Hayward has spoken of Thomas's learning transcendental meditation in 1967, along with other members of the group. Thomas stated that a number of his compositions on the band's earlier albums were made in a studio broom closet, with himself writing songs on a glockenspiel. His flute became an integral part of the band's music, even as Pinder began to use the mellotron keyboard. The album is regarded as a progressive rock landmark, and Thomas's flute solo on the single ' Nights in White Satin' one of its defining moments. The first he contributed to the group's repertoire were 'Another Morning' and ' Twilight Time' on the 1967 Days of Future Passed. įollowing the lead of Pinder, Hayward, and Lodge, Thomas also started writing songs. With this line-up the band released seven successful albums between 19, and became known for their pioneering orchestral sound.Īlthough they initially tried to continue singing R&B covers and novelty tunes, they were confronted over this by an audience member, and with their finances deteriorating they made a conscious decision to focus only on their own original material. Thomas then suggested his and Pinder's old bandmate John Lodge as a permanent replacement and also recruited Justin Hayward to replace Laine. When Warwick left the band (followed by Laine a few months later) he was briefly replaced by Rod Clark. I got dozens of letters saying how great the flute playing was and I wasn't even on it. When we did Thank Your Lucky Stars, I just took a flute on and pretended to play it. ' I Don't Want to Go On Without You' wasn't finished when it was released it should've had a flute on it. His flute featured on three songs on the album-'Something You Got', 'I've Got a Dream', and 'Let Me Go'-as well as the single 'From the Bottom of My Heart', after he had more or less pushed himself to learn playing. He shared lead vocals with Laine on '23rd Psalm' which was recorded in 1964 but remained unreleased until 2014. Thomas sang lead vocals on George and Ira Gershwin's ' It Ain't Necessarily So' from the musical Porgy and Bess. Signed to Decca Records, their first album, The Magnificent Moodies, yielded a No. Thomas and Pinder then recruited guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge, and bassist Clint Warwick to form a new, blues-based band, The Moody Blues.

The Moody Blues Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas rehearsing (1969) Thomas and Pinder were later in a band called Krew Cats, formed in 1963, who played in Hamburg and other places in northern Germany. On Easter Monday 1963 the band opened for the Beatles at the Bridge Hotel, Tenbury Wells. After a couple of years their friend Mike Pinder joined as keyboardist. Again taking up the harmonica, he started a band, El Riot and the Rebels, with bassist John Lodge. He was inspired to learn the flute from a grandfather who played the instrument. In the 1960s, Thomas joined the Birmingham Youth Choir then began singing with various Birmingham blues and soul groups including The Saints and Sinners and The Ramblers. By the age of 16 he had embarked on a search for a music band, and within two years had left his trade to pursue a career in music.

He quit schooling at the age of 14, and briefly left music to work as a toolmaking trainee at Lemarks. His father taught him at the age of nine to play harmonica, and this sparked his interest in music. His grandfather was a Welsh miner and went on to become a carpenter and a wood-carver, at one stage working on the church where Thomas later got married. His father's family was from the southwest corner of Wales. Thomas was born at an emergency maternity unit set up during the Second World War in Lickhill Manor, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England. In 2018, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single ' Nights in White Satin' is regarded as one of progressive rock's defining moments.

He was best known as a founding member of the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter.

Im blue song for flute