Posted on 11/11/2021 10:46:39 AM PST by God luvs America
Graeme Edge, drummer and co-founding member of the Moody Blues has died, his family confirmed to NewsNation. He was 80.
The English musician was a member of the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame for his 50 years of work with the rock band, providing their imaginative rhythms and memorable spoken word.
Edge retired from touring in 2018 and was the only founding member continuously in the band since the mid-1960s. 2018 was also the year the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In an interview on the red carpet at the induction ceremony, Edge said that the Moody Blues had “the most loyal and the best fans on earth. I’d probably be pushing up daisies without them.”
And now, three years after the retired from the tours and the arenas full of fans, he has left us.
Asked about his major influences for getting into rock and roll, Edge credited his grandfather, a singer who toured “almost in the stagecoach days” with encouraging him to give the music world a try. He said his grandfather always wanted to see him play at London’s Palladium Theatre, and four months before he died he did just that.
The orchestral backdrop which was the core of the band’s sound cast a wide net of influence in the ’70s and ’80s, fueling the bands Yes, Genesis during the Peter Gabriel years and Electric Light Orchestra. Listen to Yes’ “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a Moody Blues tune.
There are ongoing debates between Pink Floyd and Moody Blues fans as to who influenced whom, but it’s likely they were simply drinking from the same creative spring.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs17.com ...
After Led Zeppelin, my favorite band. I've seen the Moody Blues live in concert almost three dozen times since 1978. If you got to see them pre-covid there were usually three generations of families on hand for their concerts. I saw them live with my mom when she was in her 70's and my daughter when she was just 7.
Terrific, terrific band.
Cold hearted orb that rules the night...
Sumpin like that.
Not much of a rock-n-roll-phile but I did like the Moody Blues. One of the very few bands I would actually make an effort to go and see.
Another icon of ones youth gone !
“He said his grandfather always wanted to see him play at London’s Palladium Theatre, and four months before he died he did just that.”
His grandfather must have been 130 or so.
Loved the Moody Blues.............
May ten billion butterflies sneeze in his honor................
Horrible band. Horrible music. Harmful to the nation and world.
We’ve already said ‘Goodbye’.
Since you’ve got to go
Oh you had better go now.
Go now. Go now. Go now
For those who follow Joe Bastardi on Weatherbell, they were his favorite group and he uses their music as his lead in to his Saturday summary.
RIP
They really put on a great show. Very sorry to hear of Mr. Edge’s demise.
Tuesday Afternoon has always been one of my favorites from the Moody Blues.
That bit of organ music following the sung title is both sweet and haunting.
I think their first hit in this country
Was “Go Now”. It’s a great recording and a classic, but doesn’t sound like any other work by Moody Blues at all.
At first I thought “Go Now” was done by
The Association.
I have a surround sound version of Days of Future Passed. I’ll give it a spin tonight in honor of the late Mr. Edge. Great album.
“Horrible band. Horrible music. Harmful to the nation and world.”
I sure wouldn’t want to hear your record collection.
The band was completely revamped after Go Now...out went Denny Laine and in came Justin Hayward and John Lodge. Then Mike Pinder really starting pounding on the melletron and all was changed.
Favorite Moody’s song..
They’re just a-wandering on the face of this earth
Meeting so many people
Who are trying to be free
And while they’re travelling they hear so many words...
I love Moody Blues and Procol Harum. But boy, do those two bands contrast with respect to Moody Blues’ harmonic melodies and Procol Harum’s often very non-melodic (dissonant?) organ music. Like I say I love them both but they are quite a contrast.
In about 1990, my best girl-friend dated him. At the time, I was hoping they’d gotten married so that I could party with one of my second favorite band. Unfortunately, he was just using her, 22 years his junior.
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