John Lodge, bassist and singer with the Moody Blues, dies at 82

"The group had started out as one of countless young English acts aping American R&B in the mid-'60s. "We were originally a rhythm and blues band, wearing blue suits and singing about people and problems in the Deep South," Hayward recalled in an interview with The Times in 1990. "It was OK, but it was incongruous, getting us nowhere, and in the end we had no money, no nothing.""

"Having been asked by their record company to come up with an LP that would show off the hi-fi possibilities of its new recording equipment, Hayward and Lodge pushed the band toward a more ornate sound that blended rock and classical music. In 1967, the band released "Days of Future Passed," an elaborate concept album featuring the London Festival Orchestra; today it's widely regarded as an early landmark of the progressive rock sound that would later encompass the likes of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer."

John Lodge, born in Birmingham in 1943, died suddenly at age 82, according to a family statement that described him slipping away surrounded by loved ones and music. Lodge joined the Moody Blues in 1966 alongside Justin Hayward, replacing Denny Laine and Clint Warwick. The band evolved from a mid-1960s rhythm and blues act into a more ornate group blending rock and classical elements. Hayward and Lodge helped craft the 1967 concept album Days of Future Passed with the London Festival Orchestra, a landmark in progressive rock. Lodge sang on hits including "Nights in White Satin" and "Your Wildest Dreams."

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