► The song was written by Justin Hayward, who replaced Denny Laine on Moody Blues a year earlier.
► Justin Hayward got the idea for the song after someone gave him a set of white satin sheets. He wrote his spontaneous inspiration on the sheet of his bed in Bayswater. Hayward: “I wrote our most famous song, ‘Nights in White Satin’, when I was 19. It was a series of random thoughts and it was quite autobiographical. It was a very emotional time, I had just fallen in love and was already in the middle of my next adventure. A lot of that came out in the song.”
► “Nights In White Satin” appeared on the album “Days Of Future Passed”. The Moody Blues recorded the record with the London Festival Orchestra, which didn’t really exist. The orchestral parts were recorded separately and cut between the band’s parts. Actually, the group wanted to record a rock version of Dvorak’s 9th Symphony (“From the New World”) with an orchestra. Her record company wanted to use this to demonstrate improved stereo sound technology.
► “Days Of Future Passed” is a concept album that represents different time phases of a day. Appropriately, it slides over into the night time at the end. After Mike Pinder wrote “The Morning” (Another Morning), Hayward tried his hand at “The Night” (Nights In White Satin). That was the concept.
► With “Nights In White Satin” The Moody Blues found a completely new sound. Before that they were, as the name suggests, more of a blues band and had a hit in 1965 with a cover of Bessie Banks’ “Go Now”. With “Days Of Future Passed” they developed an at times psychedelic orchestral sound.
► “Nights in White Satin” was originally released in 1967 and reached number 19 in the UK charts. An amazing achievement for a six minute song. As a rule, only songs that ran for two to three minutes made it into the sales list. So the song was not a success in the USA. However, after the early 70s brought more and more “long-term epics” like “Layla”, “Nights In…” was re-released in the States and immediately became a success. At the same time, The Moody Blues became increasingly popular. Initially criticized or even ridiculed for their new style, critics acknowledged that the band had provided a template for new genres of music, including psychedelic and prog rock.
► In the UK, “Nights In White Satin” has been released several times. In 1972 it reached ninth place in the charts, and in 1979 it reached position 14.
► The poem at the end of the songs was recorded separately. It’s called “Late Lament” and was written by drummer Graeme Edge. However, it will be read by keyboardist Mike Pinder. Edge also wrote another poem that can be heard on “Morning Glory.”
► There’s also a famous punk version of “Nights In White Satin” from 1979. It’s by The Dickies. It reached number 39 in the UK charts. The Moody Blues often used the Dickies’ version for their soundcheck.
► Despite its notoriety, “Nights In White Satin” also set a memorable negative record in US chart history. While still seeded at No. 17 in early December 1972, he crashed out of the top 100 within a week. This has never happened before. The record was only broken in 2010, when the “Glee” version of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” dropped from 16th place in the top 100 in seven days.