''Caught Live + 5'' is a live album by

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

, consisting of a 12 December 1969 live show at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

and five previously unreleased studio recordings from 1967 to 1968.

Concert

The band's performance was a popular and critical success at the time. In his newspaper review of the event, music critic Jack Scott called the concert a "knockout victory for

progressive pop Progressive pop is pop music that attempts to break with the genre's standard formula, or an offshoot of the progressive rock genre that was commonly heard on AM radio in the 1970s and 1980s. It was originally termed for the early progressive ...

," having a "rich, full sound that combined sensitivity with sheer popular punch."

Release

The album was released without the participation of the band, who have been critical of the album.

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician. He was the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Moody Blues from 1966 until its dissolution in 2018. He became the group's principal vocalist and its most prolific son ...

remembers, "That was a disaster, I thought. I never wanted to release that. We were out of contract when it was released, we didn't have any choice in it. I never liked that record at all. I never liked the Albert Hall as a venue for recording – nice atmosphere and everything, but I can think of much better places to record. A round building is not the best place for rock 'n' roll."McCarty, Michael. A Question of Balance: Interview with Moody Blues Guitarist Justin Hayward. Esoteria-land. January 17, 2015. ''Caught Live'' is the first Moody Blues album since ''

Days of Future Passed ''Days of Future Passed'' is the second studio album by English progressive rock band the Moody Blues, released on 17 November 1967, by Deram Records. It has been cited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and others as one of the earliest albu ...

'' not to feature cover artwork by Philip Travers. Decca Records instead used British art design group

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

. The "+5" studio tracks were re-released on their 1987 album '' Prelude''.

Reception

While ''Caught Live + 5'' managed to reach #26 during its American chart run, it missed the British listings completely, the first time this had occurred for The Moody Blues since their 1965 debut '' The Magnificent Moodies'' (although that album had reached number 5 on the NME album chart).

Track listing

Tracks 1–14 are live while tracks 15–19 are studio recordings.

Side One

Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time) "Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)" is a 1969 song by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine ...

" (

) – 4:03 #"The Sunset" (

Mike Pinder Michael Thomas Pinder (27 December 1941 – 24 April 2024) was an English rock musician. He was a founding member and the original keyboard player of the rock group the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's nint ...

) – 4:33 #" Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" (

Ray Thomas Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member of the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single " Ni ...

) – 3:23 #" Never Comes the Day" (Hayward) – 5:39

Side Two

Peak Hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

" ( John Lodge) – 5:13 #"

Tuesday Afternoon "Tuesday Afternoon" (sometimes referred to as "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)", or simply "Forever Afternoon") is a 1968 single by English symphonic rock band The Moody Blues, which was presented in its original album form on their 1967 album '' Day ...

" (Hayward) – 4:51 #" Are You Sitting Comfortably?" (Hayward, Thomas) – 4:21 #" The Dream" (

Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 November 2021) was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as th ...

) – 0:58 #" Have You Heard (Part 1)" (Pinder) – 1:22 #" The Voyage" (Pinder) – 3:37 #" Have You Heard (Part 2)" (Pinder) – 2:33

Side Three

Nights in White Satin "Nights in White Satin" is a song by English rock band the Moody Blues, written by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album '' Days of Future Passed''. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached nu ...

" (Hayward) – 5:55 #"

Legend of a Mind "Legend of a Mind" is a song by the British progressive rock band the Moody Blues, and was written by the band's flautist Ray Thomas, who provides the lead vocals. "Legend of a Mind" was recorded in January 1968 and was first released on the Mood ...

" (Thomas) – 7:05 #"

Ride My See-Saw __NOTOC__ "Ride My See-Saw" is a 1968 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by the band's bassist John Lodge, and was first released on the Moody Blues' 1968 album ''In Search of the Lost Chord''. It was the s ...

" (Lodge) – 4:28

Side Four

#"Gimme a Little Somethin'" (Lodge) – 3:13 #"Please Think About It" (Pinder) – 3:41 #"Long Summer Days" (Hayward) – 3:12 #"King and Queen" (Hayward) – 3:52 #"What Am I Doing Here?" (Hayward) – 3:33

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* John Lodge – vocals,

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

– vocals,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

– vocals,

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control The Moody Blues live albums 1977 live albums Threshold Records albums Live albums recorded at the Royal Albert Hall Albums produced by Tony Clarke (record producer) Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Progressive pop albums