Justin Hayward in Tarrytown

Mike Dawes, Justin Hayward, Julie Ragins

photo by Tina Vozick

Tina and I saw and heard Justin Hayward at Tarrytown Music Hall earlier this evening.  The concert, in one word, was splendid.   But here's more:

I often say that The Moody Blues, of which Hayward is still very much a member, is my fourth favorite rock group of all time, behind, in descending order, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys.  To be clear about what I mean by that:  I think the best of The Moody Blues songs - let's say "Nights in White Satin," "Tuesday Afternoon," "Question," "Isn't Life Strange," "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock 'n' Roll Band)," "Your Wildest Dreams," "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," to name just just a few, in no particular order, and there are more - are as good as the best songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys.  But I put these groups higher, because they have a lot more best songs - in the case of The Beatles, a lot lot more.

But The Moody Blues are up there, though not everyone agrees.  In 1992, after Tina and I saw The Moody Blues "Red Rocks" Concert on PBS, I queried Rolling Stone if they'd be interested in an assessment of The Moody Blues by me.  I received a snooty reply to the effect that no one was interested in The Moody Blues any more.  (Memo to young writers: That's why I decided to never again query an editor about a potential article.  My philosophy had usually been, before then, to write the article or story first, then shop it around. After 1992, my philosophy has always been that.)

But back The Moody Blues, Justin Hayward was always their stand-out member - being their best songwriter, singer, and guitarist all in one.   Of their songs I listed above, only two of them - "Isn't Life Strange" and "I'm Just A Singer" - were written by another group member, John Lodge.  Hayward has an ear for watercolor detail and an exquisite voice to match.  And he brought of all that to Tarrytown earlier tonight.

He indeed sang all of his songs listed above, and a fair number of new ones.  These were wonderful, too.  You can always tell what a performer is made of when you like his or her songs you never heard before.  I especially liked, among tonight's new ones, "In Your Blue Eyes" and "Western Sky" from Hayward's most recent Spirits of The Western Sky album.

He was joined tonight by Mike Dawes - a young maestro guitarist - and Julie Ragins on keyboards and fine backing vocals.   I suppose I would have rather been at a full Moody Blues concert, but not by an overwhelming margin.  That's because Justin Hayward captures the best of The Moody Blues, and a little something more, with a personal, honest, and charming repartee between numbers.

Sixties Spectacular at the Tarrytown Music Hall: A Personal Review

Tina and I just back from the Sixties Spectacular at the Tarrytown Music Hall.  We both enjoyed it, but I liked it a little more than did Tina, for reasons which will become clear in this review.

Bob Miranda, the original lead singer of The Happenings, opened the show.  He was in pretty good voice, and the back-up singers and band were excellent.  The group's best known songs from the 1960s - especially "I've Got Rhythm" and "See You in September" - always appealed to my love of harmony.  Not only that.  Stu Nitekman (later known as Jonathan Hatch) and I wrote a song (one of our first), "Please Don't Cry Little Dove," which was very much in The Happenings style.  So much so that the late Tash Howard took us into a studio and recorded a demo.  He got us and the song a couple of bites from record companies, but no contract.  Here it is, in case you like that kind of sound (that's Stu singing lead, I'm doing falsetto, and Ira Margolis a lower harmony - we called ourselves The New Outlook):




Next up were The Vogues, with original lead singer Bill Burkette, and two other guys whose harmony was tight as a drum and a fine rendition of the original Vogues.  "You're the One," the first hit for the Vogues, was always one of my favorite songs.  So much so that, yes, I wrote a song for The Vogues (words and music) -- "Unbelievable (Inconceivable) You" -- sold it to a big publisher, and they actually recorded it and planned to release it as a single.  Until Reprise Records bought them out from Co & Ce Records, and decided that The Vogues should go in a more easy-listening direction.  They did have some huge hits with that new sound.  But I never cared for it, especially given that it meant that my song would never be released by them.  But here's a rough mix of the original master:





Dennis Tufano, the original lead singer of The Buckinghams, then took the stage.  I have no personal or professional connection with the group.  But I'll say that I always thought that they had great harmonies and arrangements, and the tritest lyrics on Earth.  Their song Susan typifies that, but the sound is so good that it's always been one of my favorite records.

Terry Sylvester of The Hollies was at the British Invasion concert we saw at the Tarrytown Music Hall a few years ago.  He was good then, and pretty good tonight.  He hits most of the notes, and The Hollies' songs - especially "He Ain't Heavy" - are good to hear again, and live.

And then there were The Lovin' Spoonful - or, what they've now become.  Steve Boone, the original bass player and sometimes vocalist, was the only original member in original place.  The reason I put it that way is that Joe Butler, the original drummer, was also on stage tonight - but not as drummer.  As lead.  And though he sounds close enough to John Sebastian, he's just not.

This is no one's fault.  It's life getting in the way, as it often does.  Zal Yanovsky died way too young in 2002.  And John Sebastian's voice is no longer as magical as it was (see the 2017 performance below).  But - yeah, I would have rather seen him sing lead tonight than Joe Butler, even though Butler did a very good job on the vocals.  Tina and I both loved the Spoonful, but I was little less put off by Sebastian's absence than was she.

Anyway ... here's Sebastian singing "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" this past August.  And, yeah, Stu and I wrote a song very much in the Spoonful style - "Sunshine's Mine" - this time with me doing lead, and Stu and Ira the harmony.  And of course I'll put it here right after Sebastian's performance, thanks for asking.

British Invasion 50th Anniversary Concert in Tarrytown, NY: A Review

Tina and I just got back from the British Invasion 50th Anniversary Concert at the Tarrytown Music Hall on Main Street in Tarrytown, NY - a few miles from home, attended with tickets she bought for my birthday this month - and we loved it!

Lots of highlights, but here are some that were especially standing-ovation outstanding -

• Chad and Jeremy, the original duo, in good voice and humor, singing their songs.   The harmony rang true and haunting and beautiful in "Yesterday's Gone" and "A Summer Song," just as it did in the 1960s.  I sang some of these songs with my group, The New Outlook, in the Alcove at CCNY (instead of going to classes), and Chad and Jeremy's performance tonight was the closest I've actually come to taking a time machine back 50 years.
• Billy J.  Kramer was in great baritone voice, and altogether excellent. Hearing him sing "Bad to Me" and "From a Window" (a fabulous, under-appreciated song) was about the closest anyone can come in 2015 to hearing an early Lennon and McCartney performance - though I guess McCartney could do it now if he was so moved - and "Little Children," not by the Beatles' writers, was grand, too.   He also did a fine job on "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" - better known as by the Walker Brothers - which just happens to be one of my favorite songs.
• Speaking of McCartney, Denny Laine was on hand, as well, singing "Go Now" - from the original Moody Blues, i.e., before "Nights in White Satin" - and "Band on the Run," from his tenure in Wings, in a great closing encore with all the artists on stage. 
• The Searchers' "When You Walk in the Room" - written and first recorded by Jackie DeShannon - has also always been one of my favorite all-time songs.  Mike Pender of The Searchers gave it a rousing performance at the concert, along with their more famous "Needles and Pins" (written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono).
• Terry Sylvester of the Hollies delivered a pitch-perfect "Bus Stop".
• Peter Asher mc'd, provided witty repartee and sage musical history, and did a great job with his own hits - "I Go to Pieces," "Lady Godiva," "I  Don't Wanna See You Again," and of course "World Without Love" (the last two by Lennon & McCartney) - sadly without Gordon, who died in 2009.  But the backup band sang and played perfectly, and made every performance worthwhile.
• On a more personal note, it was good to say hello to Andrew Sandoval, who put my "Hung Up On Love" on the Rhino Record compilation album Come To The Sunshine: Soft Pop Nuggets From The WEA Vaults (my group The Other Voices sang that - actually, another name for The New Outlook - and I co-wrote with Mickie Harris).

Time's winged chariot forever hurries near, making concerts like these rare and wonderful.  If you came of age in the 60s, and loved this kind of music, give yourself a treat and see this concert if you get a chance.