Mike Edwards, English cellist (Electric Light Orchestra), died from a car accident. he was , 62

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.

(31 May 1948 – 3 September 2010)

 Early life

Mike Edwards was born in 1948 in London. After secondary school he attended the Royal Academy of Music.^[2]

 

Career

Mike Edwards joined the Electric Light Orchestra when original 'cellist Hugh McDowell departed with Roy Wood to form Wizzard and he played with the band from their first live gig in Croydon in 1972 until he departed, of his own choosing, in January 1975.^[3] Previously he had had little interest in non-classical music, though he had played on recording sessions for Barclay James Harvest.^[4]
Although his band-mates remembered him as a small, shy, broadly-smiling classicist in formal attire,^[5] 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).^[5][6] 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):^[7] the name means "divine contentment". During the 80s he lived in the group's large British Medina commune and in Archway, north London. Subsequently he appeared for three years as a duo with dancer Avis von Herder: their show involved improvisation. In later years, his work involved stage plays, arrangements and cross-genre recordings such as the album Terra Incognita. Always considered a "musician's musician", he was a founder member of the Devon Baroque Orchestra^[3] after moving to Devon, and also of L'Ardito, a baroque trio ('cello, recorder, harpsichord).

Death

Edwards was killed on the A381 between Harbertonford and Halwell near where he lived in Totnes in Devon, on 3 September 2010, when a cylindrical hay bale weighing 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) rolled down a hillside and collided with the van he was driving.^[3] As of September 2010^[update], Devon and Cornwall Police and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating the cause of the accident.^[8][9][10]

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