Moody Blues Still Flying High

Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge lock down autumn dates following The Moody Blues’ Las Vegas residency in October.  New to the schedule are shows in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

The autumn excursion is the latest leg of The Moody Blues’ “Fly Me High” tour commemorating 50 years since Hayward and Lodge joined the band.  1966 was also the year the single “Fly Me High” was released.  As it turns out, the band’s label wasn’t completely satisfied with the group’s first recording of the tune.

Photo: Jason Moore
Cape Fear Community College Humanities & Fine Arts Center, Wilmington, N.C.

“The ‘suits’ at Decca liked it but thought it could be recorded better,” Hayward said.  “So we turned up on the Decca studios at the appointed day where we met Tony Clarke for the first time.  He was assigned to us as ‘in house’ producer and we recorded the song again.  Decca released the new version and it was picked up by the BBC who used it as a ‘jingle’ for a while.  It was all absolutely great and ‘Fly Me High’ was the start of our new sound and direction.  The Decca engineer on ‘Fly Me High’ was Gus Dudgeon who went on to produce mega hits with Elton John.  He did a great job!”

Here’s The Moody Blues U.S. fall schedule with additions bolded for easy reference:

Oct. 7 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Venetian Theatre
Oct. 8 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Venetian Theatre
Oct. 12 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Venetian Theatre
Oct. 14 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Venetian Theatre
Oct. 15 – Las Vegas, Nev., The Venetian Theatre
Oct. 20 – Fargo, N.D., Scheels Arena
Oct. 21 – Welch, MN  Treasure Island Resort & Casino 
Oct. 22 – Davenport, Iowa, RiverCenter / Adler Theatre
Oct. 25 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Paramount Theatre
Oct. 26 – Rockford, Ill., Coronado Performing Arts Center
Oct. 27 – Appleton, Wis., Fox Cities Performing Arts Center

Oct. 30 – Toledo, Ohio, Stranahan Theater
Nov. 1 – Indianapolis, Ind., Murat Theatre
Nov. 2 – South Bend, Ind., Morris Performing Arts Center
Nov. 3 – Merrillville, Ind., Star Plaza Theatre
Nov. 5 – Milwaukee, Wis., Milwaukee Theatre 

Most shows are already on sale.  Visit MoodyBluesToday.com for more details.