"Legend of a Mind" is a song by the British

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 The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

, and was written by 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 ...

, who provides the lead vocals. "Legend of a Mind" was recorded in January 1968 and was first released on the Moody Blues' album ''

In Search of the Lost Chord ''In Search of the Lost Chord'' is the third album by The Moody Blues, released in July 1968 on the Deram label. Content ''In Search of the Lost Chord'' is a concept album around a broad theme of quest and discovery, including world explorati ...

''. Prominently featuring 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 ...

, it was the first song recorded for the album.

Background and content

The song's lyrics are about 1960s

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

icon

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...

. Leary was an advocate for the use of the drug, enjoying its spiritual benefits, with one of his catchphrases being "

Turn on, tune in, drop out "Turn on, tune in, drop out" is a counterculture-era phrase popularized by Timothy Leary in 1966. In 1967, Leary spoke at the Human Be-In, a gathering of 30,000 hippies in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and phrased the famous words, "Turn on, ...

." A re-recorded version of the song, with different lyrics, "Legend of a Mind (Timothy Leary Lives)" appears on the 1996 album '' Beyond Life With Timothy Leary''. The song is perhaps best known for its opening lines: "Timothy Leary's dead / No, n-n-no he's outside looking in",The Moody Blues, In Search of the Lost Chord. Deram, 1968. SML 711. which allude to Leary's use of eastern mysticism (most notably the

Tibetan Book of the Dead The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, "Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State"), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation t ...

) to frame the psychedelic experience. The song's lyrics describe both Leary and the effects of LSD, such as:

He'll fly his astral plane Takes you trips around the bay Brings you back the same day

as well as:

He'll take you up, He'll bring you down. He'll plant your feet back firmly on the ground. He flies so high, He swoops so low. He knows exactly which way he's gonna go.

"Legend of a Mind" is one of the Moody Blues' longer songs, lasting about six and a half minutes, with a two-minute flute solo by

, in the middle. During the 1980s, Thomas and keyboardist

Patrick Moraz Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and The Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age a ...

(who joined the band in 1978, replacing

Mike Pinder Michael Thomas Pinder (born 27 December 1941) is an English rock musician, and is a founding member and original keyboard player of the British rock group the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's ninth album ''O ...

) modified the live performance of the song by composing a flute and keyboard duet as part of the flute solo. The flute and keyboard duet on "Legend of a Mind" was sometimes the most popular part of The Moody Blues concerts, and Ray Thomas often received a standing ovation at the end of the flute solo for his performance. Even after Moraz left the band in 1991, the flute and keyboard duet continued to be performed as part of the song with session-musician

Bias Boshell Tobias Boshell (born 20 July 1950) is an English songwriter and musician, best known as the founder of the folk rock band Trees. He was born in Wye, Kent, was educated at Bedales and the Royal College of Music. Boshell formed Trees in 1969 wit ...

playing the keyboard. A full live recording of the song can be found on the deluxe edition of their live album ''

A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra ''A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra'' is a live album by The Moody Blues, recorded from a live performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre on 9 September 1992. This performance was the first time The Moody Blues performe ...

''. "Legend of a Mind" was not performed live by the Moody Blues after Thomas had retired from the band in 2002, although it has been performed, in 2019, by John Lodge's solo band. The original promotional black-and-white film for the song was filmed on location at

Groot-Bijgaarden Castle Groot-Bijgaarden Castle ( nl, Kasteel Groot-Bijgaarden, french: Château de Grand-Bigard) is a 12th-century castle in Groot-Bijgaarden in the municipality of Dilbeek, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. The castle was built for Almaric Bigard, the first lo ...

near

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Personnel

― lead vocals, flute *

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...

― 6-string and 12-string acoustic guitars, electric guitars, backing vocals * John Lodge ― bass, backing vocals *

―

, piano, backing vocals *

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 t ...

― drums, percussion,

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Legend Of A Mind The Moody Blues songs 1968 songs Songs written by Ray Thomas Timothy Leary Songs about drugs British psychedelic rock songs Lysergic acid diethylamide