NOW PLAYING: ADAM CAROLLA PODCAST

The Adam Carolla Show podcast is now available for download...

THE ECONOMIST AND MR. BLUE SKY

The Economist has a nice new article about Jeff Lynne in today's online edition.  It has a small blurb about the upcoming release of Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO.  Pre-orders for the documentary will begin next month on iTunes (for the digital download) followed by the DVD release next year.

NOW STREAMING: SAVE ME NOW 2012

Preorders and pledges are still being taken for Songs After Sandy: Friends of Red Hook for Hurricane Sandy Relief.  But if you put in your $15 pledge now, you can hear a stream of the entire first volume of tracks including Jeff Lynne's new version of Save Me Now.

COMING SOON: SONGS AFTER SANDY

Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr and Jeff Lynne will be among the musicians who are contributing to a new benefit album for people who were affected Hurricane Sandy.

It's called Songs After Sandy : Friends of Red Hook for Hurricane Sandy Relief and an official announcement was made today.

Jeff's contribution:

...is a new version of a song he’d written decades ago. In a statement, he said, “This is a brand new electric version of ‘Save Me Now,’ a song I wrote 22 years ago about this very subject — global warming and the need to listen and be kind to our planet. I wanted to contribute to Songs After Sandy because I feel terrible about what happened, and my heart goes out to all of the people still stuck in it and trying to work through it.”

Here is a direct link to pre-order Songs After Sandy.  It appears it will be available for a $15 donation.  More details as soon as we find them...

LINER NOTES

From Eric Idle:

The story so far. In a fit of egotistical madness Eric Idle has agreed to write the liner notes for Jeff Lynne’s album, but so far he has no idea what to do. He is assembling for dinner with Jeff and Billy at an expensive West Hollywood watering hole, called The Expensive West Hollywood Watering Hole. He has sat with Billy for half an hour and made a bad joke about Shark Infested Waiters at the Peninsular. They are waiting for Jeff. He appears.

His blog picks up the story from there...

MERCY MERCY UK SINGLE

From eBay: A UK 1-track promo CD for Jeff Lynne's Mercy Mercy, the new UK single from Long Wave.

COMING UP...

Don't forget, Jeff Lynne appears on Rockline this Wednesday November 7 at 11:30pm Eastern/8:30pm Pacific.  You can hear it online at Rockline Radio.com.

Plus PaladiaHD is still airing Mr.Blue Sky The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO in case you haven't been able to catch it yet...

Tuesday, November 06 6:00 PM
Saturday, November 10 10:00 AM
Friday, November 16 12:00 AM
Sunday, November 25 1:00 PM

BIRMINGHAM POST

There's a new interview with Jeff Lynne in today's Birmingham Post.  Much of the stuff we've heard before - but he does discuss the status of his relationship with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan today - plus his favorite non-hit ELO song.

MORE BLUE SKY

KLOS in Los Angeles will be hosting another screening of Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO at The Grammy Museum on Wednesday November 14 at 7pm.  Jeff Lynne will be on hand for a Q&A following the screening.  The press release:

Los Angeles radio station 95.5 KLOS-FM today announced a special screening, Wednesday, November 14 at The GRAMMY Museum in downtown Los Angeles, of the JEFF LYNNE documentary “Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO.” It will be followed by a Q&A with the creative force of ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA and the singularly accomplished British singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer. KLOS DJ Cynthia Fox will host the event, which starts at 7:00 PM, and moderate the Q&A. 

LYNNE‘s illuminating and entertaining documentary “Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO,” written and directed by Martyn Atkins, gets to the heart of who JEFF LYNNE is and how he has had such a tremendous musical influence on our world. The answer–as told by the British artist himself and such distinguished collaborators and friends of JEFF as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Barbara Orbison and Eric Idle–is that LYNNE is a true man of music for whom the recording studio is his greatest instrument. 

In other news, LYNNE recently received a nomination for inclusion in the 2013 Songwriters Hall of Fame. The event will take place June 13, 2013 in New York City. 

LYNNE just released two albums on Frontiers Records on October 9 to critical praise: the solo disc LONG WAVE, a heartfelt and vivid tribute to some of the very songs that originally inspired him, and MR. BLUE SKY–THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA. For the latter album, LYNNE has artfully revisited and created brand new versions–at his home studio in Los Angeles–of the greatest hits of ELO, actually improving on the gems that catapulted them to sales of 50 million-plus records worldwide. 

The release of the albums marks the 40th anniversary of ELO. Both albums contributed to what Billboard.biz called a “spectacular chart comeback (10/15/12),” with three top-10 albums on the U.K. charts at the same time—LONG WAVE, MR. BLUE SKY—THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, and ALL OVER THE WORLD.

MR. BLUE SKY ON THE UKE

Many of you remember Joe Brown from the Concert For George.  He's about to release The Ukulele Album early next month - and has covered Mr. Blue Sky.  It even gets a nod from Jeff on Jeff's official Facebook page:

I've always been a big fan of Joe Brown and so to hear him singing Mr Blue Sky is a treat.
Thanks, mate!
All the best, Jeff Lynne

Also on the album is a cover the Traveling Wilburys' Where Were You Last Night...

100.3 THE SOUND

Reminder for tonight... Jeff Lynne will be the guest DJ at 100.3 FM The Sound in LA tonight - 9PM Eastern (6 PM LA Time) - You can LISTEN LIVE here.

ONE SUMMER DREAMY

Claudia Brucken (from Propaganda and Act) has a new album coming November 5 called The Lost Are Found.  Check out her version of One Summer Dream...

HUFFINGTON POST

Here's a fresh interview with Jeff Lynne by Mike Rogogna on today's Huffington Post Blog...

LONG WAVE IS A #1 ALBUM

The latest charts are out in the UK...

On the UK Top 40 Indie Album Chart:

Long Wave is #1
Mr. Blue Sky is #2

and on The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart:

Long Wave is #7
Mr. Blue Sky is #8
All Over The World is #10

Long Wave is officially a #1 Album...

JEFF LYNNE APPRECIATION DAY

How 'bout a shout-out to Wild Honey Records in Knoxville, Tennessee.  They had Jeff Lynne Appreciation Day at their store today with some vinyl available to buy...

BACK IN THE UK CHARTS

Not sure the last time this happened, but Jeff Lynne has not one - not two - but three albums in the UK Top 10 album charts this week.  According to BBC Radio 1:

Jeff Lynne's Long Wave debuts at #5
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra debuts at #9

And in an effort to capitalize on Jeff Lynne's higher profile in the UK last week, Sony/BMG unleashed another round of All Over The World: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra CDs last week.  This week, that collection of ELO originals holds steady at #10.

MR. BLUE SKY - THE DELUXE EDITION

As it turns out, Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra has a deluxe edition available on iTunes.  It has the 12 main tracks plus:

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
Rockaria!
Steppin' Out  [with Richard Tandy Live 2012 Version]
Can't Get It Out Of My Head  [with Richard Tandy Live 2012 Version]

Available to buy individually and the full album comes with the digital booklet.

PLAYING FAVORITES...

On this momentous release day, The Quietus has a new article with Jeff Lynne talking about his 13 favorite albums.

THE TRAILER...

The 30-second Frontiers Records trailer for today's release of Mr. Blue Sky -The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra and Long Wave by Jeff Lynne...

NOW AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE

Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra and Jeff Lynne's new solo album Long Wave are available worldwide starting today.

You can get the digital download of Long Wave from Amazon (US) for $6.99.
Mr. Blue Sky download is $8.99.