Today is the birthday of producer/songwriter/ performer Jeff Lynne (b. 1947) best known for his project Electric Light Orchestra (1970-1986), and for producing chart-topping records by George Harrison (1987), Roy Orbison (1988), Tom Petty (1989) each solo, and then all together (with Bob Dylan) as the Traveling Wilburies (1989-1990)…as well as the Beatles Anthology reunion tracks (1994).

I liked E.L.O. well enough when I was a kid, at least up through the Xanadu mishigas (1980), but have really never listened to them since. My taste changed (I acquired some!) and listening to his music became basically something I would never do, at least on purpose. But recently, I have been cautiously revisiting the 70s, for a couple of reasons. One: I am doing some autobiographical writing, and music can be like a wormhole for visiting other time periods. And two, over the past several years I have been confronting my bugbears and prejudices (e.g., Broadway, disco etc) in order to be more fair in my criticisms. “Why don’t I like something?” is a question worth asking. Sometimes it tells you something about art; very often it tells you something about yourself.

So, a few months back I posted as a status: “[I’m] Listening to Electric Light Orchestra…and I’m okay with that.” Ha! Many, perhaps most, readers immediately get why I make the apology. But some were like, “Why wouldn’t it be okay?” So as not to step on toes I backed away from the answer at the time — but I’ll spill a little ink on it today. I’m sure it won’t spoil Lynne’s birthday way up there in his mansion!

First let’s talk about what’s cool about his music. I knew briefly when I was a kid I guess (but forgot later), that “Electric Light Orchestra” wasn’t just a name. The band included an entire string section of its own, with all those violin and cellos and so forth arranged by Lynne. So that’s undeniably impressive. At the time, the band claimed in doing so to be taking pop music “beyond The Beatles“. But I don’t think Lynne’s compositions are anywhere near up to the level of Lennon and McCartney, nor are his orchestrations up to the level of George Martin, so no, not really. But it’s still impressive.