple of months after the US landed on the moon and one year after 2001: A Space Odyssey. I hear both influences in it.

In fact, if I were to break the album down, it might look something like this:

  • 75% lush, melodic romanticism
  • 5% mysticism
  • 5% New Age stuff
  • 5% hippie lovefest
  • 3% 2001: A SpaceΒ Odyssey
  • 2% Space Oddity
  • 5% melodramatic bombast

This album gets a mixed reaction from Moodies fans but is still largely viewed positively. The naysayers decry the lack of any “hits.” Really? Did anybody listen to Dark Side of Moon or In the Court of the Crimson King or Kid A looking for fucking hits? Let the record company executives worry about pulling songs from concept albums out of context and trying to make hits out of them. It’s all “product” to many of them anyway.

To Our Children’s Children’s Children does what the best concept albums do when you listen to it – it washes over you. From “Higher and Higher,” with its sound of a rocket lifting off (simulated, because the NASA one sounded cheesy); to “Floating,” a joyous exploration of anti-gravity (little kids love this one); to the forlorn “Watching and Waiting,” the album creates a MOOD. That’s what it’s all about, not – as they used to say on American Bandstand – whether or not it’s got a great beat and I can dance to it.

I jokingly mentioned “Space Oddity” above. That song had actually been released earlier the same year with themes of isolation and loneliness. (And yes, we know Major Tom’s a junkie.) But there’s something about the thought of being alone in the vastness of space that appears to bring out those solitary feelings. The lyrics of the beautiful “Watching and Waiting” speak to this. But who is the “I” that speaks here?:

Watching and waiting
For a friend to play with
Why have I been alone so long
Mole he is burrowing his way to the sunlight
He knows there’s someone there so strong

Soon you will see me
Cos I’ll be all around you
But where I come from I can’t tell
But don’t be alarmed by my fields and my forests
They’re here for only you to share

Spotify link

Typically, in the long history of the Music Enthusiast (established 1839), I post three or four songs per album. In this case, I’m not going to do that but instead suggest that you put aside 45 or so minutes, find a quiet space, slap on some headphones. You may well not think this is prog-rock in the Yes or Crimson fashion with virtuosic musicianship and lightning-fast guitar runs. Just listen. Without prejudice.

Spotify link

After this album, the Moodies put out another fine record, A Question of Balance. They dropped some of the lush instrumentation and overdubbing so they could actually reproduce it on stage.

  • Justin Hayward – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, sitar
  • John Lodge – vocals, bass guitar, harp, acoustic guitar
  • Ray Thomas – vocals, flute, tambourine, bass flute, oboe
  • Graeme Edge – drums, percussion
  • Mike Pinder – vocals, Mellotron, piano, EMS VCS 3, Hammond organ, acoustic guitar, celesta, double bass

I’m posting what appears to be a deluxe version of the album. But the original ended perfectly on “Watching and Waiting.”

Source: Wikipedia

 

30 thoughts on “Featured Album – To Our Children’s Children’s Children – Moody Blues”

    1. Yeah. ‘Question of Balance’ is good too. Kinda lost sight of these guys but need to spin a few of theirs. Great sound. I’ll go for Threshold’first. Thanks.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I think I’ll cover them on my blog sometime, although I need to listen to Seventh Sojourn some more. I definitely like the lush sound on Threshold and Children best.

        Like

  2. Never got on the Moody’s train. Have some of their albums (Where did they come from?) I’ll give this a spin on your recommendation. What I’ve heard of their music never hurt my ears.

    Like

    1. Yeah, give it a whirl. Worst case you lose 45 minutes of your time. Best case you find a gem you didn’t know. Have to get to the last song you recommended. Report back soon.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. My Gal has the records. That’s where I got them. I remember giving them a few spins and liking some of the music.. I’ll get back to you on this one. (The Wellfleet drive in looks very cool, Only problem is they have to run mainstream films to pay the bills)

        Like

        1. Yeah, “edgy” is the last thing anybody would accuse the Moodies of being. But I’m glad you said you’d spin it again. It’s got that overall mood that I dig.

          Liked by 1 person

  3. Those early albums are all worthwhile, aren’t they? Despite their makeup leaning heavily in the direction you describe. I play ‘Every Good Boy’ now and then.

    Like

    1. Yeah, they tend to somewhat go up their own arses on occasion. And then sometimes they get it just right. I’m hardly their biggest fan but they have some really nice stuff.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Many fond memories of the Moodies (whom my brother calls “Justin Hayward and Backing Band”). I saw them live, twice, at an amusement park, the second time with my 5-month pregnant wife, and they put on a great show (Lodge was hilarious, in a rock-star kind of way). I used to get high to “In Search of the Lost Chord,” probably their most psychedelic album, and my favorite. “To Our Children’s Children…” comes in a close second (“On the Threshold” and “Question of Balance” are also great). Yes, who needs hits? This album has a nice flow, with beautiful songs like “Gypsy,” “Watching and Waiting,” “Floating,” “Out and In,” and “Never Thought I’d Live to Be a Hundred.” This band gets denigrated by both stuffy rock critics and even prog-rock fans, and I don’t understand why. Is it because people like my dad liked them? Certainly, the lyrics and themes can be pretentious, but their melodies and arrangements, particularly Hayward’s are gorgeous.

    Like

  5. Funny but I never thought of them as “Justin Hayward And…” That said, outside of their records, I don’t know a whole hell of a lot about them so that could well be true.

    An amusement park, eh? How Spinal Tap is that? πŸ˜€

    Nice flow, indeed. Creates a great mood as mentioned. Yes, as to prog-rock, that’s pretty much why I started with the Wikipedia quote. No one would confuse these guys with King Crimson. But it was earlier prog-rock and so, just developing. Their stuff holds up, though. And for me, I get tired sometimes of listening to the proggers wanking away on their instruments.

    If someone said, “Hey, the Moodies lean toward pretension” I could scarcely defend them. Seems to me this happens to any rock band that starts to take itself and its music too seriously. (U2 anyone?) Rock is such a visceral in-your-face type of music that anything more than “Be-Bop-A-Lula” sounds contrived. I still say the best lyric ever is “I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still. Da Doo Ron Ron Ron, Da Doo Ron Ron.”

    Like

  8. I read about Graeme Edge’s passing (sad!) and at the time included “Go Now” in a “Sunday Six” installment. So far, “Days of Future Passed” remains the only Moody Blues album I’ve listened to in its entirety – really love it! Other than that, I’ve only heard a handful of their songs from their other records.

    Like

        2. As they say, a picture is more than a 1000 words, or in this case a clip. I present to you, β€œDu Kannst Nicht Immer 17 Sein” (You Can’t Always be 17β€³). I know the lyrics of this gem! πŸ™‚

          Like

        3. Ah, yes. When my friend Steve and I were traveling over in Europe, we spent a few days in Germany. We’d hear stuff like this and call it oompah music. I don’t know why. Undeniably catchy, though. Sounds like great music to drink a stein of beer by. With a crowd.

          Liked by 1 person

        4. The audience clearly enjoyed it. The clip was from a German TV program called Hitparade, which was quite popular in Germany in the ’70s. My six-year-older sister watched it all the time and forced me to watch as well! πŸ™‚

          Like

        5. Heh. I’ve come to realize that even if we have spent time listening to music we would not regard as “cool,” it still helps us learn something about music and how to appreciate it. I’m reading a book about how we develop our musical taste. The author uses a lot of examples and one of them is “Old Mac Donald” a kid’s nursery rhyme.

          Liked by 1 person

  9. This one is the fan favourite I think – sometimes Days of Future Passed gets the attention because it had the big breakthrough hit. The run on side two with Gypsy, Eternity Road, and Candle of Life is as good as it gets.

    Like

Comments are closed.