Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (album)

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is the seventh album by The Moody Blues, released in 1971.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Studio album by The Moody Blues
Released	23 July 1971
Recorded	November 1970 – March 1971
Studio	Wessex Sound Studios, London
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	40:05
Label	Threshold
Producer	Tony Clarke
The Moody Blues chronology
A Question of Balance (1970) Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971) Seventh Sojourn (1972)
Singles from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
"The Story in Your Eyes" Released: August 1971

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Rolling Stone	(average)^[2]
Uncut	^[3]

Background

This album featured the only track to be written by all five members of the band. The opening "Procession" was a piece that was intended to describe the history of music from the beginning of time up until the album's recording. The only three words heard in this track—"desolation," "creation," and "communication"—were similarly used (along with many other "-ation" words) in "One More Time to Live."

The album reached #1 on the British album charts, in addition to a three-week stay at #2 in the United States, and produced one top-40 single, "The Story in Your Eyes." The track "Emily's Song" was written by John Lodge for his newborn daughter. Mike Pinder wrote and sang the album's concluding track "My Song."

The title is taken from the student mnemonic for the lines of the treble clef: E-G-B-D-F. These notes are heard played on piano during "Procession."

The album was the last to feature the Mellotron as the sole tape-driven instrument, as it would be utilized in conjunction with the Chamberlin (another device that uses recorded tape to generate sound) on the Moody Blues' next studio album, 1972's Seventh Sojourn. The album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic. In April 2007 the album was remastered into SACD format and repackaged with the two extra tracks.

In 2008 a remaster for standard audio CD was issued with the same bonus tracks.

The cover art created by artist Phil Travers was inspired by the work named Der Kristall (The Crystal) by German artist Sulamith Wülfing.^[4] The front cover has been imitated by the leader of the dark progressive band Current 93, David Tibet, for Halo, a live album released in 2004.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Procession"	Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas	Edge, Hayward, Lodge, Pinder, Thomas (sung and spoken)	4:40
2.	"The Story in Your Eyes"	Hayward	Hayward	2:57
3.	"Our Guessing Game"	Thomas	Thomas	3:34
4.	"Emily's Song"	Lodge	Lodge	3:41
5.	"After You Came"	Edge	Thomas, Pinder, Lodge, Hayward	4:37

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"One More Time to Live"	Lodge	Lodge	5:41
7.	"Nice to Be Here"	Thomas	Thomas	4:24
8.	"You Can Never Go Home"	Hayward	Hayward	4:14
9.	"My Song"	Pinder	Pinder	6:20
Total length:				40:05

2007 SACD expanded edition and 2008 remaster bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"The Story in Your Eyes" (original version)	Hayward	3:33
11.	"The Dreamer"	Hayward, Thomas	3:42

Personnel

The Moody Blues

• Justin Hayward – vocals, guitars, sitar
• John Lodge – vocals, bass, cello
• Ray Thomas – vocals, flute, tambourine, oboe, woodwinds, harmonica
• Graeme Edge – drums, percussion, electronic drums and vocals on "Procession"
• Mike Pinder – vocals, Mellotron, harpsichord, Hammond organ, piano, celesta, Moog synthesizer

Production

• Tony Clarke – producer
• Derek Varnals – recording engineer
• David Baker – assistant engineer
• Harry Fisher – cutting engineer
• Phil Travers – sleeve artist
• J. Randall Nelson – lyrics sheet photograph

Charts

Chart (1971)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[5]	5
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)^[6]	2
Danish Albums Chart^[7]	1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[8]	6
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)^[9]	13
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[10]	44
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)^[11]	8
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[12]	5
UK Albums (OCC)^[13]	1
US Billboard 200^[14]	2

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[15]	Platinum	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)^[16]	Gold	500,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Eder, Bruce. "allmusic ((( Every Good Boy Deserves Favour > Overview )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
2. Werbin, Stu (16 September 1971). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
3. David Stubbs Uncut, May 2007, Issue 120
4. Yvette Endrijautzki, "Sulamith Wülfing the forgotten daughter of the town", Yumpu, retrieved 04 November 2022.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
6. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 7549". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
7. "danskehitlister.dk". danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
8. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
9. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
10. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
11. "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 27 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Moody Blues".
12. "Norwegiancharts.com – The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
13. "The Moody Blues | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
14. "The Moody Blues Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
15. "Canadian album certifications – The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour". Music Canada.
16. "American album certifications – The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour". Recording Industry Association of America.