Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra: Before and After Paperback – September 21, 2015

This is the compelling and revealing story of the inspiration behind The Electric Light Orchestra, Jeff Lynne, multi instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, renaissance man and humble with it. His many achievements included producing albums for the likes of Roy Orbison, Joe Cocker, George Harrison to name a few, and on of the members of super group The Travelling Wilburys. A great read!

In lieu of a more journalistic approach to the story of Lynne and ELO—one involving interviewing the original participants, digging into all of the session tapes—this is a thorough, balanced, and entertaining overview. As a full-time nonfiction writer of books and articles myself, I was at first skeptical of the author’s approach (essentially drawing from previously published resources and doing no original interviews). But he ended up exemplifying how to write a solid book with that approach. I was bowled over by the attention to detail, the use of quotes, and the sense that while the author was admittedly writing as a fan he was clearly working to present the most rounded and researched picture possible. Highly recommended for any ELO/Lynne fan.

This was a very informative book, as an ELO freak, there was a lot i was unaware of. Biggest disappointment was finding out the spaceship was scrapped....😢

This book falls firmly in the category of “it’s the best we have until someone does a Mark Lewisohn-style book.” Books on Jeff Lynne and ELO are nearly non-existent. Lynne will likely never do his own book, and if he did it probably wouldn’t be very revealing.There aren’t droves of ELO scholars ready to publish, so this type of book is a good stop-gap. It’s basically a super extended version of what you’d read on an Wiki page for ELO. For those who haven’t read old trade magazines and obscure old interviews, you might pick up a few interesting tidbits. It kind of reminds me of the first post-1970 Beatles biographies that were out there. They had more detail than any official accounts, and it was a good entry info fandom and scholarship, but not much else. There are oodles of detail yet to be revealed about Lynne and ELO’s career (a whole book could likely be written about the “ELO Part II” controversies).Perhaps with renewed popularity for Lynne and ELO (moreso in Europe apparently), a publisher might be able to commission a good book on the band. Until then, this book is an easy and light read.

Although I've enjoyed the music of ELO for more than four decades (not really paying all that much attention until 1975 or so), I have really come to appreciate their unique sound the past ten years. I did buy "Out of the Blue" when it first came out and played it until I almost wore out the grooves of that classic double LP and a while back I purchased the CD, "Time" which is a phenomenal and very underrated concept album (although it did go to #1 in the UK. Since then I have purchased the CD "Out of the Blue" with bonus tracks), "A New World Record" with bonus tracks, "Secret Messages" and "The Balance of Power" (the latter two have some good things, but I really think the better music is on the albums from the mid-seventies up until and including, "Time", although I'm not a fan of several of the songs on the disco influenced "Discovery" album). There are some great songs written and recorded by Jeff Lynne before the "Face the Music" album ("Can't Get It Out Of My Head" for example) I believe that Jeff matured as the genius he is with the "Face the Music" sessions. This book tells a great story about the life of Jeff Lynne and how he has transformed the music industry during his career. He has worked (recording and producing) with many of the great 'so-called' recording icons who have made such an impact on many millions of peoples lives. He is a genius, of whom there is no equal with the exception perhaps of the late Sir George Martin. It's incredible that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (a shameless sham organization if there ever was one) took so long to enshrine this very talented human being. Having read this fascinating book I now have a far greater appreciation for Jeff's music and all that he has accomplished!

I really enjoyed this book well written and I learned a lot about ELO that I didn’t know. It’s written by a UK author, but was well balanced for US fans. It’s definitely worth a read for hard core ELO fans, but might be a bit dry for the casual fan

It's too bad some people were disappointed with this book. I was quite happy to find out more about Jeff Lynne. I was a Move fan in the 1970s, which led to being a Roy Wood fan. ELO first caught my attention with "Roll Over Beethoven" and is one of my favorite pop/rock groups.As with many artists, I find it interesting to find out more about the creative process behind making a record. This book isn't the ultimate, but it tells me more than I knew before. Recently I saw the video biography of Jeff Lynne and wondered why he seemed to be living by himself. This book answers that question.I disagree with Jeff's removal of strings from his version of ELO's greatest hits. To me, that's what made ELO special. Rock music is made of sharp edges, but strings are usually gentle and meandering. Put together they make a powerful combination.I was hoping to read more about JL as a producer. Dave Edmunds' "Riff Raff" album is one of my favorites, though it's very apparent that too much driving beat has been added to perk up slow songs. Jeff seems to have overdone that album. Yet he took George Harrison's normally weak songs and made them sound great on "Cloud Nine". Ditto for Tom Petty ("Free Fallin' " is the lamest song ever, yet Jeff Lynne made it a hit). Maybe he does over-produce some songs, but those are the ones I listen to regularly. I can admire an album for being done "purely", but if it doesn't grab me, it ends up in my box of "maybe these will grow on me someday" CDs.

Too little information is available about the genius that is Jeff Lynne. I have loved his music since ELO and he never disappoints. His music stands up today which is about the best compliment one can pay a musician, songsmith, and producer.

Um livro fantástico e extremamente agradável de ler. Pena que ele parou em 2014. Adoraria que ele estivesse atualizado até a data de hoje.

Very Good Biography

A nice look behind a musical legend! A must read for fans?

Lange mussten ELO-Fans und Freunde von Jeff Lynne warten, um so fundiert und unterhaltsam wie hier über diesen großen und enom bedeutsamen Musiker informiert zu werden. Ein Buch außer Konkurrenz! Sinnvolle Ergänzung: Die DVD/BR Jeff Lynne Live In Hyde Park. Neben dem Konzert gibt es da eine exzellent gemachte Doku über Jeff.

Bravo, Mr Bluesky !This book brought me the confirmation : Jeff Lynne is a real genius !!From The Idle Race and The Move to ELO's beautiful songs ; from writing, singing and playing to producing, anything you have to know about The Man is here !