"The Magnificent Moodies" Premium Unisex T-Shirt

The Moody Blues Started as an R&B Band. Almost Nobody Remembers That Part.

The Magnificent Moodies was their debut album, released in July 1965 on Decca. Raw, uptempo, American-influenced rhythm and blues — the same sound dozens of British bands were playing at the time. Their first major hit was "Go Now," a cover of a Bessie Banks song that went to number one in the UK in January 1965. Denny Laine sang it. The band that made that record sounds almost nothing like the band they became.

Within two years, Laine was gone. Clint Warwick was gone. Justin Hayward and John Lodge came in. And in 1967, Decca commissioned the band to make a demonstration record for a new stereo recording process — a rock version of Dvorak's New World Symphony. The band ignored the brief and made Days of Future Passed instead, recorded with the London Festival Orchestra. "Nights in White Satin" was on it. The Mellotron — played by Mike Pinder with an obsessiveness that defined the band's next decade — was all over it.

Decca released it anyway. It didn't chart much in 1967. "Nights in White Satin" was re-released in the US in 1972 and became a top ten hit. The album went platinum. The band that had started as an R&B group playing Midlands clubs had become one of the defining acts of orchestral progressive rock, and the distance between those two things is one of the more interesting transformations in British music history.

This tee is named after the beginning. It's for people who know what came next.

Premium Quality

• Bella + Canvas 3001 — Premium unisex tee, true to size
• Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton — Exceptionally soft from the first wear
• Classic unisex fit — Relaxed, versatile, works for everyone
• Available in Light Blue and Pink — Sizes XS–4XL

Made to Order

For environmental and quality reasons, this tee is made specifically for you after you order. Please allow approximately one week for production. Tracking information will be sent as soon as it ships.