John Lennon called them SOB's. Sons of Beatles. Their "live" stage was huge! Too big and horridly too expensive to keep packing in the back of a truck and haul around America.
During the late seventies if you wanted to see The Electric Light Orchestra it meant hitting a big town far far away or forcing yourself to step away from the backyard keg so you could stay awake for Don Kirshner's Rock or the Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack.
To record collectors ELO colorized their 45's. Telephone line was purple. Sweet Talkin Woman blue. Each album cover was Star Wars before Lucas became cool. Steve Miller's Book of Dreams album might have popularized the synthesizer but Jeff Lynn and company mastered the art of Rock mystification.
Today, the middle of a radio interview Don Jamieson and I got hooked up on a conversation fed by our favorite music get aways. I instantly thought of The Electric Light Orchestra. Then shoved it aside knowing, "Give it up! No matter how many times Poison, Motley Crue and Van Halen claim they're coming back a final time. ELO can't find the time to feed the fans that made them."
Then the Rock Gods said, " You SOB the SOB's are coming back! Wait! Kind of sorta. I mean something is better than nothing right?"
Classic Rock Magazine reports Jeff Lynne and ELO are beginning 2013 in the same way they ended 2012, with three new CDs. On April 23, Frontiers Records will release a live album from Electric Light Orchestra, a reissue of one of the band’s more recent albums and a reissue of Lynne’s debut solo album.
‘Electric Light Orchestra Live’ is a performance recorded in 2001 at the CBS Television City in Los Angeles. The show was for PBS television, and released on DVD that year. The CD version will include six songs not on the DVD, as well as two unreleased studio tracks called ‘Out of Luck’ and ‘Cold Feet,’ recorded in 2010 and 1992 respectively.
Lynne will reach back to 2001 again with the re-release of ‘Zoom,’ an album that featured guest appearances from George Harrison and Ringo Starr. It was the last studio album the band has released, and is primarily a Jeff Lynne record with help on one song from Richard Tandy. The reissue will feature live versions of ‘Do Ya’ and ‘Turn to Stone,’ and a new track called ‘One Day.’
Finally, Lynne will reissue his own solo debut that same day. ‘Armchair Theatre,’ which was originally released in 1990, features collaborations with Tom Petty, Tandy and Harrison. This new version will include two previously unreleased bonus tracks, ‘Borderline’ and ‘Forecast.’
Lynne released three albums on the same day in October 2012, including his second solo album ‘Long Wave,’ ‘Mr Blue Sky — the Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra’ and a documentary called ‘Mr. Blue Sky: the Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO.’ The greatest hits album found Lynne re-working the band’s biggest hits with modern equipment and technology.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
The Return Of The Electric Light Orchestra
John Lennon called them SOB's. Sons of Beatles. Their "live" stage was huge! Too big and horridly too expensive to keep packing in the back of a truck and haul around America.
During the late seventies if you wanted to see The Electric Light Orchestra it meant hitting a big town far far away or forcing yourself to step away from the backyard keg so you could stay awake for Don Kirshner's Rock or the Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack.
To record collectors ELO colorized their 45's. Telephone line was purple. Sweet Talkin Woman blue. Each album cover was Star Wars before Lucas became cool. Steve Miller's Book of Dreams album might have popularized the synthesizer but Jeff Lynn and company mastered the art of Rock mystification.
Today, the middle of a radio interview Don Jamieson and I got hooked up on a conversation fed by our favorite music get aways. I instantly thought of The Electric Light Orchestra. Then shoved it aside knowing, "Give it up! No matter how many times Poison, Motley Crue and Van Halen claim they're coming back a final time. ELO can't find the time to feed the fans that made them."
Then the Rock Gods said, " You SOB the SOB's are coming back! Wait! Kind of sorta. I mean something is better than nothing right?"
Classic Rock Magazine reports Jeff Lynne and ELO are beginning 2013 in the same way they ended 2012, with three new CDs. On April 23, Frontiers Records will release a live album from Electric Light Orchestra, a reissue of one of the band’s more recent albums and a reissue of Lynne’s debut solo album.
‘Electric Light Orchestra Live’ is a performance recorded in 2001 at the CBS Television City in Los Angeles. The show was for PBS television, and released on DVD that year. The CD version will include six songs not on the DVD, as well as two unreleased studio tracks called ‘Out of Luck’ and ‘Cold Feet,’ recorded in 2010 and 1992 respectively.
Lynne will reach back to 2001 again with the re-release of ‘Zoom,’ an album that featured guest appearances from George Harrison and Ringo Starr. It was the last studio album the band has released, and is primarily a Jeff Lynne record with help on one song from Richard Tandy. The reissue will feature live versions of ‘Do Ya’ and ‘Turn to Stone,’ and a new track called ‘One Day.’
Finally, Lynne will reissue his own solo debut that same day. ‘Armchair Theatre,’ which was originally released in 1990, features collaborations with Tom Petty, Tandy and Harrison. This new version will include two previously unreleased bonus tracks, ‘Borderline’ and ‘Forecast.’
Lynne released three albums on the same day in October 2012, including his second solo album ‘Long Wave,’ ‘Mr Blue Sky — the Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra’ and a documentary called ‘Mr. Blue Sky: the Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO.’ The greatest hits album found Lynne re-working the band’s biggest hits with modern equipment and technology.
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