MOODY BLUES STILL DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

There was no safety net to keep the Moody Blues from taking a nasty spill amid the Red Rocks of the Colorado Mountains.

Figures. Given the band's history of taking chances, the daring spectre served as an apt backdrop to usher the Moodies' into their fourth decade of soulful, thought-provoking lyrics.

Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Graeme Edge and Ray Thomas, legendary members of the Moody Blues, were ready to do something in September of 1992 that would make the time they recorded "Days of Future Passed" seem somewhat safe.

That album was recorded by the Moodies in 1967 with the help of separate performances by the London Festival Orchestra.

A quarter of a century later, the Moody Blues embarked on a more daring quest. This time they picked a live setting at Denver, Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

They would test their staying power by meshing progressive rock and symphonic pop with no chance at retakes.

They joined the Colorado Symphony Orchestra to record "A Night at Red Rocks" and perhaps launch a new phase of their respective careers.

"A Night at Red Rocks" companion home video, along with a PBS concert special, "The Moody Blues In Concert at Red Rocks," was released last March.

The Moody Blues will bring their North American tour, which begins with a Feb. 24 date in Austin, Texas, to Cape Girardeau March 2, 7:30 p.m., at the Show Me Center. Performing with the Moodies will be the Paducah, Ky., Symphony, comprised of 55 members. The concert in Cape Girardeau will be the Moodies' only appearance in the Show Me state this year.

"We only had one three-hour rehearsal the day before the concert," recalled Haywood. "And then we rehearsed some more on the day of the show. We were only set up to record and videotape the first of two soldout nights. Nobody knew for sure what was going to happen."

Perhaps some longtime Moody Blues fans would be surprised to learn that the Red Rocks concert was the first time the band had ever performed with a symphony orchestra.

"On "Days" we taped our part first," said Hayward. "The songs were the ones that made up our stage show at the time. Then Peter Knight wrote the orchestral arrangements, which were recorded later."

As for the "London Festival Orchestra", it didn't exist. The musicians were 48 of London's top free lancers, named for the occasion by the Moodies.

That became the last album with orchestral accompaniment for more than a quarter century.

"We had so much success with "Nights in White Satin that we were very paranoid about following it. So we went away from that style," said Hayward.

The album was followed by the more traditional rock-oriented "In Search of the Lost Chord," that retained the musical and poetic virtues of its predecessor, if not the orchestra or its rather somber tone.

"If we had made "Days of Future Passed II" instead of "In Search of the Lost Chord," said Lodge,"we might have carried on that orchestral direction for life. But that was just one of many musical journeys that we wanted to explore."

Even at their most rocking phase, the Moody Blues maintained a distinctive, keyboard-heavy sound and thoughtful lyrics. "Days of Future Past" heads a list of nearly 20 original albums.

In 1988 the Moody Blues expanded their audience even further with "Your Wildest Dreams", their first top-10 single since "Nights in White Satin" in 1972.

"It's the young audience that came to us with "Your Wildest Dreams" that enabled us to command a venue the size of Red Rocks," said Hayward. "The average age of our concert audience is now between 19-24. It isn't the parents turning their kids on to our music; it's the children turning their parents on all over again."

In keeping with their dare-to-be-different attitude, the Moodies appear to have touched on something that will likely spark a new generation of fans.

Denver-based concert promoter Barry Fey, who is on the board of the Colorado Symphony, brought the 88-piece orchestra and the Moody Blues together.

Colorado Symphony artistic director David Abosh suggested local resident Larry Baird arrange and conduct the concert.

Baird was considered the ideal man for the job. He majored in musical theory and composition at Arizona State University,"studying Stravinsky by day," as he puts it," and playing Dyke and the Blazers' songs at night."

A native of Detroit, Baird played piano and sang in a soul band, "All the Lonely People", in his home state.

"I was working on a four-movement suite, which I wanted to record with the band and an orchestra," said Baird. "And then the Moodies came out with "Days of Future Passed."

Added Baird,"I was glad that somebody had done it. I'm just sorry it wasn't me. And now, finally, I had a chance to work with the Moody Blues themselves."

There was no written arrangements available for the historic Red Rocks concert; even the late Peter Knight's originals for "Days of Future Passed" had disappeared. So Baird modernized parts of Knight's original score, working from the recorded version, and created his own orchestrations for later Moody Blues songs.

What became of the Red Rocks concert was success dressed in unique cloth and the chance for more mellifluous mood swings in the near future.

Both the audience and the band, after all, were hearing the Moody Blues with a full orchestra for the first time.

"The whole project was something we had to get out of our system," said Hayward. "It was such a heady experience that now we want to do it again and again."

The Moody Blues are not the only ones who feel this way. Wrote Peter Howell of the Toronto Star: "Too bad the show was only a one-nighter. This is the kind of event that should run for a week, allowing more people a chance to see it, and more time for both the rock band and the orchestra to really get to know one another."