Graeme Edge

Jeremy Bender

Platinum Member
Had to post him, one of my favorite drummers from one of my all-time favorite bands. The Moody Blues have been together since he and others founded the original band back in 1964. After 45 years in the same band, He's on a world tour this year. There's something to be said about that dedication and commitment to a band and the staying power of their music. Absolutely amazing in today's world.
 
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The Moodies are one of my favorite bands. I miss keyboardist Mike Pinder and producer Tony Clarke a lot though. They were the ones, I believe, who brought the awesome cosmic sound to those late 60s and early 70s albums. Edge is often overlooked for his playing. I think of him in a similar way as Ringo Starr. He plays for the song and plays only what's needed for each particular song. He's written some very good tunes too.
 
Graeme is a great musician. He plays for the song beautifully. The "knocking" on the snare in Questions and the way he launches into the groove after that is almost genious! I saw the Moodies last summer. They still play the tunes perfectly and are a very professional bunch of guys (and girls actually xD). It was interesting they had 2 drummers on that tour. The other was this younger guy who played a kit that matched Graeme's, but it was more effects-based. (Such as gong drum, lots of chinas, etc. He was louder in the mix and seemed to power the group mainly. Graeme seemed more laid back and relaxed with his playing. (He even got up to sing and dance to a song while the other guy played drums by himself.)
 
Yes his name is Gordon Marshall, a multi instrumental who contributes a lot to the band's live shows. What a great gig that must be for him!
 
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Bringing this topic back....

Been soaking myself in some of the Moodies stuff on Youtube, one video I keep watching over and over is their performance of "Nights In White Satin" at the 1970 Isle Of Wight festival, which happened to be one of the last major gigs Hendrix played before he died. I gotta say, Graeme is pretty explosive here, especially towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBU0uoR-W0
 
One of my favorite performances by Edge is the studio version of "New Horizons" which is on the Moodies "7th Sojourn" album from 1972. Everything about that track is perfect IMO.
 
He's one of those drummers that I didn't realize I was so influenced by until I listened to some Moody Blues after starting to learn drums and had the realization.

My verbal vocabulary is not filled out enough to describe exacxtly what it is, but the words that come to mind are a "loose" or kind of "lazy" feel, with lots of space and ghost notes.

He's got so many identifiable cool accents, like the rim shot right before the flute solo in "Nights In White Satin," the hi hat barks he just hammers on "Lovely to See You," the aforementioned knocking on "Question," the fills on "Have You Heard."

In high school, I used to sit in the dark with incense burning and This is the Moody Blues on the headphones. It sounded like what you'd get if the Men of Gondor started a rock band, and it wound up in my musical DNA.
 
I've been on a quest recently to find out what his ride cymbal was "back in the day", like on "Nights in White Satin". I love the sound and the way it opens up and builds along with the crescendo after the flute solo. I know it's Zildjian, but does anybody have any additional info? Size, line, weight, designation, etc?
 
I've been on a quest recently to find out what his ride cymbal was "back in the day", like on "Nights in White Satin". I love the sound and the way it opens up and builds along with the crescendo after the flute solo. I know it's Zildjian, but does anybody have any additional info? Size, line, weight, designation, etc?

Zombie thread! But I just found this in Sound On Sound magazine:

"Graeme had a rivet cymbal, which I hate; a cymbal with two or three drilled holes and little brass rivets that just buzz along. This is fine if it's played delicately, but if you give it a smash it will go on for too long. I therefore used a spot mic on that because the ribbon mic was doing its job of not letting the cymbal overwhelm the drums, and aside from an AKG dynamic on the bass drum — which, I must confess, didn't feature very heavily — that was it.”

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul09/articles/classictracks_0709.htm
 
I was watching the Moody Blues Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performances and wondered if Graeme Edge ever did drum solos back in the day?

I always liked his drumming and felt Graeme's playing was perfect for the music they played.

The closest thing to a solo was this brief tom section fill from a youtube clip recorded a couple years back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_smW8OXDW8

The guy is pushing 80 and still climbs up onstage and gives a good show. Yes, he is more of a "play along" drummer now with the second drummer doing all the main work...but it seems he does bring a lot of energy to the shows.

Here's a clip from the recent RRHOF performance. Looks like some audio sync issues..still sounds good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmwyIXXj2s8&list=RDCmwyIXXj2s8&t=37
 
My only comment is The Moody Blues totally surprised me live in concert. My take on them was every Nights in White Satin-ish.

A friend took me to go see them live. I was very hesitant, thinking I would fall asleep.

To the contrary... they were very entertaining. They have more rock songs than I perceived.
 
The first electronic drums ever widely seen were played by Graeme Edge in the Moody Blues, on television in the UK in 1971.
 
reup Moodies thread +/-


good song for today and any day
Seventh Sojourn was so __great..
as about so many were
 

there's one I can't re-find has a guitar riff- I never heard Justin So fast- Just one riff on an acoustic- It's blazing fast- single picked riff/lick. Faster than 99% of rock players; never heard it again anywhere. I'll re-find it again.
 
"there's one I can't re-find has a guitar riff- I never heard Justin So fast- Just one riff on an acoustic- It's blazing fast- single picked riff/lick. Faster than 99% of rock players; never heard it again anywhere. I'll re-find it again."

Are you referring to the intro of the song "Question" ?

 
(It's acoustic and studio) longest fastest run- like a flamenco run
it's in the early albums) it goes by once. 69-70 studio acoustic song/
 
Think this is it @Jeremy Bender it's at 1:05...


or same at 0:57 here


I think that's it pretty sure my speakers aren't what they used to be but that sounds like one long blistering guitar run)

same/ 0:57
maybe clearer


ya hear it?
it's like 32nd notes ( ha..! Quick!
 
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Yep, I heard it very cool.
 
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One of my favorite performances by Edge is the studio version of "New Horizons" which is on the Moodies "7th Sojourn" album from 1972. Everything about that track is perfect IMO.
me too . Melancholy Man a close second .


 
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