At this moment I am listening to The Moody Blues “Lovely To See You Live”  CD that was released in 2005. The video is in the basement with the workout equipment.

Fourteen years ago today my dear wife, Carrie, and I were at The Fraze Pavilion outside Dayton, Ohio listening to The Moody Blues play their classic rock.

In 2014, Carrie and I returned to The Fraze to see The Moodies again.

In 2017 I took my sister to The Fraze to see The Moodies perform DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED in its entirety.  It was the first time I had heard Days of Future Passed live.  That was the album I fell in love with in 1983 when I was 15.

The concert that Carrie and I went to at The Fraze in 2014 was memorable for a couple reasons.  First, we were hearing The Moody Blues!  Enough said.  Second, we had front row seats.  It was the only time I have had front row seats at a Moody Blues Concert with the exception of a front row seat in the balcony of The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in 2014 also.  That was nice too.  The Ryman was the last place Carrie and I saw The Moodies in 2017.  They played Days of Future Passed in the second set.

This was photo was taken in 2017.  The band was singing “Tuesday Afternoon”.

My friend Julie Ragins is in the far left hand corner of this picture.  She is quite the musical talent.  She and her husband, Curtis Brengle, are PEAR DUO.  LOOK THEM UP!  You won’t regret it.  She has such a sweet voice.

When Carrie and I were at The Fraze show in 2014 sitting on the front row I asked Carrie if she knew why there was a chalk marked X in front of our seats?  She was not sure.  I then told her that I was certain that was the “mark” for Justin Hayward and John Lodge to hit during the last song of the first set.  The song was THE STORY IN YOUR EYES.  And, I was right.

Here they came.  Their guitar necks were over our heads at one point.  It was all quite awkward in truth.

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But it was fun.

There is a sound I am missing.  I knew I would.  I saw The Moody Blues more than 50 time between 1986 and 2017 and it was wonderful run!  I don’t see it happening again.  At the last show we saw at The Ryman in 2017, Carrie and I hit the doors before the band was off the stage taking it in.  It was the way I wanted it.

But today, as I listened to Justin Hayward’s guitar solo on the song I’M JUST A SINGER IN A ROCK AND ROLL BAND written by John Lodge, I felt so lonely.  That was the one thing in the Moodies shows I enjoyed the most, seeing Justin Hayward and John Lodge tear up that guitar solo. Through it all.  That guitar solo was it for me.  Why?  Cos I always wanted to play a good guitar solo.   I can’t.  I don’t know how.  I am a songwriter and a chord guy.  I am not a lead guitar guy.

That is why I have the ULTIMATE RESPECT for Justin Hayward.  He writes, sings, and he plays lead.  There are not too many of those guys.  Not to take away from John Lodge and Graeme Edge.  I have made enough recordings to know that the rhythm lets the rest of it happen.

Thank you, Justin, John and Graeme and Ray.  I don’t  think I write songs and record them with you in mind…but you have always been there in my musical journey nonetheless.

Your music has mattered to me.  I will never cease to be moved when I listen to your tunes.  They are a great part of the soundtrack of my life.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson