Colin Walker (born 8 July 1949) is an English cellist who played with

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical ...

(ELO) from 1972 to 1973. He was born in

Minchinhampton Minchinhampton is an ancient Cotswolds market town in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, South West England. The town is located on a hilltop, south-east of Stroud. The common offers wide views over the Severn Estuary into Wales and furthe ...

, Gloucestershire, and was educated at

Marling School Marling School is a grammar school with academy status for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form located in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England. It is on the Cainscross Road, the main route out of Stroud towards the M5, and is situated next to the ...

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

and the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

in London. By his own admission, his greatest regret was not playing on

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

' "

Eleanor Rigby "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album '' Revolver''. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with " Yellow Submarine". The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to ...

". Walker was recruited into ELO after founding member

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a ...

quit the band and took cellist

Hugh McDowell Hugh Alexander McDowell (31 July 1953 – 6 November 2018)ELO and ...

and horn player/keyboardist Bill Hunt with him and also joining at the time on bass was

Mike de Albuquerque Mike de Albuquerque (born 24 June 1947, Wimbledon, London) is an English musician, who was a member of the progressive rock band Electric Light Orchestra from 1972 to 1974. Biography In 1971, in partnership with percussionist Frank Ricotti, A ...

. Their new bandmates were singer/songwriter/guitarist/bandleader

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

, drummer

Bev Bevan Beverley Bevan (born 25 November 1944) is an English rock musician, who was the drummer and one of the original members of The Move and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). After the end of ELO in 1986, he founded ELO Part II. Bevan also was drum ...

, keyboardist

Richard Tandy Richard Tandy (born 26 March 1948) is an English musician. He is best known as the keyboardist in the rock band Electric Light Orchestra ("ELO"). His palette of keyboards (including Minimoog, Clavinet, Mellotron, and piano) was an important i ...

(who had previously played bass, but switched to keyboards), violinist Wilf Gibson and cellist Mike Edwards and, at the time, Walker lived in a

bachelor flat ''Bachelor Flat'' is a 1962 DeLuxe Color comedy film starring Terry-Thomas, Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer, and Celeste Holm. Filmed in CinemaScope in Malibu, California, the film is a revised version of director Frank Tashlin's own ''Susan Slept H ...

in the London suburb of Queen's Park. During his time in ELO, Walker played cello on two of their albums – ''

ELO 2 ''ELO 2'' is the second studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1973. In the US, the album was released as ''Electric Light Orchestra II''. It was the band's last album to be released by the Harvest label, the last (in t ...

'' and side two of ''

On the Third Day ''On the Third Day'' is the third studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), and the first to be recorded without input from Roy Wood. It was released in the United States in November 1973 by United Artists Records, and in the United King ...

'' – and he used a German-made cello with steel strings. He also contributed cello to the single ''

Showdown A showdown is a duel. The term may also refer to: Places * Showdown Ski Area, in Montana, United States Books * ''Showdown'' (Amado novel), a 1984 novel by Jorge Amado * ''Showdown'' (Dekker novel), a 2006 novel by Ted Dekker * ''Showdown'' ( ...

''. After leaving ELO, Walker joined the orchestra at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

in Covent Garden, London. He played cello on "Fool's Gold", a track on the album ''Thought Talk'' by the rock band Starry Eyed and Laughing Walker has also worked as a teacher.

References

Sources * * 1949 births Living people Electric Light Orchestra members British rock cellists People from Minchinhampton People educated at Marling School English cellists British pop cellists {{Cellist-stub