Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne (born December 30, 1947 in Birmingham ) is a British musician and music producer , best known as a founding member of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). He was also a member of the bands The Idle Race , The Move and Traveling Wilburys .
He has worked as a producer for the following musicians: Tom Petty , Randy Newman , Roy Orbison , Del Shannon , Dave Edmunds , Miss B. Haven , Joe Cocker , The Beatles (and solo projects of the individual members), Brian Wilson , Jim Horn , Tom Jones , Rossif Sutherland, Aerosmith and Bryan Adams .
Early years
Even as a teenager, Jeff Lynne was fascinated by the rock music that was developing at the time. He took the vestibule of his parents' house and transformed it with his turntable and huge stacks of records into his first recording studio, in which he also practiced with his guitar. After attending a Del Shannon concert , he decided to become a professional musician.
From Move to ELO
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As a member of Idle Race and the hit formation The Move, he was already better known, but his career only really took off when he founded the Electric Light Orchestra with his Move colleagues Roy Wood and Bev Bevan in 1970. Lynne said he wanted to continue with his mix of classical music, sound effects and rock music "where the Beatles left off with I Am the Walrus ." As the head of the Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne coined his own sound in the 1970s and early 1980s, the partly continued in his later productions for other musicians. With the song 10538 Ouverture , the band achieved their first UK top 10 hit in 1972. From 1975 onwards, Lynne produced a more radio-friendly sound and the following albums, A New World Record and Out of the Blue , became masterpieces of the amalgamation of classical music and popular music. They were also extremely successful commercially. With the album Discovery in 1979, the sound of ELO changed noticeably. The strings so characteristic of the group were more and more overlaid by synthesizers, the rock element in the music came to the fore much more than before. Due to the quality of the songs, this experiment was still very well received on this album, but the band did not achieve their previous successes with the following albums. In 1984 Lynne wrote two songs for the soundtrack of the film Electric Dreams ( Video and Let It Run ) as a solo artist. In 1986 Jeff Lynne decided to break with ELO and move on to other areas of responsibility.
In 1990 Jeff Lynne's first solo album, Armchair Theater , was released, which consciously stood out from the familiar ELO sound / sound without foregoing the typical melody and harmony arcs. In the same year, Ringo Starr recorded the Beatles title I Call Your Name with him and Tom Petty .
On September 14, 2014 Jeff Lynne was back on stage in London's Hyde Park after 28 years. His comeback, in which he played practically all ELO classics, took place in front of 50,000 fans. He was supported by numerous musicians and the BBC Concert Orchestra , as well as by his old companion from the ELO era, Richard Tandy , who accompanied him with the keyboards and vocals. Obviously inspired by this, Lynne released the new album Alone in the Universe in November 2015 , combined with a tour that took him to the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen on May 5, 2016, and to the Hamburg, Berlin tour in late summer 2018 , Munich and Manheim. In November 2019 the last album so far under Jeff Lynne's ELO was released, which is called From Out Of Nowhere . In 2020 - for the 50th anniversary of the Electric Light Orchestra - there will be tours in Europe again, including Germany.
Activity as a producer
With the production of the album Cloud Nine by George Harrison , Jeff Lynne began a new career as a producer of well-known artists. The work on Cloud Nine also led to the formation of the traveling Wilburys supergroup in 1988 (with George Harrison, Bob Dylan , Tom Petty , Roy Orbison and even Jeff Lynne).
Lynne also produced the successful Tom Petty album Full Moon Fever (1989) and Into the Great Wide Open (1991) by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. In the mid-1990s, Jeff Lynne produced the two new Beatles singles Free as a Bird and Real Love .
In 2001 a new ELO album, Zoom, was released after a 15-year break.
In 2002 Jeff Lynne did his friend George Harrison one last service and completed his album Brainwashed . He was also involved in the memorial concert for George Harrison , which took place on November 29, 2002 at London's Royal Albert Hall , exactly one year after Harrison's death.
In 2006, Lynne produced Tom Petty's Highway Companion album . In 2009 he produced five songs on the new album by the American singer / songwriter Regina Spektor . In 2012 Jeff Lynne produced four songs for Joe Walsh's album "Analog Man", which was released in the same year. In 2015 Jeff Lynne was the producer of Bryan Adams' album "Get Up" .
Solo work
- In 1990 Jeff Lynne released his first album under his own name with Armchair Theater .
- For the soundtrack of the film Robin Hood he wrote the song Wild Times in 1991 .
- On June 12, 2001, the album Zoom was released under the name "ELO".
- In April 2009 a new solo album was announced, which was then released under the title Long Wave in October 2012.
- On November 13th, 2015 the album Alone in the Universe by "Jeff Lynne's ELO" was released.
- On November 1st, 2019 the album From Out of Nowhere by "Jeff Lynne's ELO" was released.
Private
Lynne has been married for a second time since 1979 and has two daughters.
Others
The trademark of the curly-headed, public - shy multi-instrumentalist , from whose pen well over 90% of all Electric Light Orchestra songs originate, are his sunglasses , which he often wears inside buildings.
Meanwhile, numerous ELO and Jeff Lynne songs have been and are covered by Status Quo , Asia , Def Leppard , Atomic Kitten , Johnny Cash , Michael Bolton , Velvet Revolver , The Beautiful South , Bonnie Tyler , Lana Lane , Bonnie, among others Raitt , Pussycat Dolls feat. will.i.am , Army of the Pharaohs , Sido .
On March 15, 2004, Lynne played the song While My Guitar Gently Weeps , composed in 1968 by George Harrison , with Steve Ferrone , Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Prince . The occasion was Prince's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .
In 2014 he received an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University .
Discography
With ELO (selection)
- 1974: Eldorado
- 1975: Face the Music
- 1976: A New World Record
- 1977: Out of the Blue
- 1979: Discovery
- 1980: Xanadu ELO with Olivia Newton-John
- 1981: Time
- 1983: Secret Messages
- 1986: Balance Of Power
As a solo artist
- 1990: Armchair Theater
- 2012: Long Wave
- 2015: Alone in the Universe (as "Jeff Lynne's ELO")
- 2017: Wembley or Bust (as "Jeff Lynne's ELO")
- 2019: From Out of Nowhere (as "Jeff Lynne's ELO")
As a producer
- 1987: Cloud Nine by George Harrison
- 1988: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (as "Otis Wilbury" together with " Nelson Wilbury ")
- 1989: Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty
- 1990: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (as "Clayton Wilbury" together with " Spike Wilbury ")
- 1991: Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- 1995: Free as a Bird , Beatles single
- 1996: Real Love , Beatles single
- 2006: Highway Companion by Tom Petty
- 2015: Get Up by Bryan Adams
Chart placements
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1990 | Armchair Theater |
DE52 (9 weeks) DE |
UK24 (4 weeks) UK |
US83 (9 weeks) US |
|
| 2012 | Long wave |
DE83 (1 week) DE |
UK7 (8 weeks) UK |
US133 (1 week) US |
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1984 | Video! Electric Dreams (Soundtrack) |
- |
UK87 (5 weeks) UK |
US85 (3 weeks) US |
|
| 1990 | Every Little Thing Armchair Theater |
- |
UK59 (5 weeks) UK |
- | |
Web links
- Jeff Lynne at Allmusic (English)
- Fan club website
- Jeff Lynne's ELO website
Individual evidence
- ↑ nndb.com: Jeff Lynne , accessed July 5, 2017
- ↑ Jeff Lynne: Doctor Feel Good, accessed July 4, 2017
- ↑ a b Chart sources: [1] [2] [3]
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lynne, Jeff |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lynne, Jeffrey (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British musician and record producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 30, 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Birmingham , West Midlands |