{"id":33302,"date":"2019-12-07T08:57:47","date_gmt":"2019-12-07T13:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=33302"},"modified":"2019-12-12T14:57:45","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T19:57:45","slug":"on-stage-denny-laine-reflects-on-life-with-moodys-wings-before-city-winery-gig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=33302","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Denny Laine reflects on life with Moodys, Wings before City Winery gig"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, <\/span>Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Denny Laine<\/p><\/div>\n

Back in the 1960s, every once in a while a single would come out that was so different and so good \u2013 so unlike anything else that had come down the pike \u2013 that it stopped listeners in their tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t happen that often but, when it did, it was a memorable event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some examples are \u201cSatisfaction\u201d by the Rolling Stones, \u201cSherry\u201d by the Four Seasons, \u201cGimme Some Lovin\u2019\u201d by the Spencer Davis Group, and \u201cA Whiter Shade of Pale,\u201d by Procol Harum.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another 1960s song in that elite class was a song that was a massive hit by a band from Birmingham, England \u2013 \u201cGo Now\u201d by the Moody Blues.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1964, five Brummies formed the Moody Blues — keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, vocalist\/guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge, and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to prominence playing rhythm and blues music.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was their second single, \u201cGo Now\u201d (released later that year), that launched their career, being promoted on TV with one of the first purpose-made promotional films in the pop era.<\/span><\/p>\n

The single became a hit in Britain (where it remains their only Number 1 single) and in the United States, where it reached No. 10.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two years later, they made some changes in musicians, got orchestral in style and featured a line-up of Pinder, Thomas, Edge, guitarist Justin Hayward, and bassist John Lodge. Gone was Laine, the singer whose vocal work lifted \u201cGo Now\u201d far above the ordinary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Laine was also the singer whose impassioned moaning on the follow-up single, \u201cFrom the Bottom of My Heart,\u201d (https:\/\/youtu.be\/oxGYjnbVjdE<\/a>) lifted that song to a higher sonic level (and the Top 25 in the U.K. charts). The Moodies didn\u2019t crack the Top 25 again until \u201cNights in White Satin\u201d hit Number 19 in 1967 with Hayward handling the lead vocals. That song climbed the charts again in 1972 and reached Number 9.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Nights in White Satin\u2019 is based on \u2018From the Bottom of My Heart,\u2019\u201d said Laine, during a phone interview this week prior to heading into a television interview for ABC. \u201cThat song does stand out in that way \u2013 especially the ending.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Life in the music world didn\u2019t end for Laine after his departure from the Moody Blues. He is a musician, singer, and songwriter known as a founder of two major British rock bands — The Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964-1966, and Paul McCartney and Wings, with whom he played from 1971-1981.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaul and I were pretty good friends,\u201d said Laine. \u201cWhen the Moodies came to London, we all became friendly and I got to know Paul quite well. We\u2019d go to shows together to see bands play \u2013 Dylan, the Byrds, people like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Laine\u2019s pre-Wings and post-Wings eras found him playing in a wide array of bands including Balls with the Move\u2019s Trevor Burton, Ginger Baker\u2019s Air Force with the recently deceased drummer from Cream and World Class Rockers with Nick St. Nicholas of Steppenwolf \u00a0and Joey Molland of Badfinger.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Laine, a two-time Grammy\u00aeAward winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame\u00ae inductee, is touring with his Moody Wing Band. The rocking quintet will visit the area on December 8 for a show at City Winery (990 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, citywinery.com\/philadelphia\/<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Laine and The Moody Wing Band have been touring across America performing the iconic albums, \u201cThe Magnificent Moodies\u201d and \u201cBand on The Run\u201d in their entirety, along with other songs from his storied career.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing a lot of Wings stuff, including \u2018Band on the Run,\u2019\u201d said Laine. \u201cWe\u2019re also doing a lot of songs from early Moodies and various other songs people know. It\u2019s not really hard putting a set list together. It\u2019s good having a lot to pull from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After Laine departed the Moody Blues, he formed The Electric String Band, writing the hit \u201cSay You Don\u2019t Mind,\u201d (which was a Top 15 hit in 1972 when recorded by The Zombies\u2019 lead singer Colin Blunstone) and opened shows for Jimi Hendrix in London. He has also worked with various members of The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Cream, ELO, The Zombies, The Hollies and many more.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the only member of Wings, besides Paul and Linda McCartney, to be with the group for its entire run, Laine enjoyed tremendous success throughout the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0The group became one of the biggest bands of the decade.\u00a0The \u201cBand on the Run\u201d album sold six million copies, reaching #1 in the U.S three different times and was the top selling British album of 1974.\u00a0The title track was #1 in the UK for seven weeks, and in 1975 won a Grammy\u00ae Award.<\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest commercial and critical success of Laine\u2019s career happened in 1977 with the hit, \u201cMull of Kintyre,\u201d which he co-wrote with McCartney. The song reached #1 in the UK\u2019s Guinness\u00ae Charts of British Hits Singles that year and became the U.K.\u2019s highest-selling single ever at that time as well as the first U.K. single to pass two million sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

After leaving Wings, Laine signed with Scratch records and released a new album, \u201cAnyone Can Fly,\u201d in 1982. He also worked on McCartney\u2019s albums \u201cTug of War\u201d and \u201cPipes of Peace\u201d and co-wrote one more song with McCartney \u2013 \u201cRainclouds,\u201d which was issued as the B-side of \u201cEbony and Ivory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Wings broke up, I went to Spain to get away from it all,\u201d said Laine. \u201cIn the early 90s, I was working on a project \u2013 a musical. I made a lot of solo albums by myself. They were like songwriter albums.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen, I came to America with World Class Rockers and I\u2019ve stayed in America ever since. I\u2019m now based in southwest Florida.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With a few exceptions — like The Who, who just this week released a new album \u2013 there aren\u2019t a lot of albums with new compositions by British rockers from the 1960s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been in the studio at all lately,\u201d said Laine. \u201cI just started again to write some songs \u2013 but nothing commercial.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With all the great Wings and Moody Blues material in his repertoire, Laine doesn\u2019t need new songs to draw fans. All he needs is his voice and those great songs joined together again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Video link for Denny Laine \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/iUgJqfsziD0<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show at City Winery will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 and $42.<\/span><\/p>\n

On December 7, there will be a show at the Foundry at Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal Street, Philadelphia, 215-309-0150, www.thefillmorephilly.com<\/a>) featuring a modern-day artist who would be right at home in the 1960s \u2013 the late 1960s when protest songs with counter culture themes inspired political and social awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chadwick Stokes<\/p><\/div>\n

His name is <\/span>Chadwick Stokes and he is currently touring in support of his self-titled record with his band The Pintos — an album that tackles personal and political territory in ways that feel intimate and urgent. Released worldwide on November 15 via Thirty Tigers, \u201cChadwick Stokes and The Pintos\u201d brings\u00a0the complications of history\u00a0into conversation with the turbulent (yet from Stokes\u2019\u00a0perspective) hopeful present.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are songs like \u2018Joan of Arc\u2019 and \u2018Chaska\u2019 that are about gender equality,\u201d said Stokes, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon from New Jersey as he was waiting for his tour van to be repaired.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnother song is about genocide of Native Americans. There are also a few songs on the album that are personal and stand on their own \u2013 songs about relationships or about being the father of three kids.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Chad (Chadwick) Stokes Urmston is a musician from New England and a human rights activist. He is the front man for the Boston-area bands Dispatch and State Radio and has also released solo music under the name Chadwick Stokes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy middle name is Stokes, so it was easier to use that name for my solo work,\u201d said Stokes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The writing in Chadwick Stokes and The Pintos deals with intense struggles — personal, ethical, political, or cultural — that have always galvanized Stokes as a listener and artist. Prior to the album\u2019s release, Stokes put out the first two tracks — \u201cJoan of Arc\u201d and \u201cChaska.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Written about the famed teenager from her first vision to her execution for wearing men\u2019s clothing, \u201cJoan of Arc\u201d is a timely feminist anthem that focuses on hope and empowerment. \u201cChaska\u201d is a story of mistaken identity wrapped up in the largest mass execution on United States\u2019 soil.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other poignant tracks on the album include \u201cWhat\u2019s It Going to Take,\u201d \u201cLove and War,\u201d and \u201cBlanket on the Moon\u201d which discuss relevant issues such as the gun violence epidemic, PTSD, and America\u2019s current immigration policies.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Stokes, \u201cWe\u2019re living in a crazy time, a very upsetting time. If we\u2019re not protesting, there\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, the current POTUS is a source of inspiration for a lot of protest by rational American citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith Donald Trump, at first I was in shock,\u201d said Stokes. \u201cI couldn\u2019t write anything. Now, it\u2019s hard to stop writing about anything else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fueled by a lot of hot topics, Stokes made his new album earlier this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI recorded the album at Zippah Studios in Brighton, Massachusetts,\u201d said Stokes. \u201cIt\u2019s a great old studio in an old wooden building in the middle of the city. It\u2019s very awesome. It\u2019s still got that magic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t done a solo album in five years, so the songs had been building up since then. I was touring solo a lot, so I got the chance to road test a lot of the songs and get them pretty well-cooked.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Video link for Chadwick Stokes \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/oT3GmBeAhqM<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show at the Foundry will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Back in the 1960s, every once in a while a single would come out that was so different and so good \u2013 so unlike anything else that had come down the pike \u2013 that it stopped listeners in their tracks. It didn\u2019t happen that often but, when it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7529],"tags":[11725,11724,6518],"class_list":["post-33302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-chadwick-stokes","tag-denny-laine","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33302"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33348,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33302\/revisions\/33348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}