MESSAGE FROM THE COUNTRY ctd

 The new Esoteric Recordings re-issue of The Move's Message From The Country is out.

 Nice inexpensive edition, but not sure anything will beat the 2005 CD edition. Although it does fix the bizarre indexing on the EMI edition.

VH1 STORYTELLERS

 Those of you with a Paramount+ subscription, you can now stream all of MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers episodes including ELO's from 2001.

ARMCHAIR THEATRE 35

 

35 years ago, Jeff Lynne dropped his first solo album, and it’s still pure magic! ✨ From iconic melodies to timeless brilliance, this one’s a classic. What’s your favorite track from the album? Drop it in the comments! 👇 pic.twitter.com/SyESEoTxx6

— Jeff Lynne's ELO (@JeffLynnesELO) February 21, 2025

NOW AND THEN

 So, Now And Then captures the Grammy for Best Rock Performance.  Well deserved. 

 I really like Now And Then, and Jeff's portion (George Harrison's guitar solo etc) that was kept from the 90's recording is very apparent, especially in the beginning and the end.  The new strings were gorgeous.  It certainly topped my playlist for several months.  And it'll be interesting to see if the AI treatment makes it to Free As A Bird and Real Love and how such a thing would sound.

That doesn't mean I didn't have a bone to pick about it, though.  Sorry, Ed Ruscha, I really thought your cover art was place-cover art while we were waiting for the real Now And Then cover art.   I saw this 12" at a Barnes and Noble when it came out, and it looked like it had been sitting there for 10 years.

And you what else I'm ticked off about, No Richard in the Memoriams.

ANOTHER MESSAGE...

 

 

Cherry Red Records is releasing a new remastered CD of The Move's Message From The Country with nine bonus tracks.  The, er, exact same nine bonus tracks as the legendary 2005 edition from EMI.

*sigh*. The more things change....

Releasing 28 February 2025

Track list:

1 Message from the Country

2 Ella James

3 No Time

4 Don’t Mess Me Up

5 Until Your Mama’s Gone

6 It Wasn’t My Idea to Dance

7 The Minister

8 Ben Crawley Steel Company

9 The Words of Aaron

10 My Marge

Bonus tracks

11 Tonight (A-side of single – Released in May 1971)

12 Chinatown (A-side of single – Released in October 1971)

13 Down on the Bay (B-side of single – Released in October 1971)

14 California Man (A-side of single – Released in April 1972)

15 Do Ya (B-side of single – Released in April 1972)

16 Don’t Mess Me Up (alternate version)

17 The Words of Aaron (alternate version)

18 Do Ya (alternate version)

19 My Marge (alternate version)

LONG ENDURANCE, PORKY CURTAINS

 

As God as my witness, I thought the line was 'long endurance, etc, etc, marble earrings, bulky curtains.'  After checking the original Traveling Wilburys Volume One songbook, it is not.  One of many things I hope to correct in the new year.

Happy 77th Birthday, Jeff Lynne!  And congratulations on achieving one billion streams of ELO's Mr. Blue Sky on Spotify.  Epically well-deserved!

Strap in, everybody!! 2025 is just ahead!

DOLBY ATMOS

I fully admit I'm in a love/hate relationship with Dolby Atmos right now.

Frankly, the first set of available (Jeff Lynne-produced) releases sounded awful to me. Maybe it's my connection, maybe I don't have something hooked up correctly.

 

As of late, though, the atmos seems a bit more robust.  (Again, maybe it's hook up correctly now. I don't know...)  And more items are starting to appear.  Sometimes promoted sometimes not.  They're worth another spin because now, it sounds more cohesive and solid - and more like you'd expect to hear when you're having to hear something having atmos-pheric qualities.  

 

I really have no place to track all of the new Atmos releases available to hear now.  But here's what I know you can hear in Dolby Atmos now - and please leave any other Jeff Lynne-related tracks you find in the comments:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits

I Won't Back Down

Runnin' Down A Dream

Free Fallin'

Learning To Fly

Into The Great Wide Open

 

The Beatles

Now And Then

 

George Harrison - Cloud Nine

all 11 original tracks

 

George Harrison - Brainwashed

All 12 original tracks

 

Bryan Adams - Get Up

All 9 original tracks

 

Various Artists - Concert For George

Entire performance    

DUANE EDDY

 RIP, Duane Eddy, too.

RICHARD TANDY ctd

 

 

 

It was the VH1 Storytellers taping in New York City in 2001. Excitement filled the air of the Altman Building. So much excitement in fact, that as soon as we got into the studio, I had to ‘nervous pee’ before the performance started. After wandering through this dark unfamiliar place for a few moments, I finally find the restroom. And as I’m practically barging through the door, I almost collide with a man on his way out. That man was Richard Tandy. My first real interaction with any member of ELO and it happens at a restroom door. Go figure. Anyway, he smiled, I said ‘hello - sorry about that…’, he said ‘hello’ back, I smile in embarrassment, then finally we part ways. He went and did his thing, and I did mine.

His ‘thing’. My God, what an enormous talent. When you’re 8 years old and you’re playing these records and you’re really listening to these sounds, mesmerized by it all, you start to wonder even at that age ‘how does someone do all that?’ It was guys like Richard Tandy. He played, he arranged, he sang, the whole nine yards.

Now, we’re all grown adults watching as our legends fade one at a time. Believe me, I’ve recently gotten my ‘reminder’ my life is short too. I’m not thrilled about it at all, but I’ll deal with it like I always do, spin an ELO record.

RIP Richard Tandy. Thank you for sharing your amazing talent with us. You were amazing.

RICHARD TANDY

 

It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of my long-time collaborator and dear friend Richard Tandy. He was a remarkable musician & friend and I’ll cherish the lifetime of memories we had together.
Sending all my love to Sheila & the Tandy family.
Jeff… pic.twitter.com/beOF3JR39E

— Jeff Lynne's ELO (@JeffLynnesELO) May 1, 2024

NEWS: GEORGE HARRISON CATALOG

According to an article in Variety, there's a big change with George Harrison's back catalog.  All of George's LPs are now available to hear in Dolby Atmos.  Yes, among them are Cloud Nine and Brainwashed.  The article suggests more releases are in the future.  Stay tuned.

ELDORADO SUPERVINYL BOX - update

 The 2-LP 45rpm SuperVinyl edition of Electric Light Orchestra's Eldorado is now available to purchase online from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs.

NEWS: JEFF LYNNE TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME

Jeff Lynne to enter the Songwriters Hall of Fame!

News links:

 Forbes

 Yahoo! Entertainment

Consequence

MSN/People

Associated Press

Stereogum

Planet Rock (with photo gallery)

ANOTHER LONG OVERDUE ACCOLADE ctd

ANOTHER LONG OVERDUE ACCOLADE

I’m very excited about this honor. Songwriting has always been my passion. This means so much to me. Thank you @SongwritersHOF!
Jeff Lynne pic.twitter.com/3GiZAX6lX8

— Jeff Lynne's ELO (@JeffLynnesELO) January 18, 2023

LONG ENDURANCE, BULKY CURTINS ctd

 

Happy birthday, @JeffLynnesELO!@OfficialWilbury pic.twitter.com/fPZBvrFTjH

— George Harrison (@GeorgeHarrison) December 30, 2022

LONG EDURANCE, BULKY CURTINS ctd

 

A Very Happy 75th Birthday, Jeff Lynne!

 And to all of you, a very Happy and Healthy 2023!

SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME 2023

 

Honored to be nominated for the @SongwritersHOF 2023 class! Thank you to my friends and fans for your ongoing support. Very exciting. 🛸 https://t.co/a4VKuzC5hx pic.twitter.com/5c5gxz9vLb

— Jeff Lynne's ELO (@JeffLynnesELO) November 18, 2022

DEL SHANNON - A COMPENDIUM

 

A new Del Shannon 12-CD boxed set has been announced for the beginning of 2023.  Arguably the most complete set of Del's career-spanning recordings to date including 70s/80s output with Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty among others.

 

Stranger In Town: A Del Shannon Compendium will build upon the 90's Anthology set, though unclear whether there's anything new involving Jeff.  But this set includes Distant Ghost, Deadly Game, Cry Baby Cry (though no signs of Alive But I'm Dead), all of 1991's Rock On! album (actually a cut 'n' paste of 2007 re-issue of Rock On!) all in a rather handsome looking package. A 32-page booklet will be included.

Release date appears to be 24 February 2023 and prepare to pay about $100.

 

Edsel's write up:

Del Shannon was, without doubt, one of the most gifted and distinctive of musical talents to emerge in the immediate pre-'British Invasion' era of American Pop. His was a talent that travelled well - indeed, his UK and European fanbase proved far more loyal and his success in those territories of greater longevity than in his native USA. Moreover, he was also much admired by successive generations of musicians, including the likes of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. His songs, more often than not, essayed a bleak world of doomed romance, lovelorn disenchantment and existential gloom. Paradoxically, of course, those themes were frequently juxtaposed to surprisingly upbeat and bright-sounding melodies. This 302-track 12 CD set is a compendium of the entirety of Del Shannon's career, from his hits in the early 60s, via his mid-60s recordings with Andrew Loog Oldham, to his 70s and 80s recordings with Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, as well as Jeff Lynne and Dave Edmunds. It also includes all of his mid-80s "Nashville Sessions" recordings, most of which are issued for the first time, plus b-sides, demos and a further eight previously unreleased tracks. The 32 page booklet features photos and ephemera, plus extensive annotation by Alan Robinson. This set contains all of Del's UK hits, eight of which reached the Top Ten, including the #1 hit "Runaway", "Hey! Little Girl" and "The Swiss Maid" (both #2 hits), and "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)", which reached #3. Also included are Del's recordings of two Lennon/McCartney songs ("From Me To You" and "A World Without Love"). Del was the first US act to record a Beatles cover version, and later covered the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb". Also included is his song "Sister Isabelle", later covered by Frank Black & Teenage Fanclub for a John Peel session. 

Pre-orders:  Amazon (full track list)   Wal-Mart   Merchbar

KING OF HEARTS 30TH ANNIVERSARY

 

Hard to believe it's been 30 years since the release of this last Roy Orbison album of original material, but it looks like it'll be a nice re-visiting.

King Of Hearts will re-issued this fall on CD and for the time on vinyl LP pressed on red vinyl.

Legacy Recordings link:

Jeff Lynne produces Heartbreak Radio and I Drove All Night.

Side One
You're the One 3:00
Heartbreak Radio 2:58
We'll Take the Night 4:56
Crying 3:48
After the Love Has Gone 4:40

Side Two
Love in Time 5:32
I Drove All Night 3:46
Wild Hearts Run Out of Time 3:33
Coming Home 4:01
Carless Heart 5:15

 Release date: October 14, 2022