Jeff Lynne and ELO (Electric Light Orchestra)

[hobbestheprince]

I`ve seen Queen record in this way in the music video of the tune Sombody to love.

But I think Queen genrally just dubbed Freddies voice until they got the result they needed.
He had the range and the best voice.
I know they used Roger taylors voice on many occasions as he hit the highest notes of the quartet.

But generally it was Freddie that you heard in Queens Harmonies.

Oddly enough I watched a Queen "Story of Bohemian Rhapsody" on YouTube a few days ago. It's worth checking out and it's split up into different parts. The English guy saying the lyrics in a serious tone is quite funny too.

Here's the link to the first part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtrhcECdItk

The rest should show up on the side bar, or you can click "more from this user" and they're all there. Some cool ELO videos are on there too.

 

[DavidK]

I played with ELO twice in the 90s, at least what was left of it. The only original members left were Bev Bevan and the violinist, some of the others were with them for some time and two were fairly new. Lynne was not on the first gig but was for the second.

One thing that amazed me was how great they could harmonize live. They did "Because" by the Beatles in an a Cappella version and the intonation was spot on. Granted, on the albums its basically Lynne overdubbing, but he must be a stickler for proper intonation and finding the right personnel.

The string sound on the albums is very weird and different due to overdubbing the same people a zillion times. I did the same technique on my last CD and there is a "phasing" sound of sorts. When you have an orchestra you have 30 different violins, some bright, some dark, some harsh or mellow etc. When they mix together you get that big, rich string sound. With one violin overdubbed, you get the character of the one violin x 30 and its very different. One advantage is ensemble, when the same violinist (or 2) plays the same scale passage over and over, he does it the same way and its very precise, moreso than 30 people together. To me, its that unnatural overdubbed sound that makes ELO unusual.

In concert, they just hire a string section like everybody else does. In the 70s it was just 3 or 4 people. In the 90s they would hire a small orchestra of 30 people. And they fed us

 

[Nakatira]

In concert, they just hire a string section like everybody else does. In the 70s it was just 3 or 4 people. In the 90s they would hire a small orchestra of 30 people. And they fed us

With what? LSD?

 

[DavidK]

With what? LSD?

Boxed Lunches. I remember it very well because the number of bands that feed the orchestra is pretty damn small. Trans-Siberian Orch was the best by far, they have a kickass spread, they travel with a chef. He's an ass, but he can cook. ELO had a buffet for them and the crew, which is usual and we are rarely allowed to partake. However, we were surprised when they got 30 catered boxed lunches for us. When you do these gigs, There is a rehearsal from 2-5 and a show at 8. This was in Chicago at the Rosemont, which is pretty far from the city. Therefore, not only is there no food but you have nothing to do for 3 hours. With a meal, you can relax and sit down. Classical musicians are VERY appreciative when bands do this. We played all pretty.

YES made us buy are boxed lunches. We were at an outdoor venue outside of Cleveland, and the traffic scene getting in and out is pretty bad. They encourage you not to leave between the rehearsal and the show due to this, so the contractor ordered boxed lunches. They were like 12 bucks, which was deducted from our pay, and they SUCKED. Total ripoff. Damn cheapass rock stars.

 

[Nakatira]

Boxed Lunches. I remember it very well because the number of bands that feed the orchestra is pretty damn small. Trans-Siberian Orch was the best by far, they have a kickass spread, they travel with a chef. He's an ass, but he can cook. ELO had a buffet for them and the crew, which is usual and we are rarely allowed to partake. However, we were surprised when they got 30 catered boxed lunches for us. When you do these gigs, There is a rehearsal from 2-5 and a show at 8. This was in Chicago at the Rosemont, which is pretty far from the city. Therefore, not only is there no food but you have nothing to do for 3 hours. With a meal, you can relax and sit down. Classical musicians are VERY appreciative when bands do this. We played all pretty.

YES made us buy are boxed lunches. We were at an outdoor venue outside of Cleveland, and the traffic scene getting in and out is pretty bad. They encourage you not to leave between the rehearsal and the show due to this, so the contractor ordered boxed lunches. They were like 12 bucks, which was deducted from our pay, and they SUCKED. Total ripoff. Damn cheapass rock stars.

I remeber seeing a documentary about British Prog acts, and one thing they mentioned was that all the other acts that toured with or along with Genesis were jealous at Genesis because the allways had the best buffets.
I turned out that one of theire roadies was a former chef or something like that.

Btw I`m sure it was Steve Howe`s Idea to rip you of on the lunches

Rick Wakemann would have ordered Indian Curry`s for the lot of you

 

[DavidK]

Rick Wakemann would have ordered Indian Curry`s for the lot of you

Wakeman wasnt there. It was Anderson, Squire, Howe, White and two keyboardists who really werent named. I dont think Howe eats food, he is the skinniest person I have ever seen. Squire eats, he's a giant.

Trans-Siberian found some guy in Cleveland and liked his food, so he went on the road with them. He followed them around in a truck pulling a trailer, basically a portable kitchen. Real surly and grumpy fella, he scared us. And he always wore shorts. Keep in mind that this is in the winter in the midwest. He was enormous and probably got hot cooking so he just wore shorts when it was zero degrees out.

 

[hobbestheprince]

Wakeman wasnt there. It was Anderson, Squire, Howe, White and two keyboardists who really werent named. I dont think Howe eats food, he is the skinniest person I have ever seen. Squire eats, he's a giant.

Trans-Siberian found some guy in Cleveland and liked his food, so he went on the road with them. He followed them around in a truck pulling a trailer, basically a portable kitchen. Real surly and grumpy fella, he scared us. And he always wore shorts. Keep in mind that this is in the winter in the midwest. He was enormous and probably got hot cooking so he just wore shorts when it was zero degrees out.

That's really cool that you got to actually meet Jeff Lynne. From interviews he seems like a real nice guy. That, and his 'fro is cool too

 

[hobbestheprince]

I'm trying to make a harmony thing like E.L.O at the moment .... no success so far, but I'll post what I have so you guys can check it out. Wish I knew more about the sound of the harmonies ... 'cause I transcribed some of them by ear and the sound is way off. It just sounds like regular harmonies.

 

[DavidK]

That's really cool that you got to actually meet Jeff Lynne. From interviews he seems like a real nice guy. That, and his 'fro is cool too

On the first ELO tour I did, Lynne wasnt there. The lead singer was a short bald guy. Shaved head. In the rehearsal, he puts on a Jeff Lynne fro wig. I was thinking that he was going to trick the audience. Jeff Lynne really doesnt have a face, its all hair and dark glasses. The guy did sound like him, but he didnt wear it at the show.

.... no success so far, but I'll post what I have so you guys can check it out.

Cool, I look forward to hearing it. It was and is a great band, they got caught up in disco but even that era has some good stuff.

 

[DAS19]

Really weird thing but I worked at a YMCA which is where everyone said this guy was in ELO. His name was Eric Troyer but I guess hes not in ELO becuase I just looked it up and it says hes in ELO Part II which is pretty gay in my opinion.

Although he did mimic JL pretty damn good so you may want to go ask for him down at the Somerset Hills YMCA in NJ first hand sources are the bomb.

 

[hobbestheprince]

Really weird thing but I worked at a YMCA which is where everyone said this guy was in ELO. His name was Eric Troyer but I guess hes not in ELO becuase I just looked it up and it says hes in ELO Part II which is pretty gay in my opinion.

Although he did mimic JL pretty damn good so you may want to go ask for him down at the Somerset Hills YMCA in NJ first hand sources are the bomb.

I'm in Canada so I don't think I'll be heading to New Jersey any time soon. It's too bad because it would've been cool to get some info on this. There's just little pieces scattered around the net and stuff, but nothing really tangible for me to use.

 

[Robert D]

You trying to start some trouble dude..?

Bring it on, you Norwegian Tinker Fairy.....

 

[kid klash]

Oddly enough I watched a Queen "Story of Bohemian Rhapsody" on YouTube a few days ago. It's worth checking out and it's split up into different parts. The English guy saying the lyrics in a serious tone is quite funny too.

Here's the link to the first part:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtrhcECdItk

The rest should show up on the side bar, or you can click "more from this user" and they're all there.

GREAT link!!!

I took the time to watch all six parts, and really enjoyed it. Took me back to the mid-70's, when I saw Queen live in Portland Oregon. One of the best concerts I ever saw. I still have the ticket stub, shoved in an envelope with so many more...

 

[Gorty]

"Dont Bring Me Down" is an awesome ELO tune.

 

[hobbestheprince]

GREAT link!!!

I took the time to watch all six parts, and really enjoyed it. Took me back to the mid-70's, when I saw Queen live in Portland Oregon. One of the best concerts I ever saw. I still have the ticket stub, shoved in an envelope with so many more...

Glad you liked it There's a cool one on how Sir George Martin did some of the Beatles' stuff on Sgt. Pepper as well. That site has a plethora of cool interviews as well, even a rare Jeff Lynne one

 

[hobbestheprince]

Ok I did a quick example on Melodyne, I know I know, I shouldn't use that stuff, I was trying to fool around with the scale tone patterns and see if it would snap the harmony into it's rightful place, so it would save me time, but it kinda made the harmony sound weird. Either way, as you can tell, it seems to be lacking a certain effect or something ... so I figured I would upload it to a site so someone can listen. The one problem is ripway has a limited badnwidth, so if some people don't get to hear it, it's because of that.

Here's the clip:

Example

 

[Kramer]

Oh yeah, here's some samples if anyone hasn't heard of E.L.O.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZB-DUCrhVQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRnDW97nEXc

It's all the background bits (harmonies/effects on them) I'm interested in.

I don't hear any affects on the harmony vox on telephone line.

 

[DavidK]

Ok I did a quick example on Melodyne, I know I know, I shouldn't use that stuff, I was trying to fool around with the scale tone patterns and see if it would snap the harmony into it's rightful place, so it would save me time, but it kinda made the harmony sound weird. ]

Definitely weird!

I think you have to do it the old-fashioned way, one at a time. The harmonies are never consistent with ELO i.e thay arent just "a fifth down", they change. There are also a ton of tracks. There are subgroups: one group harmonizez, the other does a seperate thing. He must be very organized.

 

[DavidK]

I don't hear any affects on the harmony vox on telephone line.

Its a dude singing. He puts some funky eq on it but he sang every part.

 

[hobbestheprince]

I don't hear any affects on the harmony vox on telephone line.

On the actual recording the part when they go, "Doo wop ... doo bee doo wop ..." sounds like there's something on them.

I think I might try it the other way. I know there's no real harmony formula, that's for sure, considering that they sound like they are all lead by a certain voice following a certain melody. I'll make something in a little bit, but I can assure you, whether it's 12 tracks for each vocal or just 3, there's something missing. His harmonies are almost silly in a way, they have this weird creepiness to them but they are also really impressive to listen to. One particular favourite of mine is "Turn to Stone." There's a "call-and-response" thing they do there, and the harmonies sound cool and creepy at the same time. Odd considering it's in a major key.