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Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After
** This electronic edition contains 35 photographs **Passionate about music from childhood and much-respected as a teenage guitarist in his native Birmingham, Jeff Lynne rose through the ranks of various semi-professional local groups to become the frontman of the critically acclaimed Idle Race in the late 60s. From there he joined the ever-popular Move, then helped form the groundbreaking Electric Light Orchestra. After co-founder Roy Wood left in 1972, Lynne turned what had been a struggling rock and classical fusion into one of Britain s most consistently successful and popular acts. Following a run of hit singles, albums, and sell-out concerts throughout the world, he laid the group to rest in 1986 and combined a solo career as an artist and producer with membership of the ultimate supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys. His production credits include Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Del Shannon, George Harrison, and even the Beatles on their two final singles in the mid- 90s. Jeff The Electric Light Orchestra, Before and After is the first-ever biography of one of the most prolific and highly regarded performers of the last fifty years. Rich in backstage anecdotes of overheated orchestras, frontmen rivalries, tour mishaps, cross-group partnerships, unlikely collaborations, and self-imposed exile from the stage in the quest for inspiration, this book will leave fans and general readers delighted and inspired by a career at the epicentre of twentieth-century rock.** This electronic edition contains 35 photographs **
- GenresMusicNonfiction
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 23, 2015
49 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
John van der Kiste
172 books51 followersJohn Van der Kiste, British author, was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, on September 15, 1954, son of Wing Commander Guy Van der Kiste (1912–99). He was educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, where he briefly formed a rock band Cobweb with fellow pupil Miles Tredinnick, later vocalist with new wave band London and subsequently playwright and scriptwriter, and read Librarianship at Ealing Technical College, where he edited the librarians’ student magazine.
He has worked for several years in public and academic libraries, but is best known as a writer. His first book, Frederick III, appeared in 1981, and since then he has published over twenty historical biographies, as well as books on local history, true crime, rock music, a novel and a play. He is also a contributor to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Guinness Rockopaedia, and has produced articles on historical, musical and art subjects in national and local journals, including Illustrated London News, Royalty Digest, European Royal History Journal, Best of British, BBC History Magazine, Record Collector, Antique Collector, This England, The Independent, and Gibbons Stamp Monthly. He has reviewed books and records for the press, written CD booklet notes, and between 1991 and 1996 edited the 70s rock fanzine Keep on Rockin.
In 2002 he was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary 'The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar', first screened in January 2003.
He married professional musician and teacher Kim Graham (née Geldard) in 2003 and lives in Devon.
He has worked for several years in public and academic libraries, but is best known as a writer. His first book, Frederick III, appeared in 1981, and since then he has published over twenty historical biographies, as well as books on local history, true crime, rock music, a novel and a play. He is also a contributor to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Guinness Rockopaedia, and has produced articles on historical, musical and art subjects in national and local journals, including Illustrated London News, Royalty Digest, European Royal History Journal, Best of British, BBC History Magazine, Record Collector, Antique Collector, This England, The Independent, and Gibbons Stamp Monthly. He has reviewed books and records for the press, written CD booklet notes, and between 1991 and 1996 edited the 70s rock fanzine Keep on Rockin.
In 2002 he was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary 'The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar', first screened in January 2003.
He married professional musician and teacher Kim Graham (née Geldard) in 2003 and lives in Devon.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 16, 2024
Competent and thorough, but not really revelatory.
This is basically and inevitably a companion to van der Kiste's earlier book on Roy Wood ( Roy Wood ), Lynne's sometime creative partner and friendly rival during the key years of their careers (bandmates in The Move and ELO for about two crucial years, then labelmates who shared management).
Like that book, this is the best book about Lynne and ELO basically by default, and is likely to be the best for the foreseeable future- there simply aren't any other similar book-length treatments of Lynne's career (or ELO's lifespan) in existence, and, like Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne is a fairly private sort who doesn't seem likely to publish memoirs; his only literary output has been the Wembley or Bust coffee table book, which sprinkles blurbs about his songs and career through what is basically a book of glossy photos of the titular concert, and brief commentary on his songs in reissue liner notes.
(There's really only one book for competition. Bev Bevan, ELO's longtime drummer, wrote his own book, 1980's slight The Electric Light Orchestra Story . Though he was ELO's drummer for their entire original run, and his firsthand testimony is thus valuable- van der Kiste draws on it freely in this book, mostly for anecdotal details- Bevan's book is limited as anything but such a primary source. Bevan had little creative input into ELO's records, and was, at least when he wrote the book, artistically incurious to the extent that he freely disparaged much of the more colorful and ambitious work he was involved in. He positions himself as a rock musician who likes playing simple music, getting paid, and retelling road stories. He's also prone to embellishing said stories for entertainment value.)
This is a professional biography (focused on Lynne's musical career) rather than a personal one, and it's rooted in years of fandom and research on the author's part. Van der Kiste notes that he wrote without seeking the cooperation of the musicians involved in Lynne's work, for better and for worse (there's no 100% new material here, but at least he doesnt end up, say, publicizing an estranged bandmate's version of events, as is too often the case). Lynne's work as a musician and producer are covered in detail, but there's little on the artistic aspect of his work- little analysis or theorization about his choices of words or chords or the like. His personal life is touched on almost not at all- family is mentioned, but not elaborated on.
There's not really a whole lot of drama here. Roy Wood's story is that of a man who achieved tremendous success while still quite young (22 UK hit singles by the time he was 30), before abruptly falling from grace, due to some combination of difficulties getting ahead in a changing music industry and shifting public tastes, and scraping along in obscurity afterwards. In contrast, Lynne got started later, and had to work at it longer before really breaking through, but achieved even greater success, and did not face such hardship, more-or-less gracefully putting down ELO in the 80s and transitioning to the role of respected producer and elder statesman of pop. What sorrows Jeff Lynne may have experienced, he keeps to himself.
This is basically and inevitably a companion to van der Kiste's earlier book on Roy Wood ( Roy Wood ), Lynne's sometime creative partner and friendly rival during the key years of their careers (bandmates in The Move and ELO for about two crucial years, then labelmates who shared management).
Like that book, this is the best book about Lynne and ELO basically by default, and is likely to be the best for the foreseeable future- there simply aren't any other similar book-length treatments of Lynne's career (or ELO's lifespan) in existence, and, like Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne is a fairly private sort who doesn't seem likely to publish memoirs; his only literary output has been the Wembley or Bust coffee table book, which sprinkles blurbs about his songs and career through what is basically a book of glossy photos of the titular concert, and brief commentary on his songs in reissue liner notes.
(There's really only one book for competition. Bev Bevan, ELO's longtime drummer, wrote his own book, 1980's slight The Electric Light Orchestra Story . Though he was ELO's drummer for their entire original run, and his firsthand testimony is thus valuable- van der Kiste draws on it freely in this book, mostly for anecdotal details- Bevan's book is limited as anything but such a primary source. Bevan had little creative input into ELO's records, and was, at least when he wrote the book, artistically incurious to the extent that he freely disparaged much of the more colorful and ambitious work he was involved in. He positions himself as a rock musician who likes playing simple music, getting paid, and retelling road stories. He's also prone to embellishing said stories for entertainment value.)
This is a professional biography (focused on Lynne's musical career) rather than a personal one, and it's rooted in years of fandom and research on the author's part. Van der Kiste notes that he wrote without seeking the cooperation of the musicians involved in Lynne's work, for better and for worse (there's no 100% new material here, but at least he doesnt end up, say, publicizing an estranged bandmate's version of events, as is too often the case). Lynne's work as a musician and producer are covered in detail, but there's little on the artistic aspect of his work- little analysis or theorization about his choices of words or chords or the like. His personal life is touched on almost not at all- family is mentioned, but not elaborated on.
There's not really a whole lot of drama here. Roy Wood's story is that of a man who achieved tremendous success while still quite young (22 UK hit singles by the time he was 30), before abruptly falling from grace, due to some combination of difficulties getting ahead in a changing music industry and shifting public tastes, and scraping along in obscurity afterwards. In contrast, Lynne got started later, and had to work at it longer before really breaking through, but achieved even greater success, and did not face such hardship, more-or-less gracefully putting down ELO in the 80s and transitioning to the role of respected producer and elder statesman of pop. What sorrows Jeff Lynne may have experienced, he keeps to himself.
June 25, 2018
Jeff Lynne is a genius! I really enjoyed this book and was amazed to see how many people he has worked with over the years. My only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is that I wish the author had interviewed Jeff. I came out of this book with more of a crush on him than I had going in! LOL!!! Great book for a fan of Jeff's!!!
September 22, 2024
The author does exhaustive research from many news sources, and some of it is very interesting. There are also some weaknesses.
When you hear van der Kiste's voice most is when he is casting aspersions on the media, even though he is relying on them.
He has also written about Roy Wood, and for the part of the book before Wood leaving ELO, it feels like it is not so much about Lynne, but maybe rehashing. Then the last chapter feels kind of rushed.
What is really missing though, is Lynne's voice. Having just read Wembley or Bust, there are quotes from a mature Lynn that could really tie it together. This book was published before that concert, so it would not have been available for reference, but it highlighted the lack.
It was okay.
When you hear van der Kiste's voice most is when he is casting aspersions on the media, even though he is relying on them.
He has also written about Roy Wood, and for the part of the book before Wood leaving ELO, it feels like it is not so much about Lynne, but maybe rehashing. Then the last chapter feels kind of rushed.
What is really missing though, is Lynne's voice. Having just read Wembley or Bust, there are quotes from a mature Lynn that could really tie it together. This book was published before that concert, so it would not have been available for reference, but it highlighted the lack.
It was okay.
April 5, 2021
As much as a love ELO, I can't say this was a great book. It provided the basic history of Jeff Lynne from his early bands, through ELO and the Traveling Wilburys, and including some of his contributions to other artists. Jeff became an excellent producer for other bands, and you can notice the improvement in the albums to which he contributes. The end of the book includes a comprehensive list of all his works and there are some useful references if you're a big fan. A worthwhile read for an ELO or Jeff Lynne fan, but probably not for anyone else. I enjoyed it because I am a big fan.
June 20, 2017
ELO have been my favourite band since I bought my first LP, their "Discovery" album. As a result Jeff Lynne is on of my musical heroes. There's always been a paucity of biographical reading on Jeff Lynne, as he's renowned for his privacy.
This unauthorised biography is well-researched and provides a very readable history of Jeff Lynne's musical career from day one.
If you're an ELO/Jeff Lynne fan like me, then this is a must read.
This unauthorised biography is well-researched and provides a very readable history of Jeff Lynne's musical career from day one.
If you're an ELO/Jeff Lynne fan like me, then this is a must read.
August 15, 2019
I latched onto Jeff Lynne and E.L.O. when 'Eldorado' was first released but was more interested in John Van Der Kiste's documenting of Lynne's time in 'The Idle Race' and 'The Move'.
The biography is more centred on the recordings and subsequent discographies than a more personal exploration of the man.
The biography is more centred on the recordings and subsequent discographies than a more personal exploration of the man.
April 27, 2018
Fun ELO Bio for true fans
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
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
August 22, 2023
Spaceship On The Brain......
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 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....😢
August 16, 2018
Pretty generic connect-the-dots history of Jeff Lynne and his musical life. Pretty light on details.
December 5, 2022
Loved this, covers a brilliant career well.
September 29, 2023
Very good read
April 26, 2016
I didn't realize how new this book was until I checked the profile here on Goodreads, so I'd like to drop in with the positive review I feel the book deserves!
Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra: Before and After is a biography about ELO frontman and mastermind Jeff Lynne. The book does a nice job anthologizing Lynne's beginnings as a Birmingham guitarist in critically-acclaimed but commercially-unsuccessful Idle Race to his status as the creative director and producer of England's successful orchestral pop outfit, Electric Light Orchestra.
As an ELO fan with casual interest in Jeff Lynne's background and career, this book definitely satisfied a majority of my questions. It's detailed without meandering, informative and speculative without sounding gossip-raggish. This book really allows fans insight into Jeff Lynne as a musician and producer, gives a glimpse into his creative processes, and allows us to see his development across the span of his career. At just under 200 pages, it distills information from a lot of different sources into one easy-to-read volume. And though the bibliography seemed to indicate that the author hadn't conducted any fresh interviews to add to the material available, most of the information here was new to me and I found that little of what was available required further embellishment and research for the purposes of this book.
The one criticism I did have mainly stemmed from the fact that I would have preferred that van der Kiste relinquished some of the passages about critical reception in favor of some more inside stories of Jeff Lynne's various works. At times, the prose came off a little more dense and a little less anecdotal than I like my nonfiction--though this may be down to personal preference.
Even still, I immensely enjoyed this book. Definitely a nice guide to Jeff Lynne's music career for fans of his music and production.
Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra: Before and After is a biography about ELO frontman and mastermind Jeff Lynne. The book does a nice job anthologizing Lynne's beginnings as a Birmingham guitarist in critically-acclaimed but commercially-unsuccessful Idle Race to his status as the creative director and producer of England's successful orchestral pop outfit, Electric Light Orchestra.
As an ELO fan with casual interest in Jeff Lynne's background and career, this book definitely satisfied a majority of my questions. It's detailed without meandering, informative and speculative without sounding gossip-raggish. This book really allows fans insight into Jeff Lynne as a musician and producer, gives a glimpse into his creative processes, and allows us to see his development across the span of his career. At just under 200 pages, it distills information from a lot of different sources into one easy-to-read volume. And though the bibliography seemed to indicate that the author hadn't conducted any fresh interviews to add to the material available, most of the information here was new to me and I found that little of what was available required further embellishment and research for the purposes of this book.
The one criticism I did have mainly stemmed from the fact that I would have preferred that van der Kiste relinquished some of the passages about critical reception in favor of some more inside stories of Jeff Lynne's various works. At times, the prose came off a little more dense and a little less anecdotal than I like my nonfiction--though this may be down to personal preference.
Even still, I immensely enjoyed this book. Definitely a nice guide to Jeff Lynne's music career for fans of his music and production.
August 26, 2015
in the introduction to this book the author admits that it is an unauthorised biopic of ELO founder and frontman jeff lynne,with a wealth of information gleaned from various interview sources the music press,the internet and t.v etc,so a lot of its contents will be known to ELO fans as it offers nothing new,but nonetheless it is a informative account of Jeff Lynne,s rise to the top of the music business
starting with the Idle race to joining the move,forming ELO with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan.
Bev Bevan,s biopic the ELO story covered the bands history from the 1970,s to the 1980,s,.Jeff Lynne ELO before & after furthers the bands history through the recording of the albums Time,secret messages
& Balance of power,and Jeff Lynne,s work with George Harrison,the travelling Wilburys and ELO,s return to the stage for the 2014 BBC Hyde park concert.This book is up to date.
starting with the Idle race to joining the move,forming ELO with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan.
Bev Bevan,s biopic the ELO story covered the bands history from the 1970,s to the 1980,s,.Jeff Lynne ELO before & after furthers the bands history through the recording of the albums Time,secret messages
& Balance of power,and Jeff Lynne,s work with George Harrison,the travelling Wilburys and ELO,s return to the stage for the 2014 BBC Hyde park concert.This book is up to date.
January 11, 2017
About the best account we have on the life and career of Jeff Lynne to date. The author does his best to compile the story of the musical mastermind's life by injecting quotes from printed interviews and broadcasts to paint the picture of his life and music. It would have been an even better read if the author had been able to interview members of the band, or other artists that Jeff Lynne produced, or worked with during the various phases of his remarkable career. Still, while not as detailed or insightful as a devoted fan might wish for, it still is well-written and gives you enough information to make you feel just a bit wiser about the subject.
October 9, 2015
I ma not big on music books. Actually I prefer, well the music - but I enjoyed the book, as it clearly centers on the musical life of Jeff Lynne, as the book title suggests. I knew Jeff was a producer, but never realized it's extent. I also didn't realize his deep fondness for the Beatles, which comes across throughout the book. Not sure if I would ever read an autobiography, but this did satisfy my curiosity of ELO life (outside the albums). Jeff not only "faced the music", here, it shows he truly believes in it.
February 8, 2019
I think Jeff Lynne is a genius, especially in the studio. He never wrote anything mediocre. I wish someone would write a book about his private life. Jeff has maintained that there is no really deep meaning behind his lyrics. Uh huh, sure!
December 27, 2016
Would recommend great story and one of my favourite bands and have given people a lot of pleasure for many years
Good to read a down to earth story about a person from a working class background who lived and breathed music hope you continue with your great music
Good to read a down to earth story about a person from a working class background who lived and breathed music hope you continue with your great music
January 16, 2016
Excellent overview of the music of Jeff Lynne. Well written and I learned quite a bit. It also made me want to rush out and buy a whole lot of move and Idle Race albums!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews