Denny Laine

Denny Laine
Denny Laine on stage in 1976.
Background information
Birth name	Brian Frederick Arthur Hines
Also known as	Denny Laine
Born	29 October 1944 (1944-10-29) (age 67)
Origin	Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Genres	Rock and roll, Blues-rock, R&B, Jazz fusion
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, Vocals, Bass, Piano, Keyboards, Flute, Harmonica, Violin.
Years active	1957–present
Labels	Decca, Wizard, Reprise, EMI, Arista, Takoma, Scratch, President, Griffin, Global
Associated acts	Paul McCartney, Wings, The Moody Blues, Mike Pinder, Ginger Baker's Air Force, Eddie Hardin, Maggie Bell, Colin Blunstone, World Classic Rockers, Linda McCartney.
Website	www.dennylaine.com

Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Arthur Hines, 29 October 1944, Holcombe Road, Tyseley, Birmingham) is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder (with Paul and Linda McCartney) of Wings. Laine was one of three constants in Wings, along with Paul and Linda McCartney. Laine joined Wings in 1971 for their album Wild Life and stayed until 1981, when Wings broke up.

Biography

Laine, was educated at Yardley Grammar School in Birmingham, and took up the guitar as a boy under the influence of Gypsy jazz (Jazz manouche) legend Django Reinhardt; he had his first solo performance as a musician at the age of twelve and began his career as a professional musician fronting Denny Laine & The Diplomats, which also included future The Move and Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan.

In 1964, Laine left The Diplomats to join Mike Pinder in The Moody Blues and sang their first big hit, "Go Now"; other early highlights included 'I Don't Want To Go On Without You', another UK hit, plus the further two minor UK chart hits "From The Bottom Of My Heart ( I Love You)" , 'Everyday' (both written by Laine & Pinder) , "Can't Nobody Love You" and the harmonica-ripping "Bye Bye Bird" (a big hit in France). A self titled EP and 'The Magnificent Moodies' LP on Decca followed. Laine & Pinder wrote most of The Moody Blues 'B' sides during the 1965-66 period, such as; 'You Don't (All the Time)', 'And My Baby's Gone' & 'This is My House'. However, Laine's tenure with the MB's was relatively short-lived and, after a number of comparative chart failures^{[citation needed]}, Laine quit the band in August 1966 (the last record issued by The Moody Blues that featured Laine was "Life's Not Life"/"He Can Win" in January 1967; - after Justin Hayward had just replaced him in the band - by contrast, the October 1966 "Boulevard De La Madeleine" single was indicative of the fancier sounds for which The Moody Blues would later become famous^{[citation needed]}.)

After leaving The Moody Blues in Early October 1966, he formed The Electric String Band in December 1966, which featured Laine (guitar, vocals), Trevor Burton (guitar, another former member of The Move) and Viv Prince (drums), also featuring electrified strings in a format not dissimilar to what Electric Light Orchestra would later attempt. They made two singles, "Say You Don't Mind / Ask The People" (Apr 1967, Deram) and "Too Much In Love / Catherine's Wheel" (Jan 1968, Deram); and, in June 1967, they shared a bill with The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Procol Harum at the Saville Theatre in London. However, national attention was not to be, and the pioneering Electric String Band broke up. (There was apparently a third single recorded called "Why Did You Come?". Why it never released is unknown, but there have been rumours that the finished track - and probably the B side as well - was sent by post to Decca and was lost.) Laine and Burton then went on to the band Balls from 1969 until the band's breakup in 1971, with both also taking time to play in Ginger Baker's Air Force in 1970.

Only one single was issued by Balls; "Fight For My Country" / "Janie, Slow Down" on UK Wizard Records. The top side was re-edited and reissued on UK Wizard and issued in the UK on Wizard and in the US on Epic under the name of Trevor Burton; Laine and Burton shared lead vocals on the B side. The single was reissued again as B.L.W. as "Live In The Mountains" for a small Pye distributed label, "Paladin". There was supposed to have been a Balls album recorded, but it has never seen the light of day). Laine's 1967 song "Say You Don't Mind" was a hit when recorded in 1972 by ex-Zombie, Colin Blunstone.

In 1971, Laine joined Paul McCartney to found Wings, and would stay with them for a full ten years until they officially disbanded in 1981; Laine provided lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, bass, writing and co-writing skills, as well as being a solid solo performer. Together with Paul and his wife, Linda, they formed the nucleus of the band, being called that "strange, 3-winged beast". It was with Wings that Laine enjoyed the biggest commercial and critical successes of his career, including co-writing the smash hit "Mull of Kintyre".

In January 1980, McCartney was arrested for possession of marijuana upon arrival at an airport for a tour in Japan. The tour was cancelled and a press release by McCartney in early 1981 officially announced that Wings had broken up. Laine holds no ill-will toward McCartney over breaking up Wings and is working with McCartney on a biographical book that will include the Wings era.^[1]

In 1986 Laine played at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986, raising money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital.^{[citation needed]}

Laine filed for bankruptcy in the mid 1980s after selling his co-publishing rights of "Mull of Kintyre" to co-author McCartney.^[2] However, he has continued to record music and has appeared at Beatles conventions and on tributes to both The Beatles and Wings. He is currently working on an autobiography^{[citation needed]}.

He was briefly married to Jo Jo Laine, with whom he had a son, Laine Hines, and a daughter, Heidi Hines.^[3] He has three other children from other relationships: Lucianne Grant, Damian James, and Ainsley Laine-Adams. His current partner is Rosha.^[4]

Laine still performs regularly, most recently at the Memorial Tribute Concert for Gordon Waller, at the Cannery Casino and Hotel in North Las Vegas on 29 May 2010.

Discography

The Moody Blues

Year	Album
1965	The Magnificent Moodies

Non-album singles

A-side	B-side
"Steal Your Heart Away"	"Lose Your Money"
"It's Easy, Child"	—
"I Don't Want To Go On Without You"	"Time On My Side"
"From The Bottom Of My Heart"	"And My Baby's Gone"
"Ev'ryday"	"You Don't(All The Time)"
"Boulevard De La Madeleine"	"This Is My House (But Nobody Calls)"
"People Gotta Go" (issued on a French EP only)	—
"Life's Not Life"	"He Can Win"

Solo

Year	A-side	B-side	Label
1967	"Say You Don't Mind"	"Ask The People"	Deram DM 122
1968	"Too Much In Love"	"Catherine's Wheel"	Deram DM 171
	"Why Did You Come?"	—	—

Trevor Burton

Year	A-side	B-side
1970	"Fight For My Country" (edited)	"Janie, Slow Down"

Trevor Burton, Deni Laine & Steve Gibbons; B.L.G.

Year	A-side	B-side
1972 (rel. Oct 3rd Birds Nest 3, Pye)	"Live In The Mountains"	"Janie, Slow Down"

Ginger Baker's Airforce

Year	Album
1970	Ginger Baker's Air Force
	Ginger Baker's Air Force 2

Wings

Year	Album
1971	Wild Life
1973	Red Rose Speedway
	Band On The Run
1975	Venus and Mars
1976	Wings at the Speed of Sound
	Wings Over America (triple live album)
1978	London Town
1979	Back to the Egg

Solo albums

Denny Laine in recent times, performing at the Cavern Club

Year	Album	Label
1973	Ahh...Laine	Wizard/Reprise (US)
1976	Holly Days	EMI/Capitol (US)
1981	Japanese Tears	Polydor/Scratch
1982	Anyone Can Fly	Polydor/Scratch
1985	Hometown Girls	President
1986	Wings On My Feet	President
1988	Lonely Road	President
	Master Suite	Magnum Force
1990	All I Want Is Freedom	JAWS
1996	Reborn	Griffin/Scratch
	Wings At The Sound Of Denny Laine	Scratch/Purple Pyramid (US)
1998	Arctic Song	Ribble Records

Guest appearances

Year	Album
1970	Ginger Baker's Air Force 2 "Man Of Constant Sorrow" "I Don't Want To Go On Without You"
1974	McGear
1980	The Reluctant Dog
1981	Somewhere in England "All Those Years Ago"
1982	Tug of War
1983	Pipes of Peace
1985	Wind In The Willows "The Life We Left Behind"
1996	Metal Christmas "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"
1998	Wide Prairie
1999	Old Friends In New Places "And The Thunder Rolls..."

Bootlegs

Year	Album
1972	Memory Laine
1979	Rock & Roll Jam Sessions (aka: Lympne Castle Sessions, aka: Wings: In A Jam)
	2 Buddies On Holly Days (excerpts from Holly Days and live performances during Buddy Holly Week)
	Hot Hits & Cold Cuts
1982	Birmingham Boy

Live albums

Year	Album
1970	Ginger Baker's Air Force "Man Of Constant Sorrow" (live)
1976	Wings Over America
1981	Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea

Compilation albums

Year	Album
1978	Wings Greatest
1984	In Flight (tracks from "Japanese Tears")
1985	Weep For Love (tracks from "Japanese Tears")
1994	Blue Nights (tracks from 1980 to 1990)
1995	Rock Survivor (tracks from 1980 to 1990)
	Danger Zone (tracks from "Japanese Tears")
	Go Now (tracks from "Japanese Tears")
1998	The Masters (tracks from 1980 to 1996)
2001	Wingspan: Hits and History
2002	Spreading My Wings: The Ultimate Denny Laine Collection (tracks from 1980 to 1990)
2003	The Collection (2 compilations, 1 album) Blue Nights (tracks from 1980 to 1990) The Masters (tracks from 1980 to 1996) Reborn
2004	An Introduction to The Moody Blues (including previously unreleased "People Gotta Go")
	Send Me The Heart (tracks from "Japanese Tears")

References

1. ^ Composing Outside the Beatles, Pride DVD, PGDVD142, 2011
2. ^ Rawlings, Terry (2002), Then, now and rare British beat 1960-1969, London: Omnibus Press, p. 118 
3. ^ Johnson, Angella, "'Mum was beautiful, wild... she was the ultimate rock groupie'", Mail on Sunday, 4 November 2006
4. ^ Denny Laine on MySpace Music

"Wingspan: Hits and History" by Paul McCartney

External links

• Denny Laine's official website
• Denny Laine's MySpace page
• Denny Laine and the Diplomats, a pre-Moody Blues band featuring Denny Laine
• The original Moody Blues line up, with Denny Laine on guitar and vocals
• VH1.com's Biography of Denny Laine
• Denny Laine 2 hour audio interview on RundgrenRadio.com

Persondata
Name	Laine, Denny
Alternative names	Hines, Brian Frederick Arthur
Short description	Musician
Date of birth	29 October 1944
Place of birth	Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Date of death
Place of death