Ray Thomas

Raymond Thomas Stourport-On-Severn Worcestershire England 29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018 Was An English Musician Best Known As A Flautist Singer And Composer In The Rock Band The Moody Blues. In The 1950's Thomas Joined The Birmingham Youth Choir. He Began Singing With Various Birmingham Blues And Soul Groups Including The Saints And Sinners As Well As The Ramblers. Taking Up The Harmonica He Then Started Bands With Keyboardist And Future Moody Blues Bandmate Mike Pinder. The Two Performed Together In Such Bands As El Riot And The Rebels And The Krew Cats In Hamburg Germany At Times Opening For A Then-Little-Known Band Called The Beatles. Thomas And Pinder Then Recruited Guitarist Denny Laine Along With Drummer Graeme Edge And Bassist Clint Warwick To Form A New Blues-Based Band. The Name Of The Band Chosen By Pinder Was "The Moody Blues." The Name Was A Subtle Reference To Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo." Their First Album Yielded A #1 UK Hit #10 In The US With "Go Now." Following This Album Laine And Warwick Left The Band. Thomas Suggested An Old Bandmate Bassist John Lodge As A Replacement For Warwick And Also Recruited Justin Hayward To Replace Denny Laine. The Band Then Released 7 Successful Albums And Became Known For A Pioneering Orchestral Sound. Some Of Thomas' Compositions On These Albums Are "Another Morning" And "Twilight Time" From Days Of Future Passed "And The Tide Rushes In" From A Question Of Balance "Legend Of A Mind" From In Search Of The Lost Chord "Floating" From To Our Children's Children's Children "Nice To Be Here" From Every Good Boy Deserves Favour And "For My Lady" From Seventh Sojourn . The Band Then Took A Hiatus Reported At The Time As A Breakup During Which The Members All Did Solo Projects. Thomas Released Two Solo Albums During This Period From Mighty Oaks And Hopes Wishes And Dreams. It Was During This Period That He Earned His Nickname "The Flute." Within The Band He Is Also Know As "Tomo" Pronounced TOm-O . The Band Then Reformed Largely Minus Mike Pinder Who Was Only With Them For The First Album After The Reformation And Continued To Release Albums Throughout The '80s With Thomas' "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" Being Prominently Featured On The Album Long Distance Voyager. This Song Has Often Been Regarded As A Theme Song For The Band Itself As A Whole And For Thomas In Particular. Although He Most Commonly Plays Flute Thomas Is Actually A Multi-Instrumentalist Playing Various Other Woodwind Instruments Such As The Oboe On The Album In Search Of The Lost Chord And Baritone Saxophone On The Hit Song "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock & Roll Band ". Thomas Retired At The End Of 2002. The Moody Blues - Now Consisting Only Of Hayward Lodge And Edge - Have Released One Album December Since His Departure From The Band. Thomas Died On 4 January 2018 Of Prostate Cancer At His Home In Surrey At The Age Of 76. read less