There are a few bands who were vital to the creation of a specific musical style, but it’s incredibly rare to be a band who had a role in the development of two or more. For the British rock act The Moody Blues, their sophomore album “Days of Future Passed” that came out in 1967 was influential in the development of both art rock and classical rock. One of the musicians who had a part in the songwriting for the album was bassist and co-vocalist John Lodge, who is still performing as a solo artist today. On November 14, folks around Cranston and the surrounding areas can go see him and his band performing at the Park Theatre located on 848 Park Avenue. The show starts at 7:30pm and whoever attends has a chance to purchase an exclusive merchandise and video package from Lodge himself.
We had a talk ahead of the show about Buddy Holly being a major influence on him, having an organic approach to songwriting and plans to release a new EP before the end of the year.
Rob Duguay: While growing up in Birmingham, England, your early influences were the rock & roll musicians Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis. Coming from that background, how did you gravitate to the progressive rock style of The Moody Blues when you first joined up with the band in 1966?
John Lodge: When I was at school, there was a cafe nearby and I used to go there during lunchtime because they had a jukebox. With my lunch money, which I was supposed to spend at school, I used to drop a few coins in the slot. I was listening to Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis and I realized that the pounding heart of rock & roll was the left hand side of the piano coming in through a 12-inch speaker. That’s what I gravitated towards and on the guitar I learned all the riffs from what Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino were playing. That’s really where my allegiance came from, and about a year or two later, Buddy Holly turned up with “That’ll Be The Day” and “Peggy Sue”.
I then realized that was the way for me to go forward. I could understand the way Buddy Holly wrote a song and I could adapt all my riffs that I’d learned to become proficient on the bass.
RD: Very cool. You actually posted on social media recently about receiving a signature guitar from The Buddy Holly Foundation, so how did that come about? Did they reach out to you about this? Did you help design it?
JL: I’ve always been an immense fan of Buddy Holly. When I was inducted into the [Rock and Roll] Hall of Fame, I was standing on the stage thinking how cool it was to be a guy from Birmingham who grew up admiring Buddy Holly, my idol, and here I am standing shoulder to shoulder with him. That gave me great joy and I think The Buddy Holly Foundation knew that I was a huge fan and I actually saw Buddy live once when he was performing in England. They approached me, they wanted to present me with this guitar and it’s a beautiful handmade guitar by a company called Johnson. It plays beautifully, I have to say, and particularly for me, the bottom end of the acoustic guitar is superb.
RD: I saw the video of you playing it and it looks really cool. You've been known for your prolific songwriting, which includes The Moody Blues tunes "Ride My See-Saw", "Send Me No Wine", "Isn't Life Strange" and "I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock & Roll Band)" among others. How would you describe your approach to writing songs and how has it evolved over the years?
JL: There’s no set model, so I have no idea. I was sitting in my office one day while watching the news on the television and I always have a guitar by me. I picked the guitar up and I saw something on the news that caught my attention, so I wrote a Christmas song called “The Spirit of Christmas”, but there’s no real formula. I just pick up my guitar or sit at the piano and just play, and I play every day. While I’m experimenting with chords, sometimes something happens where I hear a song in my head.
One time I was having dinner with my wife and some friends, and it was after I bought a baby grand piano. There was a song in my head that was being played by this piano and I said to my wife, “Excuse me”, and I went into the room where the piano was. I then sat down, I came back 20 minutes later and I said to my wife,”I think I’ve just written a new song!”. I only had one lyric, but I made the lyric work all the way through the song and I wrote all the lyrics, which ended up being “Isn’t Life Strange”.
RD: That’s a cool story. What are your thoughts on performing at the Park Theatre in Cranston later this month?
JL: I love performing and I’ve been doing it since I was 15, I enjoy playing my bass and singing. The relationship between an artist and the audience is very special. The energy, the heart and the love comes back to the artist on stage and it’s really beautiful. When you’re playing in an historical place like the Park Theatre, you’re thinking about the other people who have stood on that stage before you. It’s a great feeling to realize that you are treading in the steps of the people who have gone before you, but you’re bringing a different type of entertainment to an audience.
RD: It’s always a great thing. Can we expect a new album from you in the near future? What are your plans going into next year in terms of recordings?
JL: At the moment, I have my album “Days of Future Passed – My Sojourn” that was just released last year. It’s on 80 gram vinyl in a double sleeve and I’ve been really excited about it, but I also have a new EP coming out around Christmas with some new songs. That will probably take me into next summer after another tour in the spring, so those are the plans at the moment.
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