Mentioning him in passing on the 'post-Beatles' thread made me think that he and his band deserve their own dedicated spot on OTF.
So what do you think of 'The Jeff Lynne Band'? Because that's what ELO were - a quick look at the credits for their albums during their mid to late '70s peak confirms that Jeff Lynne did virtually everything bar play drums and the orchestral pieces. Either he was a genius or a control freak or both.
One of my older cousins was a big fan and had most of their albums so I was exposed to their music from an early age.
And the music is often great - the period from 1976 - 1981 had mega sellers like 'A New World Record', the double album 'Out Of The Blue', 'Discovery' and the time travel concept album 'Time' - which was a radical departure from their sound by heavy use of synths - but had some brilliant songs.
But it's the backing vocals, always the backing vocals. I just think they stain so many great songs. Take Living Thing for example - a wonderful melody, good solo vocals, and then the chorus comes in and it just sounds horrible to me.
If I had to pick a favourite ELO song then I'd go for Confusion, an example of where the backing vocals don't seem quite so prominent in the mix.
After ELO split up Lynne went on to become famous as a Travelling Willbury and producer for hire. I liked one or two of the Willbury songs and love Roy Orbison's 'Mystery Girl' album which I think Lynne produced.
But he does seem to have a reputation for producing dull and plodding music these days.
How should we remember him and ELO?
So what do you think of 'The Jeff Lynne Band'? Because that's what ELO were - a quick look at the credits for their albums during their mid to late '70s peak confirms that Jeff Lynne did virtually everything bar play drums and the orchestral pieces. Either he was a genius or a control freak or both.
One of my older cousins was a big fan and had most of their albums so I was exposed to their music from an early age.
And the music is often great - the period from 1976 - 1981 had mega sellers like 'A New World Record', the double album 'Out Of The Blue', 'Discovery' and the time travel concept album 'Time' - which was a radical departure from their sound by heavy use of synths - but had some brilliant songs.
But it's the backing vocals, always the backing vocals. I just think they stain so many great songs. Take Living Thing for example - a wonderful melody, good solo vocals, and then the chorus comes in and it just sounds horrible to me.
If I had to pick a favourite ELO song then I'd go for Confusion, an example of where the backing vocals don't seem quite so prominent in the mix.
After ELO split up Lynne went on to become famous as a Travelling Willbury and producer for hire. I liked one or two of the Willbury songs and love Roy Orbison's 'Mystery Girl' album which I think Lynne produced.
But he does seem to have a reputation for producing dull and plodding music these days.
How should we remember him and ELO?
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