<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Surely you have seen pictures of Jeff Lynne.\u00a0 As the leader of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), there was a period of time when his face adorned publications as varied as <\/span>Rolling Stone, Melody Maker, Time, Newsweek, <\/span><\/i>and even <\/span>People.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 With his curly halo of dark hair, neatly trimmed beard, trademark aviator shades, and his ever present Les Paul guitar, Lynne was the epitome of rock and roll cool.\u00a0 After reading the interview published in <\/span>Classic Rock Magazine <\/span><\/i>(by Bob Hughes – January 2020), I have another adjective to add to this list:\u00a0 fanboy.\u00a0 This is not meant to be a negative description of Lynne.\u00a0 We have previously discussed the whole \u2018marketing a rock star (or band) by honing a certain image\u2019 schtick.\u00a0 The bottom line here?\u00a0 The images created by record companies to market (read:\u00a0 sell) a band and their music don\u2019t always give the public a true sense of who the musicians really are.\u00a0 The image creation algorithm used to market Jeff Lynne and ELO certainly portrayed the band as \u2018rock star cool,\u2019 but it was a thin glossy coat of paint that told us little about the men underneath.\u00a0 As we shall see, Lynne\u2019s fingerprints can be found on a variety of major music projects spanning the last five decades, but he has never let it go to his head.\u00a0 He is just as much a music fanboy as the \u2018punters\u2019 (British slang for \u2018everyday Joes\u2019) who crowd the stage front at every rock concert.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A Brummie by birth (more Brit slang for those who hail from Birmingham, UK), his father bought him his first guitar for two pounds.\u00a0 Lynne played it until his fingers bled.\u00a0 He progressed enough to convince his dad to sign the papers for him to buy an electric Burns Sonic guitar and a ten-watt amp.\u00a0 His parents were not overly encouraging about his prospects.\u00a0 His dad leaned toward classical composers but he himself could not write or read music.\u00a0 Even after he had a few hit records under his belt, Jeff\u2019s mom kept trying to convince him to get a proper job.\u00a0 Once he bought his parents a new house, they began to see that he had indeed found a paying job.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As a teen, Lynne had tried his hand at a few different occupations.\u00a0 Looking back, he now refers to them as, \u201cLot\u2019s of [other] silly jobs, some of them very nice, some of them grim.\u201d\u00a0 He recalled one such job as a window dresser in a department store:\u00a0 \u201cI was only fifteen or sixteen.\u00a0 You had to put these dusters on your feet and go into the window at C&A in Birmingham.\u00a0 I was thinking: \u2018What if one of my mates comes past?\u2019\u00a0 I lasted until noon, then I snuck out the back way.\u00a0 I never went back.\u201d\u00a0 When Lynne got a call from singer\/drummer Roger Spencer of The Nightriders to audition, he passed the test.\u00a0 At the age of eighteen, he began his real calling:\u00a0 professional musician.\u00a0 The Nightriders soon changed their name to The Idle Race and pictures of Lynne at that time show him to be a clean shaven, mop-topped young man typical of bands from that era.\u00a0 Asked by Hughes what ambitions for stardom the Idle Race had, Lynne replied:\u00a0 \u201cI probably would\u2019ve been happy enough just playing club gigs in Birmingham.\u00a0 There were so many of them you could play a month straight without repeating yourself.\u00a0 You\u2019d play every night of the week and, for a couple of years, every night of the year.\u00a0 It was a great experience and a great way to learn.\u00a0 Then I started writing my own stuff and just developed from there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lynne next joined The Move, a band he described as, \u201c…not as famous as they used to be when I joined.\u00a0 It was okay, but we didn\u2019t really do anything good or play anywhere other than little clubs.\u00a0 We joined to make ELO.\u201d\u00a0 The \u2018we\u2019 here refers to Jeff and Roy Wood.\u00a0 The two of them had a vision that sounds today like the foundation of what would become the Electric Light Orchestra.\u00a0 It was difficult because amplifying the stringed instruments involved microphones and not pick-ups like those used for guitar and bass.\u00a0 This gave live performances an uneven balance and it took some time to get things right.\u00a0 In less than a year, Woods left because he didn\u2019t feel like it was working.\u00a0 Left to his own devices, Lynn set up a small studio in his parents front room and it was in that space that he would record ELO demos to send off to the record companies.\u00a0 Lynne remembers, \u201cIt was right by the bus route, so I used to get these giant buses rumbling through my demos.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The turning point for ELO came with the success of <\/span>Evil Woman<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Strange Magic <\/span><\/i>(both from the 1975 album <\/span>Face The Music<\/span><\/i>).\u00a0 These two songs brought enough acclaim for ELO to begin touring in America.\u00a0 Lynne describes their first touring adventures across the pond after putting together a newer version of the band:\u00a0 \u201cWe seemed like such a strange group for an American audience, with two cellos, a violin, Mellotron, and a bit of French horn.\u00a0 It was just an odd sound.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe first tour was supporting Deep Purple, which you wouldn\u2019t think would be a good match, but we went down great.\u00a0 So we started touring America on our own and it just gradually built up from there.\u00a0 I think the biggest one was in Cleveland in front of about sixty thousand people.\u201d\u00a0 The hits kept coming from 1976\u2019s <\/span>A New World Record <\/span><\/i>and their next album <\/span>Out of the Blue.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 One could not escape ELO on radio or television, yet by 1986, Lynne felt it was time to wrap up the band.\u00a0 \u201cI just wanted to start producing other people.\u00a0 I started with George [Harrison], then I ended up producing Paul [McCartney] and after that the two <\/span>Anthology<\/span><\/i> Beatles tracks, which were John\u2019s [Lennon\u2019s] two singles,\u201d Lynne said.\u00a0 He got to meet Harrison when he worked with him on George\u2019s <\/span>Cloud Nine <\/span><\/i>album in 1987.\u00a0 They took a short get acquainted holiday to Australia, found they had a similar sense of humor and became fast friends:\u00a0 \u201cWhen we got back, the whole of England was frozen solid.\u00a0 George and I started to make these tracks, and I co-wrote a few with him [including <\/span>When We Was Fab].\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>It was just fabulous fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The sessions went so well, Harrison remarked, \u201cY\u2019know what?\u00a0 Me and you should have a group.\u201d\u00a0 Lynne asked who else should be in the group and in an amazingly short period of time, the band that would be called \u2018The Traveling Wilburys\u2019 came to be.\u00a0 \u201cGeorge said, \u2018Bob Dylan\u2019 and I said, \u2018Right, can we have Roy Orbison, then?\u2019\u00a0 George said, \u2018Of course.\u00a0 I know Roy.\u2019\u00a0 All we had to do was ask and they all wanted to be in it.\u201d\u00a0 The fifth member of The Traveling Wilburys ended up being Tom Petty.\u00a0 Lynne\u2019s relationship with Petty churned out more incredible music that formed the basis of TP\u2019s solo career.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lynne found himself working with other people he looked up to as a young musician like Ringo, Del Shannon, Brian Wilson, and Duane Eddy.\u00a0 Jeff says, \u201cI just couldn\u2019t believe that these people [I\u2019d looked up to] were now my mates.\u201d\u00a0 Orbison had recently moved to Malibu, fairly close to where Lynne lived.\u00a0 He called one day and said, \u201cHi Jeff, it\u2019s Roy.\u00a0 I am ready to work!\u201d\u00a0 They had discussed working on tracks for Orbison\u2019s <\/span>Mystery Girl<\/span><\/i> album (released posthumously in 1989), and Orbison was all in to work on The Wilburys record.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Having established personal and working relationships with the remaining Beatles, working on the <\/span>Anthology<\/span><\/i> series as a co-producer seemed to be a no-brainer decision.\u00a0 Lynne recalls that Paul was a little leery because of Jeff\u2019s friendship with George.\u00a0 McCartney felt that perhaps Lynne would side with Harrison too much when decisions were made working on musical arrangements.\u00a0 As it turned out, Lynne ended up living in a cottage on McCartney\u2019s property when they worked on the two \u2018new\u2019 Lennon tracks for <\/span>Anthology.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Lynne said George would roust him each morning by shouting, \u201c\u2018C\u2019mon, ya lazy bugger.\u00a0 Your porridge is ready!\u2019\u00a0 Then it was off to work on the new Beatles record.\u00a0 It was surreal.\u00a0 They were all Beatles to me and I wanted to do my best to make it a record they all would be pleased with.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Back in the day, Lynne had been shocked when he heard Lennon profess his love for ELO in a guest radio DJ segment in New York.\u00a0 Talking about the song <\/span>Showdown,<\/span><\/i> Lennon said, \u201cNice little group, these.\u00a0 I love this group.\u00a0 I thought it would be Number One, but [label] United Artists never got their fingers out.\u201d\u00a0 Lennon went on to say that had The Beatles continued, he felt that they very well could have been making music similar to ELO.\u00a0 Lynne wasn\u2019t seeking validation for ELO\u2019s work, but discovering Lennon was a fan of his work was like a cherry on top of a sundae.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lynne is known to be a bit of a perfectionist in the studio (\u201cBut not a very good one,\u201d he admits).\u00a0 At times he will revisit his earlier works to clean things up a bit:\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s never as perfect as I would imagine.\u00a0 I try to be [a perfectionist], but I can never quite get it right.\u00a0 With some songs, it might be just one little tiny thing – maybe the strings could\u2019ve been a bit louder or maybe the snare is too loud, whatever.\u00a0 There\u2019s always a bit of that on every record I\u2019ve ever made, except for the new one.\u00a0 There\u2019s noting on there that I\u2019ve heard – yet – that\u2019s made me wince.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The \u2018new one\u2019 would be <\/span>From Out of Nowhere<\/span><\/i>, which as the title implies, came out of nowhere.\u00a0 When he folded ELO in 1986, he didn\u2019t see going back to it in the future.\u00a0 He was asked to put together a one off ELO appearance for an all day festival at London\u2019s Hyde Park in September of 2014.\u00a0 He was apprehensive about the show even though the 50,000 tickets sold out in a matter of fifteen minutes.\u00a0 As the headliner, he was still worried: \u201cWe took a big chance,\u00a0 The crowd could\u2019ve gone home any time, they didn\u2019t have to wait around for us at the end.\u00a0 But it was still full.\u00a0 I remember looking through a little gap in the curtain and going, \u2018They\u2019re still here!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 ELO\u00a0 sold more transatlantic Top 40 hits and moved more than 50 million records (and counting) in their 1972-1986 hey day.\u00a0 Their songs can still be found on classic rock radio as well as movies and TV series.\u00a0 Lynne probably did not need to worry so much about their staying power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The successful Hyde Park show sparked Lynne to keep the band going.\u00a0 The band now tours as Jeff Lynne\u2019s ELO, but he still prefers working in the studio.\u00a0 <\/span>Out of Nowhere<\/span><\/i> was more or less a one-man operation and it easily equals ELO\u2019s previous recorded work.\u00a0 Lynne is still inspired by composing and arranging:\u00a0 \u201cChords are my favourite thing, really.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t many left, but I still keep stumbling across little strange quirky ones and big fat juicy ones,\u00a0 Finding them is so much fun.\u201d\u00a0 His explained the title track, <\/span>Out of Nowhere, \u201c<\/span><\/i>[Was] the first tune I sat down to write and nearly all the chords came to me at the first sitting.\u00a0 And that\u2019s really how the whole album came around.\u00a0 I wanted to put some kind of optimism in there, too.\u00a0 It\u2019s a reaction to the way things are in the world at the moment;\u00a0 it\u2019s a very upside-down situation.\u00a0 At the same time, I didn\u2019t want to get into politics whatsoever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0WOAS-FM literally picked up a two disc \u2018<\/span>Best of ELO<\/span><\/i>\u2019 set the week before the <\/span>CRM <\/span><\/i>issue with the Jeff Lynne interview arrived.\u00a0 All we need to do now is scare up a copy of <\/span>Out of Nowhere<\/span><\/i> and we can put the \u2018it is as good as his previous work\u2019 statement to the test.\u00a0 Lynne was asked what tickles him most about one of his best known tracks (<\/span>Mr. Blue Sky):\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>that it is used as the unofficial anthem of the Birmingham Football Club or that it has been used as wakeup music for astronauts on NASA missions?\u00a0 Lynne laughed and replied, \u201cBeing a Blues fan, it\u2019s got to be Birminghan.\u00a0 I\u2019m just kidding.\u00a0 Obviously the idea that it\u2019s been used to wake up spacemen is amazing, just the fact that someone sent my tune up there.\u201d\u00a0 It seems fitting that Jeff Lynne is a music fanboy with his feet planted firmly on the ground, yet he makes music that is out of this world.\u00a0 Literally when it has been used by NASA.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 It made them famous, cheese video graphics and all.\u00a0 Here is\u00a0 the classic ELO era ‘Bruce’ sing-a-long Don’t Bring Me Down<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>