It’s gotten to the point where these things are occurring on a daily basis; someone who has either shaped or been influential or provided the emotional backbone to our being on the planet leaves – sometimes unannounced – most often prefaced with “after a long illness” – it still leaves a lump in the throat and an emotional excursion back to other times (it always prompts us, or me anyway, to become perplexed over the passage of days/years pretty much within seconds).
Denny Laine may not ring bells with many people born, say after 1970, but he was part of the larger movement of music that shaped many of our lives from the 60s onwards. Those were the people we relied on to keep us sane and encourage us to keep an open mind and to look at life in different ways. It’s a lot more than nostalgia – it’s the influences and people who made you who you are.
Music does that – and it did that when Denny Laine was busy providing emotional support for millions just by words and notes for a goodly chunk of our lives.
But it’s hard to convey those emotions and thoughts to someone who has never heard the early Moody Blues or Wings or was aware of Denny Laine’s long and rich solo career. With the amount of new music sweeping over us on a daily basis, it’s easy to get lost or drift from our memories – it just happens.
So – if you’re not familiar with the music of Denny Laine, or the journey he was on up until yesterday – just take a minute or two and give this concert a listen – it was recorded in July of this year; months before his death – he was an artist you might like to be aware of.
Those who are familiar – who remember Denny Laine from his stint with The Moody Blues or later, with Wings, will no doubt nod your head and collectively say “oh yeah, THAT guy” and be taken back a few decades for at least the next hour or so.
In any event – we lost Denny Laine yesterday and losing anyone gives our days pause – we’ve been pausing a lot lately.
Enjoy, remember and stay curious.
