I hear Jeff Lynne has recently been sidelined by a mysterious infection, and had to cancel some performances. We wish the revered music producer and founder of ELO good health and a quick recovery. Today, Bill and Rich, The Splendid Bohemians would like to celebrate this versatile Rock stylist by playing two cuts separated by decades, from two vastly different incarnations, but somehow identifiable as his, if only by the unique sensibility in which these cuts are marinated: Imposters of Life’s Magazine by The Idle Race, and Tweeter and the Monkey Man by The Traveling Wilburys.

There are certain tropes that signify this creator’s hand: catchy musical themes, thick layers of horns and strings and witty Beatle-esque harmonies - (he even got to work with the resurrected voice of John Lennon when producing the Beatle’s ghostly “reunion”tracks Free As a Bird, and Real Love. Like so many of his generation, Jeff came up under the spell of the mop tops, and even this early recording by the Idle Race has that 1967 Psychedelic flavor, pre-dating by a year, but somehow reminiscent of his future Willburys bandmate, George Harrison’s song Savoy Truffle.

IMPOSTERS OF LIFE’S MAGAZINE

The personnel changes of the several Birmingham beat groups in the mid-sixties are too numerous to recite here, but one group, The Nightriders are notable because they took on a teenaged Lynne as guitarist in ’66 - and changed their name to The Idle Race (a more timely handle). Roy Wood of the Move, Jeff’s friend and future partner in the formation of ELO, helped the IR get signed, and influential DJ John Peel was an early and strong promoter of the group. Jeff’s tenure with IR was short lived however, and in 1970 he founded (with Wood) the legendary Electric Light Orchestra.

This early composition has all the hallmarks that would later define Jeff’s work: witty, yet Romantic lyrics; hard driving rhythms, but with plenty of surprisingly lush filigree. The ambition of the work, with its startlingly different movements, is impressive for such a young talent - but, at the core is Jeff’s unmistakable ear for the “hook” - marking him as one of the most reliable masters of Pop.

TWEETER AND THE MONKEY MAN

Tweeter and the Monkey Man, from 22 years later - demonstrates how far the musician had come professionally. Here Jeff is, arguably the lowest man on the totem pole of The Traveling Wilburys, a Super Group’s Super Group (with a Beatle, George Harrison, future Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy - fucking - Orbison…., yet his mark is unmistakeable. This tune, supposedly written by Bob Dylan, who spittingly delivers it like a parody of Springsteen’s New Jersey, drenched in a Sopranos sauce - and it’s just plain fun. But, the chorus, penned by Jeff with George Harrison, lifts the track to the existential level of a rock opera, giving it “the hook,” the drama and the flair.

The layers on this musical cake are delicious - there’s George’s sly slide work; the Lady Madonna horns, the timpani booms counterpointed by a tinkling piano riff; the building of the strings and horns and oohing and aaahing harmonies… they suck me in every time. Good stuff!