John Edwards (musician)

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John "Rhino" Edwards
Status Quo - 2017215181912 2017-08-03 Wacken - Sven - 1D X MK II - 0588 - AK8I8254.jpg
Performing with Status Quo at Wacken Open Air festival, 2017
Background information
Also known asRhino
Born (1953-05-09) 9 May 1953 (age 70)
Chiswick, London, England
Genres Hard rock
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, violin, guitar
Years active1973present
Website www.rhinosrevenge.com

John Victor "Rhino" Edwards (born 9 May 1953) is an English bass guitarist, playing in the rock group Status Quo.

Contents

Career

Born in Chiswick, London, Edwards learnt classical violin as a child and won a scholarship to the London College of Music at the age of eleven.[ citation needed ] He was educated at Chiswick Grammar School and Stinsford School, Dorchester.[ citation needed ]

Around 1973–4, Edwards was to be found playing simultaneously in two pub bands in The White Bear in Hounslow (a venue renowned at that time as a music venue, where Rick Wakeman had been a regular player). The two bands were The Sunday Band (playing on that day of the week), playing covers of rock standards, and Rococo, with a regular Friday slot, and sharing the same singer as well as bass player. Rococo released a single "Ultrastar"/"Wildfire" on Decca Deram in 1973.

Later on he joined Judie Tzuke's backing band, where he was given the nickname "Rhino" for being clumsy.

Edwards has played with Peter Green, ex-Fleetwood Mac, Climax Blues Band, Judie Tzuke and Dexys Midnight Runners.

Edwards was working with drummer Jeff Rich, when Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt approached them both to work on his solo album Recorded Delivery. When Status Quo reformed with a new lineup in 1986, Edwards and Rich were called in to replace founding member Alan Lancaster and drummer Pete Kircher.

He released the album Rhino's Revenge in 2000, on which some tracks featured other members of Status Quo. Recently he has played a small number of gigs in the UK and Europe with Woodedz, playing alongside his children.

As a fan of Brentford F.C., Edwards wrote a song in early 2006 about striker Lloyd Owusu's return to the club for the start of that football season. [1]

Equipment

Edwards owns several different basses from different manufacturers, including Rickenbacker and Wal. However while playing live with Status Quo he uses basses from Status Graphite, [2] mainly two headless four stringed and a five stringed model. For amplification he uses a Markbass F1 amp with 2 4x10 horn loaded cabinets, with a repeater amp on the other side of the stage through a regular Marshall 4 x 12 cabinet. During the song "Gerdundula", Edwards plays a Tanglewood guitar through a Marshall JCM800 head and a 4x12 cabinet.

Family

Edwards's son Freddie is a guitarist. In October 2014 he accompanied Status Quo on stage at The Roundhouse in London, in a concert broadcast live by BBC Radio 2, to launch the band's album Aquostic (Stripped Bare). He is also a member of the subsequent Aquostic touring version of the band and a member of the band Flawes. [3] [4] After Parfitt's 2016 retirement from the band, due to ill health, Freddie also performed in place of Parfitt for shows in July and August. [5]

Edwards's daughter Mae and son Max are both drummers.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

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Status Quo are a British rock band. The group originated in London and was founded in 1962 by Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster while they were still schoolboys. After a number of name and lineup changes, which included the introduction of John Coghlan in 1963 and Rick Parfitt in 1967, the band became The Status Quo in 1967 and Status Quo in 1969. As of 2022, the group have been active for 60 consecutive years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Parfitt</span> British rock musician (1948–2016)

Richard John Parfitt, was an English musician, best known as a rhythm guitarist, singer and songwriter with rock band Status Quo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Lancaster</span> British bassist and singer (1949–2021)

Alan Charles Lancaster was an English musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the rock band Status Quo, playing with the band from 1967 to 1985, with brief reunions in 2013 and 2014. As well as contributing to songwriting, he was also one of the lead vocalists on albums and live concerts, taking the lead on tracks such as "Backwater", "Is There a Better Way", "Bye Bye Johnny", "High Flyer" and "Roadhouse Blues".

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<i>Dont Stop</i> (Status Quo album) 1996 studio album by Status Quo

Don't Stop is the twenty-second studio album by English rock band Status Quo. The album of cover versions includes guest appearances from Tessa Niles on tracks 6 and 14, The Beach Boys on track 1, Brian May of Queen on track 7 and Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span on track 15.

<i>In the Army Now</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Status Quo

In the Army Now is the seventeenth studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released on 29 August 1986 by Vertigo Records. Recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios in Oxfordshire and Jacobs Studios in Surrey, it was the first album with the post-Live Aid lineup, featuring bassist Rhino Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, both of whom joined in March 1986.

Jeffrey Dennis Rich is an English rock drummer, best known for playing with Status Quo between 1985 and 2000.

<i>In Search of the Fourth Chord</i> 2007 studio album by Status Quo

In Search of the Fourth Chord is the twenty-eighth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released on 17 September 2007. The title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rumour that the group always plays the same three chords, and a reference to the album In Search of the Lost Chord by British rock band the Moody Blues. The album's artwork is a parody of the Indiana Jones films.

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Aquostic II – That's a Fact! is the thirty-second studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released on 21 October 2016. It is the last album to feature guitarist and vocalist Rick Parfitt prior to his death on 24 December 2016. Hannah Rickard, with whom Francis Rossi collaborated on their 2019 duet album We Talk Too Much, can be heard as violinist and background singer.

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"Forty Five Hundred Times" is a song by British rock band Status Quo. It is the final track on their 1973 album Hello!, almost ten minutes long and regularly performed live. The group's frontmen, Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt, have said it is one of their favourite songs by the band, with Parfitt using a special dropped tuning. While never released as a single, the song was #1 as voted by fans.

<i>Over and Out</i> (Rick Parfitt album) 2018 studio album by Rick Parfitt

Over and Out is a 2018 studio album by Status Quo guitarist and vocalist Rick Parfitt. Parfitt died on 24 December 2016, and the album, his first and only solo album, was completed and released posthumously on 23 March 2018. The album includes contributions from a number of guest musicians, including current and former Status Quo bassists John "Rhino" Edwards and Alan Lancaster respectively; former Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich; Queen's Brian May; Chris Wolstenholme of Muse; and Parfitt's son, Rick Parfitt, Jnr.

<i>Backbone</i> (Status Quo album) 2019 studio album by Status Quo

Backbone is the 33rd studio album by British rock band Status Quo. It was released on 6 September 2019 and debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart. It was the band's 25th UK top ten album and their highest-charting album of original material since 1+9+8+2 (1982). Backbone also entered the Swiss album charts at number two, and the German album charts at number six, giving the band their highest album chart position in the latter, despite a long history of enduring popularity.

References

  1. "Bees ace given rock star status". BBC News. 18 March 2006. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  2. "Status Graphite. The finest hand-made graphite basses and guitars. Made in England".
  3. "Status Quo - Aquostic". StatusQuo.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  4. "Session Guitarist". Freddie Edwards Music. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  5. "Rick Parfitt will not return to Status Quo tour". BBC News. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2017.