Mike Edwards (musician)
Encyclopedia
Mike Edwards known as Swami Deva Pramada or simply Pramada, was an English
cellist and music teacher. His wide-ranging career was most widely notable for his membership of the Electric Light Orchestra
.
Mike’s father was an amateur cellist, but died when Mike was 14, leaving his mother to bring up Mike and his older brother on her own. He studied the piano with John Railton, and cello with Maryse Chome-Wilson. He played in the Ealing Youth Orchestra.
After school Mike got a job in the Midland Bank for a year during which he was able to decide that his career should be in music and he was able to pass the entrance audition to the Royal Academy of Music
to study the cello with Douglas Cameron and the viola de gamba with Dennis Nesbitt. He gained a LRAM in cello teaching. As well as developing his musical skills, the academy broadened his musical experience, encouraged by tutors such as John Dankworth, who introduced him to playing jazz and big band music.
.
Although his band-mates remembered him as a small, shy, broadly-smiling classicist in formal attire, his eccentric 'cello playing (fingering the strings with an orange or grapefruit) and bizarre costumes were a major ingredient of early ELO concerts: his 'cello solo spots, often The Dying Swan or Bach's Air, ended with his instrument exploding in pyrotechnics
(actually Edwards mimed on a rigged instrument). He contributed to the albums ELO II, On the Third Day
, The Night The Light Went On (In Long Beach)
and Eldorado. He was replaced by Melvyn Gale
.
He changed his name to Pramada on becoming a sannyasin
of Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
: the name means "divine contentment". During the 80s he lived in the group's large Medina communes in Poona in India, Hamburg in Germany, Suffolk in UK and the US, and later in Vauxhall and Archway, North London. Subsequently he appeared for three years as a duo with dancer Avis von Herder. Their work and performances were based on improvisation and included the production of his composition Vampire Madonna at the Edinburgh Festival. In later years, his work involved stage plays, arrangements and cross-genre recordings such as the album "No goal but the path" by Terra Incognita.
He has always been considered as a "musician's musician", and after moving to Devon, he produced and composed music for "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibrain with words spoken by actor Tim Brophy. He also composed and recorded music for poems by William Blake
. Mike played cello and bass viol in groups of all musical genres and established a private cello and viol teaching practice. It was probably the freedom and joy that he experienced playing Baroque music that led to a workshop in Devon of the European String Teachers Association (of which he was SW region chairman) in 1999, which the violinist Margaret Faultless was invited to direct. As a result of this, the Devon Baroque orchestra was formed and Mike played in virtually every one of its 100 or so concerts in the ten years before his death.
In addition to his playing with Devon Baroque he was in demand from many folk and jazz as well as classical groups in the area, some of which he helped to form including Sicilienne, L'Ardito, Ashburton Cello ensemble, Devon Early Music Group, Compagnie Giulia, Daughters of Elvin, Ta Filia and Presence.
ford and Halwell
near where he lived in Totnes
in Devon, on , when a cylindrical hay bale weighing 600 kilograms (1,322.8 lb) rolled down a hillside and collided with the van he was driving. , Devon and Cornwall Police and the Health and Safety Executive
are investigating the cause of the accident.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cellist and music teacher. His wide-ranging career was most widely notable for his membership of the Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
.
Early life
Mike Edwards was born on 31 May 1948 in West London to Frank and Lillian Edwards. The family lived in South Ealing and he went to school at Grange Primary School. He passed the 11+ exams and went to Ealing Grammar School for Boys where he had an inspirational music teacher named John Railton who encouraged his love of music.Mike’s father was an amateur cellist, but died when Mike was 14, leaving his mother to bring up Mike and his older brother on her own. He studied the piano with John Railton, and cello with Maryse Chome-Wilson. He played in the Ealing Youth Orchestra.
After school Mike got a job in the Midland Bank for a year during which he was able to decide that his career should be in music and he was able to pass the entrance audition to the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
to study the cello with Douglas Cameron and the viola de gamba with Dennis Nesbitt. He gained a LRAM in cello teaching. As well as developing his musical skills, the academy broadened his musical experience, encouraged by tutors such as John Dankworth, who introduced him to playing jazz and big band music.
Career
Mike Edwards joined the Electric Light Orchestra in 1972 and he played with the band from their first live gig in Croydon until he departed, of his own choosing, in January 1975. Previously he had had little interest in non-classical music, though he had played on recording sessions for Barclay James HarvestBarclay James Harvest
Barclay James Harvest are an English progressive rock band. They were founded in Saddleworth, Lancashire, in September 1966 by John Lees, Les Holroyd, Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme , and Mel Pritchard .-History:...
.
Although his band-mates remembered him as a small, shy, broadly-smiling classicist in formal attire, his eccentric 'cello playing (fingering the strings with an orange or grapefruit) and bizarre costumes were a major ingredient of early ELO concerts: his 'cello solo spots, often The Dying Swan or Bach's Air, ended with his instrument exploding in pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
(actually Edwards mimed on a rigged instrument). He contributed to the albums ELO II, On the Third Day
On the Third Day
On the Third Day is the third studio LP by Electric Light Orchestra and the first to be recorded without any input from Roy Wood.-Overview:...
, The Night The Light Went On (In Long Beach)
The Night the Light Went On (In Long Beach)
The Night the Light Went On in Long Beach is a 1974 live album by the Electric Light Orchestra recorded at the Long Beach Auditorium on the evening of 12 May 1974 Long Beach, California and its title lampoons The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia by Vicki Lawrence from '73.-History:Although this...
and Eldorado. He was replaced by Melvyn Gale
Melvyn Gale
Melvyn Gale is an English cellist.-Career:Gale obtained his classical music orientated education at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Before joining the Electric Light Orchestra, he had already played with the London Palladium Orchestra, with whom he had his...
.
He changed his name to Pramada on becoming a sannyasin
Rajneesh movement
The Rajneesh movement is a term used by Hugh B. Urban and other commentators to refer collectively to persons inspired by the Indian mystic Osho , particularly initiated disciples who are referred to as "neo-sannyasins" or simply "sannyasins", also formerly known as Rajneeshees or "Orange People",...
of Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
Osho , born Chandra Mohan Jain , and also known as Acharya Rajneesh from the 1960s onwards, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s and as Osho from 1989, was an Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher who garnered an international following.A professor of philosophy, he travelled...
: the name means "divine contentment". During the 80s he lived in the group's large Medina communes in Poona in India, Hamburg in Germany, Suffolk in UK and the US, and later in Vauxhall and Archway, North London. Subsequently he appeared for three years as a duo with dancer Avis von Herder. Their work and performances were based on improvisation and included the production of his composition Vampire Madonna at the Edinburgh Festival. In later years, his work involved stage plays, arrangements and cross-genre recordings such as the album "No goal but the path" by Terra Incognita.
He has always been considered as a "musician's musician", and after moving to Devon, he produced and composed music for "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibrain with words spoken by actor Tim Brophy. He also composed and recorded music for poems by William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
. Mike played cello and bass viol in groups of all musical genres and established a private cello and viol teaching practice. It was probably the freedom and joy that he experienced playing Baroque music that led to a workshop in Devon of the European String Teachers Association (of which he was SW region chairman) in 1999, which the violinist Margaret Faultless was invited to direct. As a result of this, the Devon Baroque orchestra was formed and Mike played in virtually every one of its 100 or so concerts in the ten years before his death.
In addition to his playing with Devon Baroque he was in demand from many folk and jazz as well as classical groups in the area, some of which he helped to form including Sicilienne, L'Ardito, Ashburton Cello ensemble, Devon Early Music Group, Compagnie Giulia, Daughters of Elvin, Ta Filia and Presence.
Death
Edwards was killed on the A381 between HarbertonHarberton
Harberton is a village and civil parish 3 miles south west of Totnes, Devon, England, in South Hams District. The parish also includes the village of Harbertonford...
ford and Halwell
Halwell
Halwell is a small village located within the South Hams district council area, in Devon, South West England. It is located south of Totnes, and west of Dartmouth....
near where he lived in Totnes
Totnes
Totnes is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
in Devon, on , when a cylindrical hay bale weighing 600 kilograms (1,322.8 lb) rolled down a hillside and collided with the van he was driving. , Devon and Cornwall Police and the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
are investigating the cause of the accident.