This Was No Illusion: The Moody Blues Were #1 This Week With ‘Nights In White Satin’

On Tuesday night Justin Hayward entertained i95 listeners with an amazing live concert at The Ridgefield Playhouse. On that same night in 1972, Hayward and his band The Moody Blues were sitting proudly at the top of the charts with an epic piece of music that sounds just as brilliant 42 years later: 'Nights In White Satin'.

Of all the great Moody Blues songs out there, this has always been my favorite. The first time I heard it I had to double check the station I was tuned into. When I heard that classic spoken word segment at the end, which began with keyboardist Mike Pinder in his brooding British delivery saying "Breathe deep the gathering gloom", I thought I was listening to the wrong station. It sounded nothing like any of the other songs that I would here on a classic rock station.

Hayward is the one who wrote the song. He got the idea after someone gave him a set of white satin sheets. He then wrote it in his bed-sit at Bayswater. Haywood was just 19 at the time and has said it was a series of random thoughts but also autobiographical. He was at the end of one big love affair and at the start of another.

Here are some more interesting notes on 'Nights In White Satin' courtesy of Songfacts:

- The Moody Blues recorded the song and album (1967s "Days of Future Passed") with The London Festival Orchestra, which never actually existed - it was the name given to the musicians put together to make the album. The orchestral parts were performed separately and edited between and around The Moody Blues parts, so the orchestra did not actually accompany the group. The original idea was for the group and orchestra to record a Rock version of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" which their record company would use to demonstrate enhanced stereo sound technology.

- This song introduced a new sound for the band. When they formed, they were more of a Blues band, and had a hit in 1965 with a cover of Bessie Banks' 'Go Now'. With the songs on "Days of Future Passed", they distinguished themselves with original songs in a more psychedelic/orchestral sound.

- 'Nights in White Satin' was originally released in 1967, charting at #19 in the UK, but topping out at #103 in America, where 6-minute songs were a tough sell at the time. In 1972, after songs like 'Hey Jude' and 'Layla' paved the way for long, dramatic tunes (and The Moody Blues became more popular), the song was re-released in the US and became a hit, going to #2 and sending sales of the reissued album skyward.

- The poem at the end was recorded separately. It is called "Late Lament" and was written by their drummer, Graeme Edge. The poem was read by keyboard player Mike Pinder. Edge wrote another poem that appeared early on the album called "Morning Glory".