Graeme Edge: The Moody Legendary Drummer Plays The Blues

    Gen Z Talks Rock Music is back with more breaking rock news from a person, who is an old man that found the fountain of youth, because there is no way a guy that young is a rock n’ roll expert. Today, I will talk about the sad news about another legendary rock drummer that has pass away, who was the co-founder of an icon progressive rock band from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. I am going to discuss the life of this rock star and his top 10 best drumming songs. Then what made him such a simple drummer and person from his bandmates and what makes him underrated.

    This musician was the engine room of this legendary rock band as he was an important piece to this band’s sound. The band and him started in 1965 with a progressive and psychedelic sound with a base of rhythm and blues and they were part of the British Invasion, which included the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, and this band. This band was heavy influenced by The Beatles as they would use techniques that The Beatles made popular with their albums. This musician’s band became famous for the experimental album named “Days Of The Future Passed” with two top 10 hits with “Nights In White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon.” They would have a resurgence in the 1980’s, when MTV made their song, “You’re Wildest Dreams” famous. This is the life of Graeme Edge part of the band, The Moody Blues.

Graeme Edge Bio:

    Graeme Edge was born on March 30, 1941, in Rochester, Staffordshire, which is a village and a civil parish in England. Edge was only 6 months of age, when his family moved to the major city of Birmingham in England. He was another musician that was surrounded by music. Edge’s mother was pianist for silent movies, while his father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all music-hall singers. However, Edge wouldn’t pick up playing drums later in his life as he trained to be a draughtsman, who is making drafts of blueprints, technical plans, and legal documents. This job wasn’t permanent as he wanted to be involved with the music scene and he became manager of a group called The Blue Rhythm Band. Edge as the manager would involve helping the band find a roomy place to practice and move the equipment from place to place. Edge became fascinated with watching the drummer of Blue Rhythm Band fool around and play the drums and it was first time he became interested to play the drums.

    Edge would get his opportunity to play drums for The Blue Rhythm Band, when their original drummer quit. This is the first time that Edge played professionally for a band as he just dabbled here and there on the drums. This gig would only last for three weeks as the band found a replacement with his own drum kit. The Blue Rhythm Band is just one of the bands that Edge put together and play drums for as he helped formed The Silhouettes and Gary Levene and The Avengers.

    When Gary Levene and The Avengers broke up in 1964, Edge formed The R&B Preachers with later members of The Moody Blues, who were Clint Warwick and Denny Laine and this band would be shorted lived. He would keep in contact with Warwick and Laine and then recruit Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder to form M&B 5. They would later change the name to The Moody Blues and came out with their first album called “The Magnificent Moodies.” The Moody Blues would have a number one song on this record called “Go Now” and they would have rock star status for over 50 years. He died peaceful at his home in Bradenton, Fla. on November 11, 2021, at the age of 80. Here is a link below if you want to learn more about Graeme Edge’s extraordinary life. Graeme Edge - The Moody Blues (moodybluestoday.com)

Why Graeme Edge Is An Underrated Musician:

    I think Graeme Edge is an underrated musician because he had more talent than drumming skills. He wasn’t like Carl Palmer or Charlie Watt, who were the last two drummers I blogged about, that he was unique in the way he played or an entertaining showman. He was a simple drummer that kept the beat and could keep up with the time of the song. What made him talented was his songwriting as he would write poems for some of the Moody Blues’ songs, and he was co-writer in a lot of The Moody Blues’ songs. These poems would open or close out their songs and it really set the Moody Blues apart from other rock bands. Edge’s well-written poems is such a highlight of what he contributed to the band, because he always was able to capture the tone and atmosphere of the song. Then he was always in the songwriting process as he helped and co-wrote songs with his band members. He was such an essential band member to The Moody Blues, because he contributed so much to the band with his drumming and poetry.

Graeme Edge’s Bandmates’ Thoughts On Their Drummer

    Moody Blues’ bassist, John Lodge, and guitarist, Justin Hayward, had kind words to say about their friend and bandmate. After Edge passed away, Hayward went on Facebook to tell the world, how much Graeme Edge meant to him. He said, “When Graeme told he was retiring I knew that without him it couldn’t be the Moody Blues anymore. And that’s what happened. It’s true to say that he kept the group together throughout the years, because he loved it.” Hayward really felt that Edge was the glue that kept The Moody Blues together for all those years, because he cared about it like it was his child. Lodge posted on his Twitter about the passing of Edge, and he said, “To me he was the White Eagle of North with his beautiful poetry. His friendship, his love of life and unique style of drumming that was the engine room of The Moody Blues.” Lodge really felt he was something special to the band with his poetry, drumming, and happy-go-lucky personality.

    Edge was a legendary rock n’ roll star with his band, The Moody Blues, from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. He bought a unique element to his band, which was the beautiful poems. Poems in rock music wasn’t a common thing, until Edge wrote them for The Moody Blues. This would become a trademark for the sound of The Moody Blues. Edge was known for being an all-around musician as he entertained people with his lyrics, and his drumming. Here are links of my top 10 poems and drumming from Graeme Edge. Let me know, what you think of Graeme Edge and the Moody Blues in the comments below. Also, put in the comments if you know and like any songs featuring poems or verbal parts in the song. This might be the end of a Gen Z Talks Rock Music blog but come back next week for another rock n’ roll blog.

The Night: Nights in White Satin - The Moody Blues [1967] [Full Version Remastered] - YouTube

The Moody Blues - Departure & Ride My See-Saw (1968) HD - YouTube

The Word & Om - The Moody Blues - YouTube

The Moody Blues: In The Beginning- Lovely To See You - YouTube

The Moody Blues: The Dream- Have You Heard- Parts I&II - YouTube

Higher And Higher - YouTube

Beyond - YouTube

The Balance - YouTube

I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) - YouTube

After You Came - YouTube