The Moody Blues might not be touring at the moment (or possibly ever again), but that doesn’t mean fans of the symphonic rockers won’t get a chance to hear live versions of several gems this season. That’s because bassist/vocalist/songwriter John Lodge is bringing his best from the band and selections from the brand new solo compilation, “B Yond,” to the sold out City Winery on November 12 and the Arcada Theatre on November 14 (where tickets are still available). The 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee phoned Chicago Concert Reviews for a full run down of what to expect, plus observations on the classically-minded group’s groundbreaking beginnings, MTV resurgence and several essential opuses along the way.

What comes to mind musically when you’re on the way to Chicago?

John Lodge: I believe the very first concert we did in America in the ‘60s when we first came over here was in Chicago with the Chicago Transit Authority. That was a long time ago! I love Chicago. State Street, that great street, and everything else, even Al Capone. How about that?

What are you bringing us this time?

Lodge: I’m bringing a lot of Moody Blues music, which I’m really excited about. I’ve got some things that we’re keeping secret from everyone, but I think they’re gonna really enjoy it. Obviously a few songs from my new album “B Yond.” We’ve been rehearsing for some time now and it’s sounding good to me. It’s just got the spirit of The Moody Blues and that’s what I want to try and keep. The Moody Blues aren’t touring anymore and I just want to keep the music alive. I’m really excited and pleased that I’m coming to Chicago.

You mentioned the Moodies aren’t touring anymore. Is that a permanent situation or just a current hiatus?

Lodge: Well, I’m not too sure. Graeme [Edge], he wouldn’t mind me saying, is of ill health, but I’m sure we could convince him to come and do some poetry and cameo parts on drums on stage. It’s just getting [guitarist/vocalist] Justin [Hayward] to say “yes” to the Moodies as well. I would always tour as a Moody Blue because it’s been my life.

What was your inspiration behind putting all this solo material together for “B Yond”?

Lodge: It came from two totally different places. A movie came out last year called “Private Life” and there’s a song of mine in the movie called “Say You Love Me” from my album “Natural Avenue.” I hadn’t thought about that album or that song for a long time. When I saw the movie, I thought “oh I’m gonna revisit that song and have a listen.” So I got the original album out and thought “I’d love to go in the studio and remix that if I could find the original tapes.” I also thought I’d like to remix a few of the songs from that album.

While I was thinking about that, I was approached by BMG, who came to me and said “John, we would really like you to go with our record company. Would you like to? What can we do?” I said, “well, for me, having been a Moody Blue all my life, I’d like to really re-establish John Lodge and bring songs of John Lodge and The Moody Blues together and try and bring it up to 2019 so any younger people venturing into my music will know where I’m at and where I’ve come from, and they loved the idea. So I went and found the original 24-track [tapes] and I baked them all because if you put them through the tape machine nowadays, all the oxide disappears. Then I went into the studio and remixed them as though they’ve been recorded in 2019 and that started to get me excited. I thought “oh, if I could do that, I’m going to re-release some of the other songs.”

There’s a song of mine from “Days Of Future Passed” on the B-side called “(Evening) Time To Get Away” and it’s a deep cut that somehow became part of “The Afternoon.” And I thought “that’s a perfect song to put on the album,” so I went into the studio and we cut that song again. That’s how I approached the whole album. Then of course I wanted to do a tribute to [late flautist/vocalist] Ray Thomas. He’s my friend. I met him when I was 14 and we spent our whole lives together, so I wanted to do one of his songs, “Legend Of A Mind.” I recorded that as well and that’s really how the album started to get together.

What do you miss most about Ray?

Lodge: His smile. Ray had a great sense of humor. You could imagine through the rock and roll years we had an incredible time, but also before that when we were semi-professionals going around to clubs when we were 16 and 17 playing music. I taught Ray to drive, so we had lots of fun. There were a few crashes and a few scrapes, but Ray always had his smile. He was perfect. It’s exactly the same as when I told him we were going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and he said to me “hey John, does this mean we’re famous now?” (laughs) After all those years, you know? But that’s what I’ll miss.

Why do you think it took the group so long to get inducted?

Lodge: I don’t know (laughs). That’s not for me to know. It’s for the people in charge. I have no idea, but I’m really pleased we’re in now because for me, my hero was Buddy Holly and he was really my mentor. He was the first who really gave me the energy to become who I became as a musician. I can feel I’m standing side by side with Buddy Holly in the Hall of Fame. How good could it get?

Let’s talk about The Moody Blues evolution over the years.

Lodge: We used to come up with an idea for the album [and then write with that in mind]. “To Our Children’s Children’s Children” was the year that we flew to the moon, so we said “what would we feel if we were the astronauts going out? How would we feel? What would we see?” We approached all the albums like that. For “Seventh Sojourn,” “sojourn” means to take a break and “seventh” is the seventh day of the week when everyone used to take a break. It was a bit like “The Canterbury Tales,” where at the end of a week of traveling, people would sit down and tell each other stories. We thought “wouldn’t that be a great album? To tell stories to each other about what we’ve been going through?” That’s when I came up with “I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)” because that sort of summed me up to be honest. All of our albums have been based on a thought process about a period of time.

The recording side of it changed, because when we made “Days Of Future Passed,” we only had four-track machines in the studio. When we did “In Search Of The Lost Chord,” by the last recording session, we actually got an eight-track machine. As the years went by, the way of recording increased from 16 to 24-tracks and at infinitum after that. Things like Dolby and dbx came out, so we were sort of growing as the industry was growing as well. We knew we had to have the hardware to enable us to make the music we wanted. Then we’d make an album and say “let’s just make it like a studio album, songs that we’re not going to be doing on stage, and let’s not release a single.” There was never any real formula.

How did you make the transition from being this arty band in the ‘60s and ‘70s into a really popular MTV act?

Lodge: When MTV came along, we realized we needed to be part of that and the way to do it was to make a video. People liked when we made the video for “Your Wildest Dreams.” It brought us another audience because we’d just come off an album called “Long Distance Voyager” and I think we had like three singles released off that album, which is really strange for us. We’re not really a singles-orientated band. We’re an album band, but when videos came, we needed to be part of that somehow. I think “Your Wildest Dreams” is a great video. It just brought us to the forefront. Up until then, we never had our pictures on the cover of an album. We always used artwork. In the ‘80s, things changed and you seemed to have to be more visual.

What do you think are the quintessential Moody Blues albums?

Lodge: “Days Of Future Passed” obviously because it was the first one [with the post “The Magnificent Moodies” line-up] and that’s always special. Anything that’s the first one of anything- your first car, first love affair, first bass guitar- it’s always special. Probably “Seventh Sojourn” because that was the end of the first seven core albums. And then I think probably “Long Distance Voyager” because we released that when everyone said The Moody Blues were maybe gonna come back, but maybe not. It was a period of punk and really heavy metal and then suddenly it was a number one album, so to me, that was incredibly gratifying to know that our fans out there still loved us.

How has your personal faith kept you away from some of the typical rock and roll lifestyle trappings that have taken so many of the great rock stars?

Lodge: I’m not a religious person, but I’m a Christian. That’s a different thing I think. I have my own version of everything to be honest, but ever since I got my first guitar, I just wanted to play my guitar. And when I got my bass, I just wanted to play bass forever. To me, the most important thing is to have a shield around you to protect you from all the other things so you can do what you really like to do the best and that’s what I’ve always tried to do. I really want to go in the studio and perform the best. I want to go on stage and perform the best. The only way to be able to do that is to have a shield around you so that nobody can knock you over or break you down and not to fall for all the pitfalls that everyone offers you in life, as in “Steppin’ In A Slide Zone.”

What’s next for John Lodge?

Lodge: I don’t know. The wonderful thing about what I’ve been doing all my life is I’ve never ever thought [about] what’s coming next. As I said with this album “B Yond,” about six months ago I had no idea [it was coming], but here we are and I’ve got a new album. I wrote a song called “House Of Four Doors” and you never know what’s behind a door, so just keep your mind open for everything. If you keep focused on what you want to do in life, I’ve found so many other things go forward for you and help you along the way. That’s my plan in life…I just keep my eyes open and hope that something comes along that really excites me. Have bass will travel!

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The Moody Blues’ John Lodge performs at City Winery on Nov. 12 and the Arcada Theatre on Nov. 14. For additional details, visit JohnLodge.com, CityWinery.com/Chicago and ArcadaLive.com.