"I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" is a 1973

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a 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' ...

by the English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band the Moody Blues, written by the band's bassist, John Lodge. It was first released in 1972 as the final track on the album '' Seventh Sojourn'' and was later released as a single in 1973, with "For My Lady" as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. It was the second single released from '' Seventh Sojourn'', with the first being " Isn't Life Strange", which was also written by Lodge. The song reached number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US, becoming one of their highest-charting hits in that country, but fared less well in their native UK, where it managed number 36. It was also the final single released by the Moody Blues prior to their five-year hiatus, which was agreed upon so each of the band members could pursue their own solo careers. Their next single would not be until 1978, with "

Steppin' in a Slide Zone "Steppin' in a Slide Zone" is a 1978 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was the first single the Moody Blues had released in five years, after the band's temporary hiatus. It was written by bassist John Lodge, and was ...

". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' regarded the song as a change of pace for the Moody Blues, stating that it had a more "upbeat rock sound" than their typical songs. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' predicted that it was "likely to turn gold," saying that "all indications are that it will head straight for the very top" of the charts. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' called it an "uptempo rocker" that will give the group "a lock on the top of the charts." ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

'' critic Malcolm Dome rated it as the Moody Blues' 6th greatest song.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Lindsay Planer said that "Even though this is an uptempo rocker, Lodge delves headlong into an introspective space equal to that of another significant side, 'Isn't Life Strange.'" The song was the last of the band's singles to feature the Chamberlin, which had recently replaced the

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 pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

. The Chamberlin would later be replaced by a more modern keyboard

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. A promotional music-video was filmed for "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)". This video showed the band's flautist

Ray Thomas Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist, flautist, singer, founding member and composer in the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single "Night ...

playing a

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

; however, according to keyboardist Mike Pinder, the saxophone was used just for effect in the video and the saxophone sound was produced by the Chamberlin. The basic tracks for the song were recorded in Pinder's garage, producing a raw sound. The song remained in the Moody Blues' live concerts throughout their career. Live performances of the song during the band's final years featured a live saxophone played by keyboardist Julie Ragins, along with Norda Mullen on flute.

"For My Lady"

The B-side of the single was "For My Lady", which was composed by

. ''Classic Rock History'' critic Brian Kachejian rated "For My Lady" as the Moody Blues' 7th greatest song, saying that "The song’s bouncy flute opening had a very Irish ethnic storybook sound that took me someplace out to sea."

Personnel

* John Lodge – lead vocals, bass guitar * Justin Hayward – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars * Mike Pinder – vocals, Chamberlin, piano, tambourine *

– vocals * Graeme Edge – drums, percussion

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Derivative works

* "I'm Just a Singer in a Holiday Inn", a

Bob Rivers Robert Rivers (born July 7, 1956 in Branford, Connecticut) is a retired American rock and roll radio on-air personality in the Pacific Northwest, as well as a prolific producer and songwriter of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas son ...

parody of this tune, appears on his 1997 album ''The Best of Twisted Tunes, Vol. 2''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) 1972 songs 1973 singles Songs about rock music Songs written by John Lodge (musician) The Moody Blues songs