“Nobody ever came to a gig to watch me play guitar. They came to hear me sing. We didn’t have a rhythm guitar player, so I had to cover everything”: Justin Hayward on the life, times and tones of the Moody Blues, and the undisputed power of a dimed AC30

Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues wears a white jacket and plays his Bigsby-equipped red ES-335 as he fronts the band onstage at Madison Square Garden in 1978.
(Image credit: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)

In 1966, the Moody Blues were about to go down in flames. A year earlier, the London-based rhythm and blues group consisting of singer-guitarist Denny Laine, keyboardist Mike Pinder, bassist Clint Warwick, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas and drummer Graeme Edge had scored an international smash with their sumptuous version of Go Now (a 1964 hit by singer Bessie Banks), and they served as the support act on the Beatles’ last British tour.

Repeating that success proved difficult, however, and after follow-up singles stiffed, Laine and Warwick quit, and the Moodies seemed rudderless.

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Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.