Jeff Lynne - What Would It Take

[DanFromBrooklyn]

Hey all,

I'm a complete Jeff Lynne obsessive, and while he's obviously best-known for ELO, I've always loved his solo record, "Armchair Theatre." To me, it's kinda like his "McCartney" -- something made for himself, not to sell millions or cater to a label. For a dude who wrote as many songs as he did with ELO and the Wilburys, to put 3 covers -- two of which were old standards, dedicated to his then recently deceased mom -- on your debut solo record is pretty fucking cool, I think.

Anyway, there's a tune on there called "What Would It Take," which is probably my favorite "unknown" JL tune. The way he flips the chorus on its head mid-song just amazes me. Here it is for anyone interested!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIGqGtkKCmo[/youtube]


Dan

[Wes]

I'm a big fan of Lynne, too, and similarly enjoyed his solo album. "What Would It Take" is definitely the highlight, but "Lift Me Up" and "Blown Away" are good as well. When Zoom came out about a decade later, I was pretty amazed that he managed to pick up about where he seemed to have left off on Armchair Theater and even earlier, as there was a lot of the Secret Messages sound on that one.

[DanFromBrooklyn]

Totally. I really loved Zoom -- a nice blend of the Wilburys and ELO sounds. "Stranger On A Quiet Street" is absolutely amazing....and I got to see the taping of VH1 Storytellers, which is still the best show I've ever seen. The electricity in that crowd was unlike anything I've ever felt. It boggles my mind that Zoom isn't more acclaimed.

Lynne was on the radio this week, and said he's recorded about 27 (!) new tracks, and is getting ready to release a new solo album soon. I think hearing that was what prompted me to post "WWIT" here. Very excited!

[dave from knoxville]

I love ELO too; Eldorado and A New World Record are must haves.

[DanFromBrooklyn]

Yes, those albums are the greatest!

I've got kind of a funny ELO-related story. When I was 19 (this was about 1999), I got the chance to have a beer with Roy Wood (leader of the Move and co-founder of ELO with JL) -- I was in the fanclub (still am, I guess) and got an email one night saying that Roy was in NYC at the Waldorf Astoria and wanted to meet up with fans; only me and one other dude showed up.

We probably talked for a couple of hours, about lots of stuff, including recording with the Beach Boys, releasing a new album, and more, but the weirdest moment was when I asked Roy about the 2 tracks he recorded with Jeff Lynne in 1990. They were never officially released, but I told him I'd heard them and thought they were great, and was wondering if they'd ever see an official release. And he immediately got kind of an annoyed look on his face. "Oh. I didn't know they got out," he said. "How did you get them?" It was like he was demanding an answer; I instantly learned NOT to ask a musician about bootlegs. Anyway, I was honest and just said that someone made me a tape of rarities and these tracks were on there. I could tell he was kind of pissed to hear this; but he went on to say that he couldn't really get anyone interested in putting them out, and that they weren't explicitly "Roy Wood" or "Jeff Lynne" tracks, and could've been released under either name. Aside from that one hairy moment, he was pretty awesome. (Though he did make us wait like 2 hours for him to come downstairs from his hotel room.)


Here are the reunion tracks I asked him about:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNSvKTPddEs[/youtube]

[pscan]

This is really fantastic, and hard to find. Would it be churlish to ask for you to share the whole album?

[DanFromBrooklyn]

The whole Armchair Theatre album, or the Roy Wood/JL demos? I'd gladly share either -- I also have a ton of Jeff Lynne rarities. Someone just has to tell me how I can share 'em!