At the risk of losing my man card, I admit that Jeff Lynne and the Electric Light Orchestra is at or near the top of my list of favorite rockers, although Jeff’s new single, “When I Was A Boy,” is light on the rock. Lynne is finally releasing a new album under the ELO banner, “All Alone in the Universe,” due out November 13.
His last album of new material under the ELO name was 2001’s “Zoom.” He recorded a live show with his then-girl friend Rosie Vela providing stellar backing vocals. Only his old friend and keyboardist Richard Tandy remained from the hit-making ELO lineup. The album was good, but a tour never materialized.
As most Lynne fans know, he’s kept himself in demand as a premiere producer for music superstars the past couple decades, ranging from Tom Petty to Roy Orbison to George Harrison (they’d all later form The Travelling Wilburys with Bob Dylan), Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Randy Newman and Dave Edmonds. Recently, Lynne produced Joe Walsh’s “Analog Man,” and the new Bryan Adams album due out next month.
Lynne put his second solo album out in 2012. But “Long Wave,” featured him covering tunes he listened to off the radio growing up in Birmingham, England, not him doing original material. His version of “She” off that album is splendid, BTW. The first single off his upcoming album sounds very similar to “Long Wave.” He still writes beautifully crafted pop rock songs. I just hope the new album contains more rock and more strings – the quirky fusion of classical music and rock that fueled ELO during the mid to late 70’s. Give a listen to “When I Was A Boy” below.
Doc Watson
