Produced by Jeff Lynne

Sorry to go back a few pages on this thread, but I had forgotten to briefly comment on this issue. As far as I can tell, the idea that George was "somewhat outspoken" about Lynne's sound can only be traced to one comment he made in an interview. I think it may have been one of the Timothy White interviews he gave back in 1999 or 2000 or so. I remember the comment well. Not so much the exact wording, but I remember discussing the comment he made at length, because a lot of people were debating what it meant, and if George was even being serious or making a joke. He made some one-liner comment seemingly off the cuff about Jeff Lynne making everything sound like ELO. When I read this comment, my thought at the time was that it was probably just George ribbing his friend Jeff. There may have been some reality in what George was saying, but I don't think he was serious about not wanting to work with Jeff anymore, and I think he was purposely sort of making the hyperbolic statement that everything comes out sounding like ELO. I think this was supported by the fact that, when "Brainwashed" came out, it was revealed that George in fact had sought out Lynne to work on it and finish the album. Apparently, George and perhaps Dhani were going to come out to LA and work on the album at Lynne's home studio, but Lynne was under the weather at the time. So for me, that puts to rest the idea that George didn't want to work with Jeff anymore and also the idea that Lynne was working on "Brainwashed" posthumously without George's approval, etc.

Then there are the accusations that Lynne "ruined" the song "Rising Sun" or turned it into an ELO song by putting strings on it. Lynne did set himself up for that one though, by commenting in interviews about how he may have made the arrangement a bit more "posh" that George would have. But some took that comment and said Jeff was doing stuff that George never would have. But as it turns out, George himself had vocalized string parts on the multitrack tape to be turned into a real string arrangement. So George wanted the strings.

Anyway, I'm just offering up some comments, perhaps a few a bit randomly.

 

Thanks, balzac -- I was going to say all that stuff about George and Jeff, but forgot to. I also think George was having a laugh with the press, knowing that the quote would cause a flurry of little "George Slams Former Pal" articles, and that they would get back to Jeff, and they would have a jolly giggle over it.

 

I hadn't seen the thread...I appreciate it because I like Jeff, though he's a bit trashed by some Beatles fans. Loved Free As A Bird, Cloud 9 and Flaming Pie, so that's a nice opportunity to vindicate him.
IMHO, you can recognise his trademark on:

drum pattern sound, backing vocals, acoustic guitar timbres, electric guitar bridges (when he's performing) etc

 

Yeah, I dunno how anybody can absolutely adore Phil Spector's sound, either.

I'm in the camp that doesn't like Lynne's signature sound, as well. There is certainly more to him than I know, as I've just never been interested enough in his work to delve, after what I have heard. I also think Lynne being involved in The Threetles stuff was more political than musical - he was of a high-enough calibre, that if he had an opinion, he wouldn't neccessarily be shouted-down by the boys.

It's always been a disspointment to me that Paul has such a high threshold for sound quality (his constant approval of the No-Noising being my first clue); maybe he doesn't have a problem with Lynne's standard production touches because he sees it as Lynne's "style" rather than a choice that could either make a recording sound truer or less authentic.

 

Say, something just occurred to me, for those of you who do like Lynne's characteristics...

...can you name a song or two (if not a hit, at least make it something most of us might all recognize) that WOULD be improved though such techniques...?

 

I wouldn't be this negative, but JL can bludgeon most artists into oblivion,

Petty is actually the only one that survives

 

This is sort of a weird example, but it gives you a bit of an idea of what somethings sounds like both before and after the "Lynne sound" is applied. While working with Harrison on Cloud Nine, Lynne and Harrison remixed the 1982 track "That's the Way It Goes"; I think it ended up on the one of the b-sides or something. But you can hear a somewhat subtle application of the Lynne drum sound on something that had been recorded five years earlier without Lynne, and the whole thing sounds a bit drier ala Lynne. I think the Lynne sound makes the song more interesting.

After hearing Lynne work on a track with Brian Wilson back in 1988, I've always thought that a lot of Brian's later solo work (I'm think specifically the "Imagination" and "Gettin' in Over My Head" albums) would have benefitted from a more dry approach instead of the AOR/MOR/AC whatever it's called sound of "Imagination" and the swamped in reverb sound of some of "Gettin' In Over My Head."

But I must say, not quite on this specific topic, that I think it's a bit dangerous to even lump together all of the Lynne's post-1986 production work as having the same sound. His sound has had an evolution. Sure, it's still rooted in the same sort of sound. But some of his productions are awash in lush keyboard/synth arrangements (something like parts of "Cloud Nine", the Brian Wilson track "Let It Shine", the Orbison stuff), while other stuff like the Wilburys is quite the opposite. Today, you can hear his sound has changed just a bit. If you notice, on his stuff from Zoom onward, especially his own material including the re-recorded bonus tracks on the ELO reissues, he is really sticking to that really crunchy Telecaster guitar sound for instance. Some of the frilly keyboard/synth parts of circa 1987 have been replaced with the crunchy guitar sound.

 

balzac, you're reading my mind today! I was going to post this exact example; Jeff's remix of "That's The Way It Goes" was on the CD-single for "When We Was Fab." I don't know if it "improves" the song -- it's subjective, of course -- but it's punchier, sped up a little IIRC, and may have made a better single. It makes for an interesting comparison.

I'd put Brian Wilson in a studio with Jeff any day of the week!

Good points. I don't have any of the ELO remasters -- which ones did Jeff re-record songs for? I'm actually a bigger fan of his solo stuff than his ELO stuff!

 

On "New World Record" and "Out of the Blue" there are two "new" songs with the modern Lynne sound - and they're fantastic!

Both released as singles in the UK I believe. "Surrender" and "Latitude 88 North".

Jeff

 

Yeah, that's my feeling. It turns everything into "Jeff Lynne" instead of the artists themselves... :thumbsdn:

 

I look at it this way. He's perfected a "sound" that many artists have obviously liked, otherwise they wouldn't have hired him to produce them in the first place. Back in the late 70's, and early 80's many artists were enamored of the Bee Gees production and sought out Barry Gibb to produce thier songs. For awhile you couldn't get away from it when you turned the radio on. Kenny Rogers, Barbra Streisand, Andy Gibb, Dionne Warwick, Samantha Sang (and probably a few more I'm forgetting) all used Barry's talents, and most of the songs ended up sounding like Bee Gees records.
Todd Rundgren's another example. As soon as you here one of his productions, you can tell for the most part that he had something to do with it. So I don't see a problem with it, they've refined a signature sound, and it's been successful for them...

 

It's funny, I think Jeff Lynne is guilty of everything he's accused of, yet I grew up listening to two albums he produced (and co-wrote) and they've grown to become two of my favorites. Full Moon Fever and Traveling Wilbury's (vol. 1) might not have adventurous production (okay, it's painstakingly repetitive), but both albums are filled with great sing-a-long tunes from beginning to end. These were among the few albums we always played on family road trips that everyone enjoyed. We weren't looking for something new or something artistic, just strong melody with memorable lyrics. It's some of the best family friendly rock music I can think of (aside from maybe the early Beatles stuff).

 

As someone else mentioned, "Surrender" off of "A New World Record" and "Latitude 88 North" off of "Out of the Blue" are more or less new recordings. "Surrender" in particular sounds like a "Zoom" outtake, with the one notable exception being a lead vocal that is actually swamped in reverb. "Latitude 88 North" also sounds like modern Jeff, but with some string arrangements on there as well. He also back in 2001 re-recorded the Del Shannon song "Little Town Flirt" for the "Discovery" remaster; that too sounds more like a "Zoom" track than anything from 1979.

He also overdubbed and/or made new recordings for a number of tracks on the "Flashback" boxed set, but you may be familiar with that already.

You can also hear a "stripped down mix" of "Evil Woman" on "Face the Music", and it kind of sounds like what the Jeff Lynne of today would have done mixing an ELO track from 1975; much more dry and with the strings removed.

 

I didn't want to smell up the other thread .......So .....the way this board goes from Beatle
worship to ELO/Jeff Lynne worship would be like an Art Forum talking up Monet or Renoir
and then gloating over Thomas Kinkade.

 

Del Shannon's last album "Rock On!" (1991), produced by Lynne and Mike Campbell, is one of my all time favourite albums.

 

He was great on the Partridge Family

 

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I generally don't like JL's production work. (Though I think "Full Moon Fever" worked well)

I read an interview with Richard Thompson once who mentioned that he discarded the Gerry Rafferty version of "Shoot Out The Lights" because it sounded to "sweet" and had no "grit" to it, which he felt the material needed.

For me, often times this is how I feel about JL's production work.

He tends to make albums he's involved in sound "sweet & syurpy" for lack of a better term, and it hurts the music at times IMO.

 

Can I post in here Zenny?

I think Geoff Lynn is brilliant. His drums sound like big cans and stuff.....

T.

 

I don't hear it. If anything he has plenty of grit. He records the drums with like 2 mics, uses vintage amps and crappy gear. It's not like his stuff sounds like Aja.

 

Reuben Kincaid was the manager of the Partridge Family

 

It most certainly not 'Aja' (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Jeff has a unique production style and nobody sounds quite like him.
He's good at what he does behind the desk. If he wasn't, he wouldn't get artists coming back for more.

 

Your irony capacitor is low on juice.

 

This is pretty much how I feel about Jeff's production work too. I am not sure even how to explain it but when I hear it-it is distinctive, I just can't quite get into it. It's weird because for what I usually like and prefer with production I SHOULD like it-who knows?

I still think Jeff Lynne is pretty much all around brilliant (especially as an all-around musician IMHO). I recognize he has a production style that is highly praised-it's just not for me.