I want to tell you about my friend Joe Moody who just passed away…
Yes, he was the first Briar Rose producer. He did our first three records. Joe was more than that however. He gave me my first cool job at Midland Records in the Swansea Mall because I was able to tell him what hot new hard and heavy records people were talking about and he’d order them up. He went to see me do stand-up comedy at Periwinkles in The Arcade in Providence Rhode Island. He recorded all the recordings of a band I was part of called Mephisto Waltz and after an all night session at Normandy Sound while telling us how we did, he looked at me and said “And you, you son of a bitch, you can sing!!”. If Joe Moody said so, it was fine with me. Might not be true but Joe said so…
He recorded our rather popish songs for our band The Hellfire Club and accused me of letting my inner Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson out and he was right. He had fun with those songs.
He recorded our double concept, neo-prog band Brideshead’s only album and thought I was crazy because no band at that time was doing anything remotely close to a prog concept album, at least not in the U.S. at that time…
…and then came Briar Rose. The first EP was done with a mobile recording unit hauled into the same ALH hall we do our “Haunted Homecoming” show at. He thought musically I was getting back to where I belonged. He then recorded our first full length album at his new recording studio in Providence and thought we had made another step forward. Then came our third record and second full length and through everything that we endured to get that album done he looked me in the eye and said “This is the strongest material I’ve ever heard from you. This is good stuff, this is where it starts. You gotta build on this”.
Time passes and roads are taken. Sometimes those roads come back round. In April of 2014, bassist Chris Landoch and I went to see Anvil perform in Providence. Joe Moody was there. He was showing support for a band he was working with who had gotten on the bill. It was great to see each other after such a long time. He asked if we were on the bill and I said we did not get a slot to which he replied “That sucks, you guys should be on here, your perfect for it!!”. I thanked him for that and then he asked how we got to work with current producer Chris Tsangarides. I told him “I asked.” And he busted out laughing. “That’s you!!” he said. “I knew you’d get what you want. Congrats man, you always fought your way through. Nice job.”
…and that’s the last time I saw Joe Moody…
A couple of things here and there on Facebook but I never got to see him again.
You will be sincerely missed my friend. To have supported and encouraged my crazy ideas over the years and setting me on many different roads, I can never Thank You enough. You will always be loved, remembered and respected.
….and Joe…. Thank You for believing in me. Rest In Peace My Friend.
Randy Blake II
Briar Rose
Yes, he was the first Briar Rose producer. He did our first three records. Joe was more than that however. He gave me my first cool job at Midland Records in the Swansea Mall because I was able to tell him what hot new hard and heavy records people were talking about and he’d order them up. He went to see me do stand-up comedy at Periwinkles in The Arcade in Providence Rhode Island. He recorded all the recordings of a band I was part of called Mephisto Waltz and after an all night session at Normandy Sound while telling us how we did, he looked at me and said “And you, you son of a bitch, you can sing!!”. If Joe Moody said so, it was fine with me. Might not be true but Joe said so…
He recorded our rather popish songs for our band The Hellfire Club and accused me of letting my inner Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson out and he was right. He had fun with those songs.
He recorded our double concept, neo-prog band Brideshead’s only album and thought I was crazy because no band at that time was doing anything remotely close to a prog concept album, at least not in the U.S. at that time…
…and then came Briar Rose. The first EP was done with a mobile recording unit hauled into the same ALH hall we do our “Haunted Homecoming” show at. He thought musically I was getting back to where I belonged. He then recorded our first full length album at his new recording studio in Providence and thought we had made another step forward. Then came our third record and second full length and through everything that we endured to get that album done he looked me in the eye and said “This is the strongest material I’ve ever heard from you. This is good stuff, this is where it starts. You gotta build on this”.
Time passes and roads are taken. Sometimes those roads come back round. In April of 2014, bassist Chris Landoch and I went to see Anvil perform in Providence. Joe Moody was there. He was showing support for a band he was working with who had gotten on the bill. It was great to see each other after such a long time. He asked if we were on the bill and I said we did not get a slot to which he replied “That sucks, you guys should be on here, your perfect for it!!”. I thanked him for that and then he asked how we got to work with current producer Chris Tsangarides. I told him “I asked.” And he busted out laughing. “That’s you!!” he said. “I knew you’d get what you want. Congrats man, you always fought your way through. Nice job.”
…and that’s the last time I saw Joe Moody…
A couple of things here and there on Facebook but I never got to see him again.
You will be sincerely missed my friend. To have supported and encouraged my crazy ideas over the years and setting me on many different roads, I can never Thank You enough. You will always be loved, remembered and respected.
….and Joe…. Thank You for believing in me. Rest In Peace My Friend.
Randy Blake II
Briar Rose
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