Breathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
Another day’s useless energy spent
The Moody Blues were formed in Birmingham, England, in 1964, emerging from the fertile Midlands beat scene that had already produced The Spencer Davis Group and other rhythm-and-blues-inflected acts. Originally conceived as a harmony-driven R&B band, the group took its name from the Duke Ellington composition “Mood Indigo,” reflecting both their jazz awareness and their desire for a slightly more sophisticated image than many contemporaries.
I will discuss a whole album of covers by the band Deep Purple this time. It is called Turning to Crime and was released on November 21, 2022. The album was created following a suggestion by Bob Ezrin, who has been Deep Purple’s producer since 2013.
Guitarist Spencer Davis has died on October 19, 2020, in a Los Angeles Hospital, from pneumonia, at the age of 81. He was born in Swansea, Wales in 1939, moved to Birmingham, England at 16, and formed the band The Saints with Bill Wyman (who would later be the bassist for the Rolling Stones) and also performed with Christine Perfect (McVie of Fleetwood Mac).
