He formed and led the "Electric Light Orchestra", he was a member of the supergroup "Traveling Wilburys" and collaborated with three members of "The Beatles", together and separately, in writing, production and performance. He has also written, produced, and collaborated with Tom Petty, Brian Wilson, Roy Orbison, Brian Wilson, Joe Walsh, and many others.
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Let's pay tribute to one of the great musicians who walk among us today - Jeff Lynne:
1. He was born on December 30, 1947, in Birmingham, England as Jeffrey Lynne.
2. He left school at the age of 15 to engage in music, much to the disappointment of his parents. His mother wanted him to work as a photographer for the TV company ATV.
3. The first instrument he learned to play as a child was the guitar. His father bought him an acoustic guitar for 2 Pounds. A biography of him from 2012 states that he continued to play on it until today.
4. In 1963 he formed his first band called "Rockin 'Hellcats". The band later changed its name to "The Handicaps" and eventually to "The Andicaps".
5. In 1965 he purchased his first recording equipment. Reel tape that allowed recording in multiple channels in stereo. He noted that the experience with this tape was his first step as a producer.
6. In 1966, Lynne responded to a newspaper article about a band looking for a guitarist and joined "The Nightriders". The band later changed its name to "The Idle Race" and recorded two studio albums: "The Birthday Party" from 1968 and "Idle Race" from 1969. Although the albums received good reviews, the band was not a success.
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7. In 1968, Lynne met "The Beatles" members while recording "The White Album". It was a groundbreaking event for him that would impact his musical career.
8. In 1970 Lynne accepted the invitation of singer and guitarist Roy Wood to join a more successful band called "The Move". Lynne also met drummer Bev Bevan there.
9. With Lynne joining "The Move", he proved himself as a musician and a songwriter, contributing songs to the band's last two albums.
10. At the same time, Lynne, Wood, and Bevan have concocted their next move. A band that will combine rock and classical music, which will later become the "Electric Light Orchestra" known as "ELO".
11. Indeed, in 1971 "ELO" was founded by Wood, Bevan, and Jeff Lynne. The band was characterized by the extensive use of strings, which gave a classic touch to its songs. "The Beatles" had a very big impact on Jeff Lynne, and he noted that "ELO" was meant to continue from where "The Beatles" stopped. Years later John Lennon would also point out that "ELO" are the sons of "The Beatles".
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12. In December 1971 the band's debut album - "The Electric Light Orchestra", was released. Lynne, Wood, and Bevan wrote all the songs and played all the instruments, except for a few brass instruments played by Bill Hunt and a violin played by Steve Woolam.
13. About a year later, during the recordings of the second album, Ron Wood left the band leaving Jeff Lynne as the undisputed leader who would dominate its musical line.
14. By 1986, the band led by Jeff Lynne had released 12 studio albums, including the insane album sequence of "A New World Record" from 1976, the double masterpiece "Out of the Blue" from 1977, and "Discovery" from 1979.
15. Jeff Lynne will produce all of the band's albums, and serve as lead writer, lead singer, guitarist, keyboardist, sometimes cellist, and even a drummer. He will lead the general musical line that will change over the years from Rock to pop, disco, and even synth-pop and New Wave.
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16. During the 1980s Lynne began moving the center of gravity from "ELO" to production, writing, and playing for other artists.
17. In 1983 he produced and wrote the hit "Slipping Away" by Welsh musician Dave Edmunds, taken from his album "Information". Lynne also played bass and synthesizer on the album. Lynne will also produce Edmonds' next 1984 album - "Riff Raff" and write three of the album's ten songs.
18. In 1987 Lynne produced George Harrison's "Cloud Nine" album. The album was a very successful comeback album for Harrison, and Lynne participated in writing three songs from it and playing guitars, bass, keyboards, and singing background vocals. The album featured successful singles such as "Got My Mind Set on You", "When We Was Fab" and "This Is Love".
19. This is not Lynne's only collaboration with Harrison. He will also produce Harrison's last album - "Brainwashed" from 2002, which was released a year after Harrison's death. Lynne produced and completed playing several instruments on the album per instructions he had received from George Harrison before his death.
20. This Lynne's close work with George Harrison will lead to the formation of the supergroup "Traveling Wilbury", which will include Harrison, Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. Lynne will release two albums with the band. "Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1" in 1988 and "Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3" in 1990.
21. In 1989 Jeff will serve as producer, writer and guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist on the album "Full Moon Fever", Tom Petty's first successful solo album. Later he will also produce, write and play on Tom Petty's 1990 album "Into the Great Wide Open" as well as on the 2006 album "Highway Companion".
22. In 1990 Jeff released his first solo album "Armchair Theater".
23. In 1992, Lynne produced and played on the album "Time Takes Time", Ringo Starr's comeback album.
24. In 1994, Jeff made a dream come true when he worked with three "Beatles" members, George, Paul, and Ringo on the Beatles' "Anthology" album series, which included two new "Beatles" songs - "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love".
25. In 1997 Lynne produced and co-wrote some of the songs on Paul McCartney's excellent album "Flaming Pie".
26. In 2001 Jeff reunited with "ELO" and released the album "Zoom", which included guest appearances by George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and the band's original keyboardist Richard Tandy.
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27. In 2008, Lynne was selected by the Washington Times magazine as one of the four greatest producers in music.
28. In 2009 he was awarded the "Golden Note" Award by the American Association of Composers and Writers, an award given for outstanding career achievement.
29. In 2012, Jeff released his second solo album "Long Wave".
30. In 2015, Lynne released the album "Alone in the Universe" under the name "Jeff Lynne's ELO". The use of this name came in response to the "ELO" tribute bands that were active at the time.
31. In 2017, Jeff and the band "ELO" entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
32. In 2019, Lynne released the album "From Out of Nowhere", also under the name "Jeff Lynne's ELO".
33. He wrote the song "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" from the 1974 album "Eldorado", after an argument with his father just to prove to him that he knows how to write catchy songs "that do not come out of the head". It became one of the band's biggest hits and one of Jeff's most beautiful melodies.
34. Lynne is constantly wearing sunglasses. He claimed he loved himself more with them and that he is feeling "less shy" this way.
35. In 2020 Jeff has crowned an officer of the Order of the British Empire.
This time too we have prepared a rich playlist for you, including his productions and collaborations with other artists: Click Here