Jeff Lynne Anthology

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by hayden10538, Feb 14, 2017.

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  1. hayden10538

    hayden10538 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Essex, England
    It seems strange to me that, after all these years, no-one has bothered to put one of these together. They came close many years ago with the A Message From The Country: The Jeff Lynne Years cd from Harvest, but that only covered his early years.

    So, my question is this: How would you encompass all of Jeff's career onto 1 cd? What tracks do you think most represent Jeff's music? You can use any track from any part of his discography, not just the hits, but it has to have Jeff as lead or Co-lead singer, so no outside production work.

    Here's my attempt:

    Jeff Lynne - Lift Me Up - The Anthology

    1. The Skeleton And The Roundabout - Idle Race
    2. Days Of The Broken Arrows - Idle Race
    3. Imposters Of Life's Magazine - Idle Race
    4. A Better Life (The Weatherman Knows) - Idle Race
    5. California Man - The Move
    6. 10538 Overture - ELO
    7. Kuiama - ELO
    8. Showdown - ELO
    9. Can't Get You Out Of My Head - ELO
    10. Evil Woman - ELO
    11. One Summer Dream - ELO
    12. Livin' Thing - ELO
    13. Do Ya (extended version from Flashback) - ELO
    14. Mr. Blue Sky - ELO
    15. Hold On Tight - ELO
    16. Let It Run - Electric Dreams OST
    17. Rattled - Traveling Wilburys
    18. Lift Me Up - Armchair Theatre
    19. Alright - ELO
    20. When I Was A Boy - Jeff Lynne's ELO

    So, what do you think of my attempt? What songs do you think should go on there? I look forward to your posts!

    :D
     
  2. Michaelpeth

    Michaelpeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, UK
    The problem with the ELO hits is that it would only ever see the light of day if it used the JL re-recordings. Hence, it might be better to avoid them like the plague !

    I'd rather have Standin in the Rain, Laredo Tornado, 21st Century Man, Shine a little love, Bluebird is Dead, Secret Messages, So Fine, Shangri-La. And if we are only going for song off Zoom, then it needs to be Ordinary Dream for me.

    But absolutely each to their own.
     
  3. noahjld

    noahjld Der Wixxer

    "Hello My Old Friend" surely?
     
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  4. I wouldn't be surprised if such a release was proposed by archivist Rob Caiger at some point over the last few years - the problem always seems to be Jeff Lynne himself or manager Craig Fruin, the pair blocking countless potentially great ideas catering to hardcore ELO fans with no need for yet another greatest hits package. For example, did you know we nearly got a second boxed set to complement the Classic Albums Collection that would have compiled all of ELO's classic era singles onto individual Mini CDs with original sleeve art plus several b-sides still unavailable digitally, such as the alternate lyric version of A Matter Of Fact?

    Also, there were plans for a 30th anniversary 2CD Legacy Deluxe Edition of the full Secret Messages with a wealth of extras (including highlights of the Garden Rehearsals and mixes exclusive to the initial acetates) that was approved then shelved at the very last minute due to Lynne changing his mind because he wanted attention to be on new titles issued through his short-lived distribution deal with Frontiers, which only ended when Sony agreed to renegotiate so he would earn more from the back catalogue under their control, effectively rendering his remakes on the Mr. Blue Sky album obsolete not long after they were made!

    The previously announced 5CD Idle Race Anthology was cancelled when Caiger "misplaced" a large portion of material he'd taken out of the vaults to be sourced for the project, and instead of putting out a DVD featuring all the vintage ELO music videos, Sony were forced to let these trickle out via an official YouTube channel, even though they'd already spent a considerable amount locating, transferring and restoring several of these from the original masters. I could mention at least one other example that did finally see the light of day, but not through Caiger's Face The Music website as once intended due to you-know-who....
     
  5. I actually put together something quite close to this concept in the past, only my compilation includes mostly rare ELO tracks plus a few harder to find solo cuts, which gives you the following CD-length collection:

    1. Open Your Eyes (from the Trojan Tapes Sessions)*
    2. Like A Rat Up A Drain/O So Lonely (from the Trojan Tapes Sessions)*
    3. Black As A N****r's A**e/Give Me Fever (from the Trojan Tapes Sessions)*
    4. Supersonic (from the Trojan Tapes Sessions)*
    5. Let There Be Drums (Bev Bevan solo single, produced by Lynne and featuring ELO)
    6. Heavy Head (b-side to above, and the only Lynne-Bevan-Tandy-Groucutt co-write to exist)
    7. Doin' That Crazy Thing (Jeff Lynne solo single)
    8. Goin' Down To Rio (b-side to above)
    9. Drum Dreams (b-side to I'm Alive single)
    10. Beatles Forever (outtake from Secret Messages)*#
    11. Buildings Have Eyes (outtake from Secret Messages, issued as b-side to single of title track)#
    12. Mandalay (outtake from Secret Messages)#
    13. After All [2LP Edit] (outtake from Secret Messages)*#
    14. Hello My Old Friend [Full-Length 2LP Mix] (outtake from Secret Messages)*#
    15. Video! (Jeff Lynne solo single from Electric Dreams)
    16. Let It Run (Jeff Lynne solo track from Electric Dreams)
    17. Sooner Or Later (b-side to Video! single, unavailable on CD)
    18. A Matter Of Fact (b-side of So Serious single)#
    19. I'm Gone (b-side to Jeff Lynne solo single Every Little Thing)#
    20. Sirens (b-side to Jeff Lynne solo single Lift Me Up)#
    21. Borderline [Original Version] (b-side to Jeff Lynne solo single Lift Me Up)#

    *Previously unreleased
    #Not included on remastered edition of parent album

    How's that for something the hardcore fans might want as opposed to yet another greatest hits package? I was also easily able to put together a follow-up volume using just bonus tracks frustratingly scattered across more recent ELO and Jeff Lynne releases, though I might discuss this in the future...

    P.S. I decided against including other well-known rarities such as The First Days Of September and Jeff's full demo for Indian Queen because they aren't currently available in CD quality, plus they simply won't fit after the more recent surfacing of the Trojan Tapes Sessions, which I consider to be vastly superior. Also, the alternate lyric version of A Matter Of Fact is left out because I don't want to repeat content too much - the double LP mix of Four Little Diamonds is similarly absent due to not being that different from the standard album and single edit.
     
  6. hayden10538

    hayden10538 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Essex, England
    Wow, what a compilation ShardEnder, i'd certainly want a copy if it were available. Mine was done primarily as a catch all situation.

    I wonder what Jeff's problem is with his old material? It seems like he's embarrassed with the way it was recorded. Well it sounds fine to me, great even. I'd love to meet Jeff to tell him to stop being so insecure about it and that us fans are desperate for SM to be released as a deluxe edition. I know we'd all buy it!
     
  7. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    Personally I would swap out Rattled for Runaway, and I would add Last Train to London, All Over the World, Rock 'n' Roll is King and Every Little Thing.
     
  8. Jason Pumphrey

    Jason Pumphrey Forum Resident

    I should a Jeff Lynne comp, not just songs that he wrote and performed on, but a few that he also produced as well, all around good compilation.
     
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  9. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    The first thing I'd do is make it a double CD set.
     
  10. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    Okay. You have my attention. What happened to the material? Good golly, I'd love to see a box set on the Idle Race. Some of the bbc stuff on youtube sounds very good but I can't find anything out there with a decent bitrate. I'm wondering if some of it leaked during the making of this cancelled project.
     
  11. hayden10538

    hayden10538 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Essex, England
    I always found Every Little Thing to be slightly annoying, besides, if you swapped 'em, you'd have to come up with a new name for the compilation. :shh: Any suggestions? :D
     
  12. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Hmm, I have the afternoon off. Looks like it's gonna be a Jeff Lynne Day. I'll post my comp later on. Nice idea! Ron
     
  13. Although many believe the recent Mr. Blue Sky album of remakes was financially-motivated, Jeff has spoken of being disappointed at the sound quality of certain songs going all the back way to when they'd just originally been released, plus he also feels that a few - Steppin' Out especially - weren't sung well enough because of him being pressured to keep delivering new material by the heads at Jet Records, resulting in his vocals sometimes lacking confidence (which is supposedly why he spent weeks attempting to perfect his leads for the Balance Of Power material, even though everyone around him felt the initial takes were already satisfactory). Furthermore, it's highly unlikely we'll ever get an official collection of songs Jeff produced for other artists before George Harrison's Cloud Nine as he's since claimed that was his first such work. While less educated fans may not be aware of this, he previously did production work for Carl Wayne, Dave Edmunds, Del Shannon, Jasper Carrott, Dave Morgan and even The Sumo Giants to name just a few, not including songs that remain unreleased such as the sessions he did with Elton John in the mid-1970s, If we include tracks written or even arranged by Jeff, there's more than enough for a compilation of Lynne credits predating Cloud Nine by several years.
     
  14. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Absolutely. An early years set (say up to Face the Music) plus later stuff. I'd have more from Armchair theatre, personally...
     
  15. Most of the BBC sessions were already circulating, but Rob Caiger was planning to include at least some of these on the 5CD Idle Race Anthology set, presumably in higher quality (as radio transcription discs of these are believed to still exist). I'm not sure what else this collection would have featured, but it's likely all three studio albums would have been expanded with their mono counterparts, standalone singles plus a handful of live tracks and alternate mixes also known to be in the vaults. However, some of the more dedicated fans have previously voiced concerns at there being enough to pad out five discs, which may partly explain why this project was ultimately shelved - I'd much rather we get the best highlights over something that may have been an unnecessarily long barrel scraping exercise designed to fleece us!
     
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  16. cwitt1980

    cwitt1980 Senior Member

    Location:
    Carbondale, IL USA
    I'm wondering about the "misplaced" stuff. Did some stuff get lost while archiving the project?
     
  17. The official explanation was that a small part of Rob Caiger's personal collection was "misplaced" after he'd referenced specific items from this for the Salvo remasters of The Move's catalogue along with the aforementioned Idle Race Anthology, the latter something already completed, while a typically reputable source countered this by claiming the security of his storage unit (supposedly in a public lock-up facility) was compromised somehow, leading to a considerable number of previously unheard rarities subsequently finding their way onto the market. While I'd like to think Rob was being honest, it's odd that he remained quiet on this subject for a long period after the incident is believed to have taken place, yet several CDR acetates surfaced on eBay during his silence, including several discs of vault material transferred at Abbey Road that were copied from DAT backups so Jeff Lynne could audition potential bonus tracks for the 2001-7 ELO reissue campaign.

    For example, I'm not doubting the involvement of Nathan James in the original Trojan Tapes Sessions, but it's odd none of the leading ELO researchers were aware of his existence before the songs collectively known by this name finally surfaced on his YouTube channel, plus his versions sound too much like Jeff's early-to-mid '70s voice for many experts to accept they weren't really just an elaborate way to leak these holy grail tracks out. Saying that, wouldn't Jeff have blocked these by now if they were real, or does he care as little as when Beatles Forever managed to find its way out via two very different sources? A possible clue is the entire set of Trojan Tapes Sessions being on one of those discs made at Abbey Road, and on a related note, after promising to upload a higher quality copy of Supersonic without the need for him to remake elements of it once the original tape could be found in his private tape archive, Nathan finally shared this improved transfer of the track just last week:

     
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  18. hayden10538

    hayden10538 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Essex, England
    ShardEnder, I hope you don't mind me asking, perhaps you may know the answer to a question that's bugged me for years - why was there a 6 year delay between the various album remaster?

    :confused:
     
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  19. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA

    Ok I'm curious what is the other example that did see the light of day? I don't know Caiger but I tend to think he dreams up all this stuff and none of it ever happens. Maybe if someone else was in charge of the archives we would see some more product. Still I think that Jeff is fine with touring now and working on another solo album with the ELO title. I don't think he really cares about any ELO back catalog releases of any kind.
     
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  20. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    This isn't an easy task! My 2 CD set is now 3. Trying not to include ALL of my favorites, while adding a few rarities, BBC, b-sides, soundtrack songs, live and of course solo era material. I'll probably winnow out some of the biggies, but keep a chunk of the other stuff. About half-way through, between rounds of shoveling off my roof and doing some project management work at home. Ron
     
  21. hayden10538

    hayden10538 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Essex, England
    Why would you shovel off your roof? Don't you need it to keep out the cold?

    :D
     
  22. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I'd hate to shovel IN the house if it collapsed. We've had more snow in the past... more than 120" in a 4 week stretch in 2015, but this snow has been extra heavy, with layers of ice. Just nasty stuff. A few schools in the areas had partial roof collapses. So, yea... been shoveling off the roof.:D
     
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  23. The original plan for the ELO remastering campaign was to have new releases every few months, which began promisingly enough with the Flashback retrospective in November 2000, followed by the reissues of Eldorado, Discovery, Time and Secret Messages the following June (coinciding with Zoom's long overdue arrival). After the cancellation of the Zoom Tour, Jeff returned to Bungalow Palace with the intention of starting work on a new album, but only the track One Day - recorded in 2004 - has so far surfaced from this. At some point around the same period, he split up with Rosie Vela, scrapped an album he'd been producing for her and spent much of his subsequent time reworking another project they'd begun together...

    From 2002 on, an increasing number of remade ELO hits trickled out from Jeff's home studio, and if you compare the earliest mix of Mr. Blue Sky used in advertisements back then with the version that gave its name to a collection of further revisited classics in 2012, you'll find that Rosie's contributions were replaced. Just as his confidence was growing again, Rob Caiger approached Jeff about resuming the series of remasters that had been put on hold, with several previously undocumented vintage outtakes found in the vault (actually a room at Bungalow Palace) that included what became Surrender, Latitude 88 North and The Quick And The Daft - the latter newly created by joining two similar unused orchestral fragments recorded in 1977 and 1979.

    Briefly delayed while Caiger wrote more extensive liner notes than the first wave of remasters had featured, the remaining ELO albums were finally expanded in two bursts over 2006 and 2007. In addition to these, Surrender and Latitude 88 North received single treatments, plus we got Ticket To The Moon, a companion to 2005's record-shattering All Over The World compilation. Frustratingly, the eventual reissues of A New World Record and Balance Of Power contained only a small fraction of the potential bonus tracks assembled onto those leaked CDR acetates made in 2001, but at least we know that Jeff being unhappy with Sony and negotiating a better deal through Frontiers was behind his second lengthy quiet spell until 2012.
     
  24. hayden10538

    hayden10538 Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Essex, England
    Cool, thanks for replying! One thing that really bugged me about the remasters was that ELO 2 and On The Third Day contained the same bonus tracks. That was pretty annoying!
     
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  25. Actually, the edit of Everyone's Born To Die (or "Terd Berhgeler" as it's called on the original tape box!) on the remastered edition of On The Third Day is missing the brief instrumental jam at the end, which can only be found by getting the expanded version of ELO 2.

    If you're interested to hear ELO 2 with a vastly superior collection of bonus tracks, I'd recommend tracking down The Lost Planet - a volume in EMI's brilliant First Light series that includes several outtakes from when this was originally going to be a concept album...
     
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