Clint Warwick (born Albert Eccles; 25 June 1940 – 15 May 2004) was an English rock musician and the original

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

for the

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

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 ...

Life and career

Warwick was born in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. He was drawn to music during the skiffle boom of the late 1950s, joining Danny King and the Dukes and playing in Birmingham pubs and other venues. Ray Thomas and

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 ...

, who had played together in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

with the Krew Kats, decided to form a group with the addition of

Denny Laine Brian Frederick Hines (29 October 1944 – 5 December 2023), known professionally as Denny Laine, was an English musician who co-founded two major rock bands: the Moody Blues and Wings. Laine played guitar in the Moody Blues from 1964 to 1966 ...

, who had fronted the Diplomats,

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 ...

, who had been a member of Gerry Levene and the Avengers, and Eccles—who changed his name to Clint Warwick by putting together the names of his favourite singer,

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

, and his favourite actor,

Clint Walker Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne (TV series), Cheyenne Bodie in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC/Warner Bros. Western (genre)#Film, western series ''Cheyenn ...

. The Moody Blues released one album with Warwick on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, ''Go Now - The Moody Blues #1'' (USA release on London Records), whereas '' The Magnificent Moodies'' was released on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

in the UK, with sleeve notes by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

and a different track listing. The album yielded the

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

" Go Now", which reached No. 1 in the UK in January 1965, and the Top Ten in the U.S. Warwick took one co-lead vocal on that album with Laine, on the track "I've Got A Dream" (which featured Ray Thomas on

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 ...

). The closing track "'Bye Bye Bird" was issued as an overseas single and became a hit in France. Warwick was also on the EP ''The Moody Blues'' issued on Decca in 1964, and appeared on all their Decca singles, beginning with their debut, "Steal Your Heart Away" (1964), then "Go Now", "

I Don't Want to Go On Without You "I Don't Want to Go On Without You" is a soul ballad written by Bert Berns and Jerry Wexler and produced by Bert Berns for the Drifters in 1964. History Originally intended to be the A-side to "Under the Boardwalk", the song was recorded in ...

", "Everyday", "From The Bottom Of My Heart (I Love You)" (all 1965), plus "Boulevard De La Madeline" (1966) up to " Life's Not Life" in 1966. Warwick's and Laine's era of the Moody Blues was featured on various

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s on both vinyl and CD, such as ''The Moody Blues Collection''. A later CD issue of ''The Magnificent Moodies'' in 2006 included the rare track "People Gotta Give" (mistitled as "People Gotta Go") - a Pinder-Laine composition from the ''Boulevard De La Madeline'' French EP release. Film footage survives of the original line-up of The Moody Blues performing "Go Now" on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's '' The Beat Room'' (later included in the BBC series ''Sounds of The Sixties'') plus the first single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"Lose Your Money (But Don't Lose Your Mind)" on ''

Ready Steady Go! ''Ready Steady Go!'' (or ''RSG!'') was a British rock/pop music television programme broadcast every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan wanted a light ente ...

'' in August 1964 with Warwick and Laine performing, and has been re-screened in recent years. Feeling stressed by touring, Warwick left the band and his music career in 1966 to become a carpenter and spend time with his family. He released his first solo recording in 2002, a CD single entitled "My Life, the Waltz", and was working on another solo recording at the time of his death from

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warwick, Clint 1945 births 2004 deaths English bass guitarists English male bass guitarists English rock singers English rock bass guitarists British rhythm and blues boom musicians Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands The Moody Blues members People from Aston Deaths from hepatitis English male singers 20th-century English singers English carpenters English rhythm and blues musicians Rhythm and blues bass guitarists English rhythm and blues singers 20th-century English bass guitarists 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English male singers