Carnival of Soul

“Such deep questions for early in the morning,” Jeff Lynne jokes halfway through our conversation. It’s actually four in the afternoon L.A. time when I meet him at the offices of NPR West. But Lynne is a little jet-lagged.

Even if he hadn’t just completed a round of interviews, it’s totally understandable if the mastermind behind some of the greatest pop/rock tunes of all time with Electric Light Orchestra is weary. About to turn 72 this December, Lynne is as busy as he was when ELO ruled the rock world in the ’70s.

He just released a brilliant new album, From Out Of Nowhere, that comes on the heels of an unlikely second act as a behemoth arena touring act, having been a prolific live band since Lynne returned to the performing world, playing “Evil Woman” and “Mr. Blue Sky” on the 2015 Grammy Awards with Ed Sheeran. When you watch the performance you see Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Beyonce all standing and dancing to the songs. That is testament to the brilliance and accessibility of the music of Lynne.

Following that triumphant return, Jeff Lynne’s ELO released a new album, Across The Universe; were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017 and performed several successful tours.

The music world is infinitely richer by having new music and new tours from Lynne. I mentioned the string of hits — “Turn To Stone,” “Telephone Line,” “Livin’ Thing,” “Strange Magic,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head.” The list goes on and on. Then there was his time as a Traveling Wilbury, where he joined forces with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and George Harrison. Being included in that supergroup says a lot about the respect his peers have for Lynne.

Genius, legend, icon, all these words are way overused today. And they would embarrass Lynne. So just listen to the music and you will understand why in 1994 the then three surviving members of the Beatles approached Lynne to produce new material. Lynne’s peers respect he is one of the greatest musical minds of the rock era,

So, as a rock star, producer and songwriter Lynne has been involved with some of the greatest musicians of all time. I spoke to him about his new album, his relationships with Petty and Orbison, the song he wished he had written and much more.     

Steve Baltin: Was there a turning point moment for you in your recent productivity?

Jeff Lynne: I made an album called Long Wave, which is all old ones and strange ones. And that was because of my dad really. I wanted to learn the songs he listened to when I was a kid. How they really worked because I couldn’t figure out how to play them until I managed to isolate the rhythm track just by concentration. And once I learned the chords they were so simple. And it was just as simple as all the tunes of everybody, like the Beatles or anybody. All the best groups, it’s all really quite simple. But when I did that, that’s when I realized I was already doing that. But I didn’t know I was doing it. I was using chords very similar to Richard Rodgers. He uses A to F sharp minor, so do I.

Baltin: Did realizing that affect your writing going forward?

Lynne: I tried to make From Out Of Nowhere quite a positive move for me cause I’ve done a few gloomy ones in the past. So has everybody. I used to like it cause Del Shannon was always crying at somebody, Roy [Orbison] was always crying at somebody. And it’s one of those things that I’d go into that kind of thing, cause I’ve known from them since I was a kid, listening to the radio. And I sort of discovered, like you said, that what I was doing was already like what they were doing, only not as good (laughs).

Baltin: Since writing is subconscious are there any of the positive moments that surprise you?

Lynne: I was trying to not even think about what was going on. I really was cause I don’t want to get involved in that, any politics. I like it just to be my music and that’s it. And that’s about as deep as it goes. “Does it sound good?” “Does it rhyme?” I try and do it as good as I can. But not really trying to give messages out or anything. But just to try and cheer people up a little bit.

Baltin: When we spoke at the Classic Rock Honours a few years ago you mentioned being very pleasantly surprised by how positive the response was to the first shows back.

Lynne: Oh yeah, I was blown away.

Baltin: So do you think the fan positivity is part of where your good vibes come from?

Lynne: Yes I think you are correct in that one. I had so much fun playing at Wembley Stadium that I even made a new song just about that. That was so much fun to write because it meant I could include the crowd singing “Telephone Line” in a brand new song, which I thought was funny at the time. And I’m sure somebody else might one of these days (laughs).

Baltin: You joke they might find it funny. But if you are enjoying it that connects with the audience, who feel that.

Lynne: Exactly, and also the other component to all this is the band itself. I’ve got a wonderful band, it’s a 13-piece altogether, which is fantastic to have because you can do virtually anything with that many people.

Baltin: Are there songs from the new album you’re particularly excited to see how audiences respond to them live?

Lynne: We did a show, it’s called BBC In Concert, it’s only an hour. It’s filmed and it’s shown a couple of days later, month or so. But the main thing is it’s recorded for the radio, that’s what the idea is, at the BBC Theater. It only holds about 350 people and I would have not even thought about that aspect of it. The only reason I did is because I’ve been playing these giant arenas in America, between 10 and 20,000 seaters. And we just got used to that. Of course going into that little theater it was very intimate and you could see everybody’s face all the way back to the end of the room. And it’s been so long since I’ve seen since that. After four years of playing, it’s come to that. It’s a shock to play an intimate place, which I suppose is good in a way because it means you get to play to more people all the time.

Baltin: When you did that show and you could see people’s faces were there songs you were surprised by the audience response?

Lynne: I’ll tell you, one about Wembley, “Time Of Our Life,” that went down really, really well for their first time hearing it live. And actually so did “All My Love,” went down really well. And so I was pleased to see that. They went as well as the actual old bangers as I call them, cause they’ve been around the block a few times.

Baltin: Even on this last tour I appreciated you mixed in some unexpected songs. As you are thinking of playing the new songs they often tend to invigorate the old ones as you sequence a set. Is that the case for you?

Lynne: Yeah, it’s always that way. When you have to bring some new songs into the set, which ones are gonna get the boot? Cause you can’t play all night long, you’re gonna stop at some point. So it is trial and error. The keys, the tempo is what it’s always about.

Baltin: Are there shows you have enjoyed recently or that inspired you?

Lynne: The last show I saw as a fan that blew me away, Tom Petty was me favorite in the performance thing. Not only because he played a few of my songs in his set we wrote together, so that was always great to see that it worked for him on the stage with all these millions of people shouting for him. It was just nice having been involved with the creation of those.

Baltin: I saw Petty so many times in the last year he toured and one of the things I wrote at the time was it such a pleasure as a fan to see him having so much fun. When you see your friends and contemporaries up there enjoying touring so much does that inspire you?

Lynne: Kind of. I’d probably go, “I can do that.” I don’t mean like him, I mean I can do it like me. That’s not the same thing at all. I just thought, “Oh, I wish I could but I’m too lazy or something like that.” Then suddenly got this offer to play at this little place in Hammersmith in London for children in need and that’s how I got this band together. And they were such a wonderful band that I couldn’t bear to let them down. So I wanted to do more, started doing more one-off dates and then started touring. It was amazing. I enjoyed every minute of it for the first few years. You don’t always enjoy every minute of it, but been pretty amazing.

Baltin: After having done it for a few years do you still feel that same vitality?

Lynne: Probably not quite as much as when we started doing the first few tours. That was always still quite amazing, seeing all these people. I didn’t actually believe that all these people were gonna come. But they did and I went, “Wow, who’s paying for all them?” It was wonderful to see they had come to see us and we were there. And there they are, Jeff Lynne’s ELO, and the place is sold out to the roof. We got so many awards in America.

Baltin: What is your primary focus when writing?

Lynne: I’m always focused on the album itself and that’s what interests me most of all. Is what I can get down on there and make it move me. And if it moves me by sentiment or the chord changes or the piano parts or the string parts then it’s done for me. I’m going, “Yeah, I like that moment.”

Baltin: Every artist finds those moments because as much as you want to do your best work you can’t. As an artist you always have to have something to strive for. So what were those moments for you on From Out Of Nowhere?

Lynne: I know exactly what you mean. I don’t know how to put it into words. I can’t really give you specific examples but I can say specific things, like chord changes, chord sequences. If I can get one of them that just comes naturally without any effort whatsoever, from just moving your fingers across the keyboard and there are like three great chords or four great chords, like in “From Out Of Nowhere” and that just came from out of nowhere, it really did, those four chords. I’m like, “Ah, that’s good.” And it can be the verse and the chorus and have a bridge in between. Things like that are happy accidents if you like. But the thing is it’s learning how to recognize them when they do come and knowing that’s good instead of just moving on to something else. I make sure I’ve always got my little recording device just in case one of those comes up. It did and it literally came out of nowhere.

Baltin: Can you look at those older songs then with that perspective and find those happy accidents?

Lynne: I’ve got it now, “Mr. Blue Sky.” I know why they like it now because it’s so simple and it’s so childlike, anybody can do it. I have got a different perspective on lots of them, like “Evil Woman” I find is one of my favorites now, even if it’s the most simple thing. You couldn’t get much simpler. And quite a few, like “Turn To Stone” is very, very simple. But I love playing it, it’s my favorite song to play. I just love the chords. The simplicity of it is the best thing about it.

Baltin: What is the one simple little tune you wish you had written and why?

Lynne: (Laughs) I would think one of them would have to be “Only The Lonely,” by Roy Orbison. It’s such a clever song. It’s so simple, there are only like four chords in it and it sounds like hundreds of them. He used to tell me how they recorded it. It was fascinating stuff. In a room not much bigger than this probably. I’ve read all about it and I’ve been there, in the old RCA building, and fascinating all the old-fashioned things. I think “Only The Lonely” sums up all the beauty you can have, but such simple chords. I used to think all the time, “How do they do that?” When I was little, when I was 13, I would think, “Who’s the bloke who goes and puts it all together and makes it into this beautiful thing?” It’s me (cracks up). I’m just kidding you. I do my best, but I’ll never get near that one I don’t think.

Baltin: When you think back on being that kid and you saw how much simpler it was then you imagine is there that feeling of having gone behind the curtain and found the Wizard?

Lynne: I kind of do, It’s much simpler than I imagined it would be.