I’d buy it if he just played the songs and didn’t sing at all …(not because I don’t like his voice - it would just be cool to concentrate on the music)
Fan bloody tastic...what a complete and absolute genius!! He looks like a big cuddly teddy bear here and I want to hug him. If I'm not mistaken that looks like the guitar Jeff's dad bought for him for two pounds. Jeff composed all his first songs on it...thanks Jeff's dad we are so very grateful to you xx
Jeff Lynne's comments so special to listen to here. Clearly he had "made it" by the time he did this interview as he reflected back to all the hits in the mid 70's. But in this discussion, he's still giddy about chord progessions on one sone. Makes me appreciate his musical genius even more.
Jeff- You merely think "Livin' Thing" is good? It's freakin' awesome and ultimate proof of your genius!! I thought you were a California surfer dude when I first heard this song as a kid. Never knew in a million years you were from England. Sheer freakin' genius!! You truly are and always will be the Nikola Tesla of music!!
How lovely to come across this. I conducted this interview in Jeff's studio. I remember it so well and we jammed this and Lady Madonna together later on. Im a songwriter myself and spent an hour or so discussing the mechanics of the song. I left the BBC before the project this interview was for was completed and glad to see someone did something with it. I wonder where it came from?
Nice job on this interview! I'd pay good money to see the rest of it. I too am a songwriter, and I just love Jeff's enthusiasm when he's taking about chord progressions and song structure, etc. It's almost like hearing myself talk! :) Very inspiring. In fact, I think it would be awesome if you (propelled by your love of songwriting, and utilizing your showbiz connections) would do this kind of interview with other big name songwriters - from all eras. A bit like the fabulous "Classic Albums" series of DVDs (which I believe is now discontinued). In that series, a different famous album was featured each time, and they'd have the album's original songwriters, band members and studio engineers analyze each song - right down to the individual instrument tracks - while sharing their recollections and insights. Absolute "red meat" for songwriters like us! Just a suggestion.
Don't get me started. This was part of a mini-series. We filmed hour long interviews with a lot of people. Some finance guy had screwed the deal up so it never got used. I think the tapes are still at the BBC. Who did I interview? Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye for Good Vibrations, Steve Miller, Hsl David and Dionne Warwick, Bill Withers, Weill and Mann, Nancy Sinatra, Jeff, Status Quo, Oasis, Ultravox, Texas, 10cc, Alice Cooper, Procol Harum and about -5 others. None of it used - though I guess some of the tapes like this one were recycled online by Radio 2 or something. I have thought about it as a set of filmed live events but never got round to it but yes you are right.
I think the best thing about this video is seeing how Jeffs brilliance and talented mind works. He changes chords as easily as most of us change a light bulb!!
Interesting to hear how these great songs come about, a chance chord change just made the song absolute magic. One of the great 70's bands. I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing ELO
Such an experienced musician. I lol when he said "I never heard that chord change before, the Dm to the G+." lol now he's heard everthing! D, E, F, G, higher and higher baby, back to C! Thanks for the music and inspiration, Jeff.
what a musician fantastic wonderful...always loved jeff lynne/elo there been some really cool stuff on tv jeff doing acoustic sets with comments from the likes of paul mccartney,joe walsh long time collaborator richard tandy....just watching a gig from london back in 1978 oh and not forgetting the late great roy orbison,george harrison(r.i.p)tom petty and bob dylan all great stuff loved the upload to smashing cheers
You are so right! A friend thought she bought ELO and when she played it, I said thats not Jeff Lynne, so I bought her the remastered original. ELO w/o Jeff is like the Stones w/o Jagger.
Jeff Lynne is a musical genius, but what I always found interesting about British singers is they pretty much lose their British accent when they sing.
I’ve heard British singers talk about this before. Apparently when they learned to sing the pop and rock radio hits back in the day, those songs were all done by Americans, so the Brits learned to lose their accents by mimicry of the Americans.
OMG Jeff you are so perfect . And cool. Did I mention cool? Your music makes my day and keeps me going Please keep making beautiful music ❤️❤️💙💙💞❤️❤️💙❤️💙💙❤️
The man's an absolute genius and the type of bloke I'd love to share a pint and have a decent chat with. You are the man Jeff keep doing what you're doing 🍻
The man is pure genius - simple as that. He has the most distinctive and IMO best male lead vocal talent I've ever heard. Any number of songs from 'Time' and Discovery backwards bring up the hairs on the back of my neck when i hear them. Nice clip.
he's one of the all time great songwriter that's over looked,but only some one who has this talent would be as modest as he as been,you won't see him in any interview bragging how great he is,like little Richard dose any time there's a reporter within two miles of him,thanks for sharing you talent
Jeff Lynne is the ultimate "utility" player in the "sport" of rock and roll. 1. He's a great songwriter. 2. He's a great singer. 3. He's a great guitar player 4. He's a great producer. It's like a baseball player being an all-star pitcher, catcher, shortstop, and outfielder all at once.
I definitely love your appreciation for Mr Lynne! I think a better analogy would be a 4 sport star. Baseball, football, basketball, and track. A utility player is generally helpful in multiple areas. Jeff dominates in all areas, like a HOFer. 😉
I learned this song today and because I know the melody so well I absolutely flew through it until I came up against a chord I've never heard of which took longer to get right than the rest of the song. (Some augmented chord on the B,G and D string)
What is for sure is that the 80's brought about a different type of music and Jeff simply wanted to go in a different direction than what ELO could offer. He did BOP in '86 but in '87 did Cloud 9 with Harrison. Bev still wanted to do more ELO and he did with his 50% share of the band under ELO II (much like Styx singer Dennis DeYoung).
Ladies and Gentlemen... if you had a video camera in the early 1800s and interviewed Beethoven about one of his compositions, it might have looked something like this. This man is a true musical genius in an industry that throws the word around like candy. Tom Petty, George Harrison, Dave Grohl and many others have recognized his brilliance. He makes it look so easy.
Certainly Kelly had a great role in this band. I love to listen for his voice in songs like "Sweet is the Night," "Nightrider," etc... But keep in mind it was Jeff that formed this band with Roy Wood. When Kelly left, it was over a royalties dispute. Did he want more than his fair share? I don't know that...
Love it when he gets excited about chord changes. I'm the same when you try a new tab out and it sounds great. It gives you a connesction however tenuous with the greats.
I didnt completely understand the story about being a sleep and his dad waking him up, but i know that he said there was another chord change so im thinking it was these events that brought him to make another change which he was very excited about
Get some of their live stuff. He's a lot more creative live. I agree that the studio stuff runs a little on the dull side. They did a tour in 1976 and it was great! Bev played the gong in Can't Get It Out Of My Head. He ad libs a lot more. PLUS, Kelly sings a lot of the songs on that tour!
