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John Lodge jokingly calls his main gig “Plan A.” That’s The Moody Blues, of course, the hit-making prog-rockers best known for the 1967 hit “Nights in White Satin.”
Lodge and The Moody Blues played Hertz Arena two years ago, but now he’s back next week for a more intimate hometown show with his Plan B — his touring solo band.
The Bonita Springs concert coincides with Lodge’s recently released album “B Yond: The Very Best Of.” The compilation combines Moody Blues songs and Lodge’s solo music, including several remixes and re-recordings.
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The title “B Yond” is a playful reference to Lodge’s two musical worlds.
“Well, it’s sort of Plan B, really,” says the part-time Naples resident. “The Moody Blues are Plan A. And Plan B is me.
“It’s my Plan B, and I’m going beyond what I’ve done before. So hopefully that’s where we’re going.”
Lodge talked more about the album, next week’s nearly sold-out concert and more during a recent 20-minute phone interview. Here’s what he had to say.
It’s been two years since you and I last talked. At the time, you were getting ready to move into your new condo in Naples. Have you moved in yet?
Yeah, yeah. My son and his wife live there (in Naples) and my grandson. Florida’s a good leap for American tours, as well. And two of my band members live in Florida, and my sound engineer lives in the same city (Ray Nesbit). So it all works pretty good for me.
How often are you in Naples?
We’ll be there in March, because I’m doing a concert, of course, in Bonita Springs (on Thursday, Feb. 27). And then I’m sort of involved with the CMGA (the Celebrity Martini Glass Auction, a charity that benefits the Veterans Support Fund).
So you’re only there maybe a month at a time?
Yeah. I never like to spend too much time in one place (laughs).
You’re playing Southwest Florida Event Center in Bonita Springs. What can people expect? I know your solo shows tend to be harder rocking than your shows with The Moody Blues.
Yeah. I’m taking the songs that I think sort of encompass who I am with The Moody Blues, obviously a lot of the songs that I’ve written for The Moody Blues, of course. I want to keep the Moody Blues’ music alive, so I’ll do a song of Mike’s and a song of Ray’s and Graeme Edge, of course. Graeme lives in Florida, in Bradenton, and Graeme is a great pal.
It’s a lot of Moody Blues. Obviously, a couple of my own personal songs from my “10,000 Light Years Ago” album. But it’s Moody Blues. It’s who I am.
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Are they mostly songs you’ve written?
Yeah, they are. I’m doing things like “Ride My See-Saw,” “I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band),” “Isn’t Life Strange.” “Gemini Dream” gets everybody dancing. Yeah, we have a good time!
Let’s talk about the new album, “B Yond.” It’s some of your solo stuff and some re-recorded Moody Blues songs. Can you tell me why you put the album together?
Yeah, the thinking came because last year there was a movie called “Private Life” … and in the movie there was a song of mine called “Say You Love Me” from my album “Natural Avenue.” And when I saw the movie and heard the song — I’d forgotten about the song, to be honest! Because it’s from the mid-70s. And I thought, well, I’d really like to go back into the studio and remix that.
But then BMG, the record company, approached me and said, “Shall we do an album together?” … And we thought the best thing to do, really, was to try to bring the audience sort of up to speed, really, on who John Lodge was, you know, within The Moody Blues and as a solo artist.
So I looked at the songs that I thought really portrayed who I was. And there’s a song of mine on “Days of Future Passed” called “(Evening) Time to Get Away,” which was hidden on side 2 of the album. In fact, on the original album, it didn’t even have a credit. It was just called “The Afternoon.”
So I went in the studio and re-recorded that, and I used my original bass, my original Precision bass, to go and record all these songs with. And I just had a great time. So then I started thinking about all the songs to record for the album.
And there’s some live tracks on there, too, because I wanted to show an audience what I’m doing live, as well, now. I thought that was important.
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You re-recorded several songs, including “Street Café,” “(Evening) Time To Get Away” and “Legend of a Mind.” Where did you record them?
Actually, I recorded a lot of them in Florida, Ray Nesbit’s studio in Naples. … I use Ray’s studio and my keyboard player, Alan Hewitt’s — a combination of the two studios.
I looked up your setlist, and it’s a lot of the same songs that are on the album. Is the album a good representation of what people will see live?
That’s what I’m trying to do. I just want to keep the Moody Blues’ music alive, you know. … I just want to keep The Moody Blues’ music out there for people.
Let’s talk about the song “Legend of a Mind. That’s a song that Ray Thomas sang (the flutist, singer, songwriter and founding member of The Moody Blues who died in 2018). I know it’s not in The Moody Blues’ setlist anymore, so you added it to your own set as a tribute to Ray.
Yeah, Ray and I grew up together. I met Ray when I was 15. We had a band before the Moody Blues called El Riot and the Rebels. And we were together for four years before The Moody Blues, you know.
I taught Ray how to drive his car, and his parents became my parents’ friends, and they used to go on vacation together. And his children became friends of my children. So he’s very special.
Ray and I, we shared a flat in the ’60s, and Ray wrote this song called called “Legend of a Mind,”and he sang it to me. And I got my guitar and bass out, and we started working out how to perform the song.
So when you’re there at the beginning of something — unfortunately, Ray’s no longer with us, and I thought, “Well no one’s gonna play Ray’s songs anymore.” So I thought, “I better do it.”
Do you think about him when you sing the song? I’m sure you must think about him when you sing a lot of songs.
Well, yeah, of course you do. It’s really important, because when you sing that song you’ve got to give it the full 100 percent of who you are. … You’ve got to live these songs, you know?
And I try to sing the way Ray sang it. Not in the same vocal style, but the same smile on his face when he sang it.
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You mentioned the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What was it like getting inducted (in 2018) and being on the same stage as some of your musical heroes?
Yeah, it was important. But it didn’t get too important to me until I actually got onstage and realized the enormity of what was really happening, you know.
My hero was Buddy Holly. And here’s me, a young musician from Birmingham, England, who admired Buddy Holly, and now I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with him (a fellow inductee) in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And I thought, Gee, that’s unbelievable! And I think that’s when it struck me what a great honor it was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
And then on a personal front, I was thinking about it afterward, and I thought about when my grandson is grown up and he takes his children to the Hall of Fame. He can look up there and say, ‘You know what? That’s my granddad!”
Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells (Facebook), @charlesrunnells (Twitter), @crunnells1 (Instagram)
If you go
Who: John Lodge of The Moody Blues
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27
Where: Southwest Florida Event Center, 11515 Bonita Beach Road S.E., Bonita Springs
Tickets: The show is mostly sold out, but there are still some general admission tickets for $32-$39.
Info: 245-9910 or swfleventcenter.com
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