Micky Moody

Michael Joseph "Micky" Moody (born 30 August 1950) is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden he founded the Moody Marsden Band, and later, The Snakes, having previously collaborated with unofficial 5th Status Quo member Bob Young in Young & Moody. Along with Marsden and ex-Whitesnake bassist, Neil Murray, he formed The Company of Snakes and M3 Classic Whitesnake with which they mainly performed early Whitesnake songs. From 2011 to 2015, Moody toured and recorded with Snakecharmer, a band he co-formed.

Besides this, Moody has also toured with Roger Chapman, Frankie Miller and Chris Farlowe. He has also performed live alongside the likes of Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, Mick Taylor, Bruce Dickinson, Sam Brown, Gary Brooker, Suggs, Dennis Locorriere, Paul Jones, P. P. Arnold, James Hunter, Rick Wakeman, Jon Lord, Newton Faulkner, Uriah Heep, Alice Cooper, Mark King, Alfie Boe, Sandi Thom, Brian Auger, Paul Weller, Eric Bibb, Meat Loaf, Boy George, Elkie Brooks, Nona Hendryx, Mud Morganfield and one of his early guitar heroes, Duane Eddy. Since 2000 he has released several solo albums: ''I Eat Them For Breakfast'' (2000), ''Don't Blame Me'' (2006), ''Acoustic Journeyman'' (2007) and ''Electric Journeyman'' (2009). A versatile guitarist, Moody has been an active session musician and his own website lists over 100 albums to which he has contributed musically. 2006 saw the release of the autobiographical ''Playing With Trumpets – A Rock 'n' Roll Apprenticeship'', a memoir about his early days on the music scene. Another book of memoirs, Snakes and Ladders, was released in 2016. His library music has been featured on such TV programmes as '' Waking the Dead'', '' Bo' Selecta!'', ''America's Next Top Model'', ''How to Look Good Naked'', '' Top Gear'', ''Horizon'', ''Jersey Shore'', ''Mad Men'', '' Wife Swap'' and ''Paul Hollywood's Bread''.
More recently Micky has worked alongside Ali Maas Moody and they have co-written and released two albums, ''Black & Chrome'' and ''Who's Directing Your Movie?''

Biography

1960s

While at school in Middlesbrough and attending private guitar lessons, Moody formed The Roadrunners with others from the area including Paul Rodgers (later of Free and Bad Company). They were subsequently joined by bass player Bruce Thomas, later to play with Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The band performed covers in local halls and clubs. By 1967 they had developed and outgrown the local music scene and turned professional, changing their name to The Wildflowers and subsequently moving to London. They had some success and undertook some touring, but relationships within the band frayed and they eventually split without making any recordings. Moody returned home to Middlesbrough where for a while he widened his musical horizons by taking classical guitar lessons. He also became increasingly interested in slide guitar techniques (a style he would later be closely associated with). While living in Middlesbrough he was asked by local singer and entrepreneur John McCoy, to form a group which became Tramline. A deal for two albums was signed with Island Records, but by the time the second album was released the band had broken up. Moody joined Lucas and the professional Soul band Mike Cotton Sound who became Gene Pitney's backing band for UK tours as well as others such as Paul Jones.

1970s

In 1970 he joined recently re-patriated keyboard player Zoot Money as guitarist. He then replaced Neil Hubbard in Juicy Lucy with whom he recorded three albums and toured extensively before the group disbanded. After the band split, Moody co-founded Snafu which combined his funk-rock guitar style with U.S down-home stateside grooves. The band recorded three albums '' SNAFU'', ''Situation Normal'' and ''All Funked Up''. They also appeared on a John Peel ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' session and the T.V series ''Supersonic''. Extensive touring followed before the band broke up. At this time Moody undertook occasional work as a session player most notably for Graham Bonnet. He also contributed to one track on Gerry Rafferty's '' City to City''. He performed with the former Status Quo drummer John Coghlan's Diesel Band, then recorded an album with the band's tour manager and lyricist Bob Young which became Young & Moody. He then toured with Frankie Miller and stood in as a guest with Hinkley's Heroes before joining his friend David Coverdale. Moody knew Coverdale – who had fronted Deep Purple and was looking to undertake a solo venture – from the Middlesbrough music scene in the late sixties. Coverdale invited Moody to work with him and the album '' White Snake'' was released in 1977. Moody shared writing credits on four songs including the title track. A second album '' Northwinds'' followed in 1978, on which Moody contributed to three songs. Following the demise of Deep Purple MkIV, Coverdale and Moody joined forces with Bernie Marsden, Neil Murray, Dave 'Duck' Dowle and keyboardist Brian Johnston to form a band that took its name Whitesnake from the title of Coverdale's first solo album. In 1978 they recorded the E.P ''Snakebite'' followed by two studio albums, '' Trouble'' (1978) and '' Lovehunter'' (1979), recorded by a modified lineup with Jon Lord on keyboards. Moody is credited with cowriting four of the tracks on ''Trouble'' and was sole writer of 'Belgian Tom's Hat Trick', an instrumental. While working with Whitesnake he also played slide guitar on Roger Chapman's debut solo album '' Chappo''.

1980s

Moody contributed slide guitar to three tracks on former Lindisfarne member Ray Jackson's solo debut '' In the Night'', which was released in 1980. By this point Whitesnake now featured Ian Paice from Deep Purple on drums, who had been brought into the group to replace Dowle. In 1980 this line up released the album '' Ready an' Willing'', from which two UK singles were taken, ''Fool for Your Loving'' and the album title track, both co-written by Moody. The band also released the double album '' Live...in the Heart of the City'' in the same year. At his time he recorded two singles with Bob Young, with all tracks written by Moody.

In 1981, Graham Bonnet's '' Line-Up'' featured Moody playing guitar on all tracks and three songs written by Moody with Bob Young. Moody maintained a busy schedule with Whitesnake and the band released the album '' Come an' Get It''in the same year. Relationships within the band were beginning to sour and Moody's guitar partner Bernie Marsden left prior to the final completion of the next album '' Saints and Sinners''. Moody himself followed soon after. Whitesnake took time out for much of 1982 and Moody undertook some session work, with Sheena Easton and others. By late 1982 Whitesnake was reformed with Mel Galley replacing Marsden and Moody joining Galley on the album's backing vocal sessions. In 1983 Coverdale replaced Ian Paice and Neil Murray with Cozy Powell and Colin Hodgkinson. Moody was unhappy with the direction the new band was taking and felt increasingly sidelined by Coverdale. Despite this deteriorating situation, he recorded '' Slide It In'' – a process he described as an 'unhappy experience' – but then left the band in 1983.

Moody returned to session work with Mike Oldfield, Gary Glitter, Mike d'Abo and Roger Chapman, as well as selected TV music library work. He toured with Chris Farlowe and worked with former Meal Ticket singer Willy Finlayson and his band the Hurters. Taking a wry, witty view of some of the people and experiences they'd encountered over the years, he and Bob Young wrote a book on musicians' humour, the acclaimed ''Language of Rock and Roll''. He also put together the first version of the Micky Moody Band, featuring former Taste bassist Charlie McCracken and drummer Chris Hunt. Towards the end of the decade, he and Bernie Marsden played selected venues with their own Moody Marsden Band.

1990s

During the early 1990s, Moody toured extensively with Roger Chapman. "What a bloke," marvelled the singer. "Every hotel we stayed in, he used to get his black bin-liners out and start taping them to the windows – can't sleep if there's any light in the room. They used to think he was mad. Lovely fella though. A great guitarist. And intelligent too. Too intelligent for Coverdale."

Moody reunited on a more permanent basis with Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden, to tour and record as the Moody Marsden Band in U.K and Europe. They issued two live albums, ''Never Turn Our Back on the Blues'' and ''Live in Hell'' and a studio set, ''Real Faith''. In 1996, Moody toured the US as part of the ''Best of British Blues'' tour, also featuring Eric Burdon, Alvin Lee, Aynsley Dunbar, Boz Burrell and Tim Hinkley. The following year, Moody and Marsden teamed up with Norwegian rockers Jørn Lande, Willy Bendickson and Sid Ringsby to form The Snakes, a band that specialised in reproducing the sounds of the original Whitesnake. Don Airey would often be brought in to augment them on keyboards. The band recorded two albums, ''Once Bitten'' and ''Live in Europe'' before making way for The Company of Snakes, which featured former Bad Company vocalist Robert Hart, original Whitesnake bass player Neil Murray and ex-Manfred Mann's Earth Band drummer John Lingwood. Hart was eventually replaced by ex-Snakes in Paradise frontman Stefan Berggren, and the band released two albums, '' Burst the Bubble'' and a live set '' Here They Go Again''.

2000s

In 2000, Micky wrote and produced library music prior to the release of his first official solo album, ''I Eat Them For Breakfast''. Continuing to perform with Company of Snakes and take on occasional session work, Moody joined his former Juicy Lucy bandmate Paul Williams to arrange and record a selection of acoustic classic Chicago blues tracks for the album ''Smokestacks, Broomdusters and Hoochie Coochie Men''. He also played occasional duo gigs with bluesman Papa George. 'Snake' metamorphosed into ''M3 Classic Whitesnake'' and also released a live CD (featuring former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin) and a live DVD with the former The Company Of Snakes singer Stefan Berggren back, and with the special guest appearance from former Ritchie Blackmore and Yngwie Malmsteen frontman Doogie White. The DVD also featured sessionman Jimmy Copley (who worked with bands such as Go West and Tears for Fears) on drums and Mark Stanway from Magnum on the keyboards.

Around this time Moody played on ''Nah Aufnahme'' by German musician Westernhagen, which eventually appeared in the national charts. 2006 saw the release of Moody's self-produced solo album ''Don't Blame Me'', released at the same time as his memoirs ''Playing with Trumpets – A Rock 'n' Roll Apprenticeship''. M3 broke up later that year, after which Moody performed more shows with Roger Chapman plus selected dates with a line-up of the Micky Moody Band that featured his eldest son Micky Moody Jr. on drums. In 2008 he toured Japan as special guest of Jimmy Copley and Japanese guitar legend Char. Also featured was ex-Herbie Hancock bassist Paul Jackson and keyboard wizard Yoshinobu Kojima. The shows were recorded and released on DVD as ''Jimmy Copley & Char: Special Session''. To celebrate his love of instrumental music, Micky wrote and produced the albums ''Acoustic Journeyman'' (2007) and ''Electric Journeyman'' (2009).

2010s

In 2011, Moody co-wrote library music for both Warner/Chapell and Universal before co-forming Snakecharmer, a line up which also includes former Whitesnake colleague Neil Murray, former Wishbone Ash guitarist Laurie Wisefield, singer Chris Ousey (Heartland), drummer Gary James (Thunder, Magnum) and Ozzy's keyboardist Adam Wakeman. In 2015, Moody left "Snakecharmer" to pursue his solo career. In recent years, Moody also made regular appearances alongside blues guitarist Papa George and has been an active member of the "Sunflower Jam" house band and the Bad Apples.. In 2016 he and Ali Maas Moody released their first album together. They also played live regularly with their Ali Maas and Micky Moody Band.

2020s

In 2020 Micky and Ali released their second co-written album and continue to work together.

Discography

With Tramline

* 1968 ''Somewhere Down The Line''
* 1969 ''Moves of Vegetable Centuries''

With Juicy Lucy

* 1970 ''Lie Back and Enjoy It''
* 1971 ''Get a Whiff a This''
* 1972 ''Pieces''

With Snafu

* 1973 '' Snafu''
* 1974 ''Situation Normal''
* 1975 ''All Funked Up''

With The Moody Marsden Band

* 1992 ''Never Turn Our Back on the Blues''
* 1994 ''live in Hell''
* 1994 ''The Time Is Right For Live''
* 1994 ''Real Faith''
* 2000 ''The Night the Guitars Came to Play''
* 2001 ''Ozone Friendly''

With Bob Young

* 1977 ''Young and Moody''
* 1995 ''The Nearest Hits Album''
* 2010 ''Back for the Last Time Again''

With David Coverdale

* 1977 '' White Snake''
* 1978 '' Northwinds''

With Whitesnake

* 1978 ''Snakebite''
* 1978 '' Trouble''
* 1978 '' Live at Hammersmith''
* 1979 '' Lovehunter''
* 1980 '' Ready an' Willing''
* 1980 '' Live...in the Heart of the City''
* 1981 '' Come an' Get It''
* 1982 '' Saints & Sinners''
* 1984 '' Slide It In''

With The Snakes, Company of Snakes & M3

* 1998 ''Once Bitten'' (Japan)
* 1998 ''Live in Europe''
* 2001 '' Here They Go Again''
* 2002 '' Burst the Bubble''
* 2005 ''Classic Snake Live''
* 2005 ''Rough An' Ready'' (live album, CD)
* 2007 ''Rough An' Ready'' (live album, DVD)

With Snakecharmer

* 2013 ''Snakecharmer''

With The Bad Apples

* 2014 ''Played''

With Ali Maas

* 2016 ''Black & Chrome''
* 2020 ''Who's directing your Movie?''

Solo

* 2000 ''I Eat Them for Breakfast''
* 2002 ''Smokestacks Broomdusters and Hoochie Coochie Men'' (with Paul Williams)
* 2006 ''Don't Blame Me''
* 2007 ''Acoustic Journeyman''
* 2008 ''Live and Rocking! – Live at the Hell Blues Festival 2000'' (Micky Moody & Friends)
* 2009 ''Electric Journeyman''

Guest appearances

* 1969 ''You Can All Join In'' (VA)
* 1970 ''Zoot Money'' (Zoot Money)
* 1973 ''In Memory of Robert Johnson'' (Paul Williams)
* 1973 ''I Never Got'' (Tony Kelly)
* 1973 ''Manor Live'' (VA)
* 1973 ''Me and My Friend'' (Patrick Campbell Lyons)
* 1974 ''Funkist'' (Bobby Harrison)
* 1975 ''Squire'' (Alan Hull)
* 1975 ''Legend'' (Mickey Jupp)
* 1977 ''Graham Bonnet'' (Graham Bonnet)
* 1977 ''Fancy That'' (Joanna Carlin)
* 1977 '' City to City'' (Gerry Rafferty)
* 1979 '' Chappo'' (Roger Chapman)
* 1981 ''Line Up'' (Graham Bonnet)
* 1982 ''Riff Burglars'' (Roger Chapman)
* 1982 ''Madness, Money & Music'' (Sheena Easton)
* 1986 ''In Quo Country'' (Bob Young)
* 1987 ''Islands'' (Mike Oldfield)
* 1987 ''Party Album'' (Gary Glitter)
* 1987 ''Reaching Out'' (Paul Millns)
* 1987 ''Indestructible'' (Mike D'Abo)
* 1987 ''No Angel'' (Sanne Salomonsen)
* 1988 ''New Day'' (Jane Harrison)
* 1989 ''Walking The Cat'' (Roger Chapman)
* 1990 ''Hybrid and Lowdown'' (Roger Chapman)
* 1991 ''Blue-Eyed Slide'' (Brian Knight)
* 1992 ''Parlour Games'' (John Spencer)
* 1992 ''Blues Brittania'' (VA)
* 1992 ''Waiting in the Wings'' (Chris Farlowe)
* 1992 ''Very Much Alive'' (Willy Finlayson and The Hurters)
* 1993 ''Midnight Postcards'' (Adam Faith)
* 1994 ''Tellin' Stories'' (Walter Trout)
* 1994 ''Line Up'' (Borderline)
* 1995 ''Together'' (Peter Smith)
* 1995 ''Green and Blues'' (Bernie Marsden)
* 1996 '' Kiss My Soul'' (Roger Chapman)
* 1996 ''Blue Thunder'' (Blue Thunder)
* 1998 ''Pinboard Wizards'' (Jackie Lynton)
* 2000 ''Here After'' (Jamie Marshall)
* 2000 ''Gimme All Your Topp'' (VA)
* 2000 ''Snakebites'' (VA)
* 2000 ''Glory Bound'' (Chris Farlowe)
* 2001 ''Another Hair of the Dog'' (VA)
* 2001 ''Tam de ti ye...'' (Ani Lorak)
* 2002 ''Fairytale'' (Peer Gynt)
* 2002 ''Who's He Calling Me Him'' (Norman Beaker Band)
* 2003 ''Freak Out'' (Chris Catena)
* 2004 ''On The Wire'' (Smokie)
* 2005 ''Nah Aufnahme'' (Westernhagen)
* 2007 ''One More Time For Peace'' (Roger Chapman)
* 2007 ''Human Spirit'' (Gary Fletcher)
* 2008 ''Slap My Hand'' (Jimmy Copley)
* 2009 ''Live at Abbey Road'' (Endangered Species)
* 2010 ''Live in Kawasaki/Demons & Wizards in Kawasaki (Official Bootleg)'' (Uriah Heep)
* 2013 ''The Proof'' (The Proof)
* 2013 ''Tailshaker'' (Brothers in Blues)
* 2013 ''Friends for a LIVEtime'' (The Hamburg Blues Band)
* 2014 ''Celebrating Jon Lord'' (VA)
* 2015 ''Hold On'' (Eugene Hideaway Bridges)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Micky
1950 births
Living people
People from Middlesbrough
English rock singers
English rock guitarists
English blues guitarists
English male guitarists
English heavy metal guitarists
Lead guitarists
Slide guitarists
Whitesnake members
The Snakes (band) members
The Company of Snakes members