Over The Top, Boys!
There’s something about the overstuffed sound of heavy pop that I just love – when it works well. This week I’ve been listening to a lot of Jeff Lynne stuff. Well, it actually started with an old Moody Blues favorite, To Our Children’s Children’s Children. I remember it well – it was in heavy rotation at my Army Reserve summer bivouac (c.1970) up in Camp Drum in lovely Watertown, NY (best known for its immense annual lake effect snowfall and its proximity to the 1,000 islands). This was one of the Moody’s major concept albums, with a pompous introduction and songs like “Traveling Eternity Road”. Back in the day, it was one of a string of “you gotta hear this with headphones!” Moody Blues albums, most of which also featured double-size cover art with surreal roots.
Then it was on to Jeff Lynne, beginning with Armchair Theatre, a solo effort, and proceeding through two ELO sets (Out of the Blue and Eldorado), and concluding with George Harrison’s last release which Lynne co-produced, the charming Brainwashed (with tracks that include George singing Harold Arlen’s standard, “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” while accompanying himself on ukulele).
Sometimes listening to a lot of Lynne is like eating too much whipped cream cake – an overindulgence in excess – but his productions are, at their best, inventive, melodic, and deeply textured. Songs like “Jungle”, “Can’t Get It Out of My Head”, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” and “Standin’ in the Rain” are pure fun for me; they make me smile – and that’s a fine thing in itself.
During this run I also listened to a best-of compilation of Manfred Mann and the Earth Band tracks, a band which applied a Lynne-like treatment to a number of songs, and gets great mileage out of what amount to total re-imaginings of Springsteen’s “Blinded by the Light” and “For You”, and Dylan’s “You Angel You”. Lots of synths, lots of overdubs, lots of laughs. It was that kind of week.
Then a copy of Mississippi John Hurt’s original Okeh recordings (“Avalon Blues”) arrived in the mail, and the synths faded away...
Then it was on to Jeff Lynne, beginning with Armchair Theatre, a solo effort, and proceeding through two ELO sets (Out of the Blue and Eldorado), and concluding with George Harrison’s last release which Lynne co-produced, the charming Brainwashed (with tracks that include George singing Harold Arlen’s standard, “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” while accompanying himself on ukulele).
Sometimes listening to a lot of Lynne is like eating too much whipped cream cake – an overindulgence in excess – but his productions are, at their best, inventive, melodic, and deeply textured. Songs like “Jungle”, “Can’t Get It Out of My Head”, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” and “Standin’ in the Rain” are pure fun for me; they make me smile – and that’s a fine thing in itself.
During this run I also listened to a best-of compilation of Manfred Mann and the Earth Band tracks, a band which applied a Lynne-like treatment to a number of songs, and gets great mileage out of what amount to total re-imaginings of Springsteen’s “Blinded by the Light” and “For You”, and Dylan’s “You Angel You”. Lots of synths, lots of overdubs, lots of laughs. It was that kind of week.
Then a copy of Mississippi John Hurt’s original Okeh recordings (“Avalon Blues”) arrived in the mail, and the synths faded away...
posted by DJStan at 10:16 AM
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