Some folks make too much of the perceived division between classical music and rock and roll. Gordy Marshall is here to set them straight.
Still, it must be noted that the marriage between rock and roll and classical music has been, at times, a fraught union. Sometimes more of a shotgun wedding, actually. Anyone remember Rick Wakeman’s The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?
Fortunately, you can brush any lingering concerns away when considering Go Now! A Tribute to the Moody Blues, presented by the Houston Symphony at the newly spruced up Jones Hall on October 27, 28 and 29. The concert program – its title taken from the Moody Blues’ first hit single – will pair the symphony, conducted by Michael Krajewski, with a quartet of rock musicians in a live re-creation of the band’s most beloved songs, including “Nights in White Satin,” “Tuesday Afternoon” and “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band).”
Drummer Gordy Marshall toured with Moody Blues for over 25 years, playing alongside Graeme Edge, co-founder of the Moody Blues and the band’s original drummer. Following the dissolution of the band, Marshall assembled a group of musicians to recreate the music of the Moody Blues, paying particular attention to the orchestral accompaniments heard on their albums. As a classically trained musician with rock and roll bona fides, Marshall is perhaps best suited to continuing and preserving the Moody Blues’ legacy.
“I was brought up as a classical musician, so I had ten years of rigorous classical training before I even picked up a pair of drum sticks,” Marshall says, speaking via Zoom. “As a child, from the age of seven, I lived with my grandmother – she was a brilliant musician and music teacher – and every day she gave me an hour’s piano lesson before I went to school and an hour’s piano lesson when I got back from school. And that happened every day for five years. Then I got into the junior music college, went through all the grades and started playing clarinet in the band.
“What I have learned, from my experience, is that there is no such thing as ‘legitimate’ music or ‘pop’ music. It’s just music.”
“I was steeped in classical music. My uncle was the organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. I sang in a church choir. Then, at 14 or 15, I sat behind a drum kit, and it was a pivotal moment. It was a transformative experience. And I realized that was actually what I wanted to do. So I went into rock and roll – we’re talking ’74 or ’75 now – with the idea that I was a proper musician, and I was just having fun with pop music. And I could not have been further from the truth. What I have learned, from my experience, is that there is no such thing as ‘legitimate’ music or ‘pop’ music. It’s just music.”
Even a cursory listen to the Moody Blues catalog will reveal that the band adopted a similarly ecumenical philosophy early in its career. “What the Moody Blues did absolutely brilliantly is that they bridged this perceived gap between [classical and rock], and that gap disappeared. You have songs like ‘Nights in White Satin,’ which is probably the ultimate orchestral pop song. To me, that’s as good as sitting and listening to Beethoven or Mozart.
“One of the reasons I’m so passionate about the music of the Moody Blues is that I’m in a unique position, really,” Marshall summarizes. “I run a tribute band, but I was in the band for 25 years. So I got not just a fly on the wall view, I got a chair in the room where it happened.”
In addition to Marshall, the Go Now! rock quartet is rounded out by vocalist Mick Wilson, guitarist Nick Kendall and bassist Patrick Duffin. While they are, as Marshall characterizes them, a “tribute band,” the term does not carry the negative connotations that it did years ago, when you could throw a rock and hit an Elvis impersonator. In recent years, as more classic rock bands began to retire )or at least leave the road), tribute bands stepped in to fill the demand, painstakingly recreating both the music and the stage productions of legendary acts.
“When you think about it, the Houston Symphony is a tribute band,” Marshall says, “because when they play Beethoven or Mozart or Mahler, they’re playing someone else’s music. So in that regard, they are a tribute band. They don’t dress up like Mahler or Mozart would have, with wigs, but they put a nice suit on, walk on stage, and play the music brilliantly.”
Marshall posits that the modern crop of tribute bands is doing great business due to an overwhelming desire to hear music in a live context. “If there weren’t a call for them, if they weren’t popular, they wouldn’t be successful,” Marshall says. “It’s that people love to be in a space with other people and listen to music played live. It’s great listening to vinyl on headphones or through great speakers, but you cannot beat the experience, the emotional tugging of the heartstrings, when you are surrounded by hundreds or thousands of people who are all listening to something being performed live, in the moment.”
Considering that Marshall has spent plenty of time playing in the pit orchestras of London’s West End, it would seem that he could stay put in England and make a good living. What keeps him on the road at this point in his career?
“I love it,” Marshall says. “You know, they say, ‘Do the thing you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ Well, it’s not actually true, because this is probably the hardest thing I’ve done in my life. But the fact that we are being asked to play with the Houston Symphony is literally a dream come true. So I’m doing it because I absolutely love it, and I hope that comes across when we perform.”
The Houston Symphony will present “Go Now! A Tribute to the Moody Blues” at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. on Sunday at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana. For tickets or information, call 713-224-7575 or visit houstonsymphony.org. $34 – $150. A livestream option is available for $20 on Saturday.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
