The ELO Tour

 

Electric Light Orchestra -- The Electric Light Orchestra Tour

An in-depth look at the 1972 tours


Comments and Observations

The very first tour of the Electric Light Orchestra, to promote the band's first album, was from April 1972 to December 1972. It proved to be quite the challenge for everyone involved, due to problems with finding the right musicians, instrument amplification, limited appropriate material, and band personality conflicts. Although the tour was only in the UK and Italy, it can perhaps be separated into three segments: the false starts as Jeff and Roy put the band together, the shows with Roy Wood in the band, and the shows after Roy left the band.

Press photograph of an early version of the live band with mystery membersForming the live band: As this was the very start of the band, they struggled to put together the live band. The first album, The Electric Light Orchestra was recorded only by Roy, Jeff, Bev, Bill Hunt and Steve Woolam, which was not sufficient bandmembers to recreate the studio sound on the stage. Thus, with the release of the album in December 1971 and pending live shows to promote it, Roy and Jeff sought out string players for their new venture. They placed ads and culled musicians, often unsuccessfully from the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal College of Music; a revolving door of cellists, violinists and viola players were auditioned. Some joined only briefly, rehearsing with the band and some even taking press photos before quickly leaving. Part of the problem is that at the time, most classically trained string musicians in England were accustomed to reading the notes on the page and being paid by the hour. This was not at all conducive to the lifestyle of a rock band, which was working with other musicians that often did not read music and often working odd hours. In addition the rock music strings that they were being asked to play was quite different from the more austere classical music. Those known to have worked with the band, but never touring include Rick Payne (cello) and Trevor Smith (cello). One known classical musician that was believed to have with the band includes Steve Woolam, who some reports indicate participated on the recording of ELO's first album (and whom a great deal of mystery exists when he took his own life a few years later). Some reports are that Mike Atkins (formerly of The Chads) was also a bandmember playing cello, but this is an error that has been propagated for many years as he was never part of the band.

Glenn Hughes, the bassist and vocalist for the band Trapeze during this period, states that Don Arden had intimidated him into joining the early line-up of the band, before any live shows, which he states he was for about two weeks. He states he left the band, after Arden got a call from Hughes' mother and saying he could not be in the band. It is likely that he was recruited for bass, possibly before Richard Tandy was recruited for that purpose.

10538 Overture music videoIt was during this period, but before all the cellists joined the band, that the 10538 Overture music video was recorded, using close to the same live band as on the first concert. The video did not feature Wilf Gibson, probably to save money as the song does not feature violin; and it included miming cellists: sound man Trevor Smith (who could play cello, and was briefly part of the band before switching to sound only), Phil Copestake and someone else (possible Richard Battle). These miming cellist wore masks to hide their identities.

The band's management really wanted them on the road, they were booked for a tour in April 1971 (a year before the first actual live show), while the band was even reportedly still working on completing the first album. This, of course, was cancelled. There were reports of more shows in September and October of 1971, although no venues or dates established, and this too had to be cancelled because the band just was not ready.

In addition to the core of Roy, Jeff and Bev, they eventually settled on Bill Hunt on piano and French horn, Richard Tandy, an old pal of the band's from going to school with Bev and playing briefly with The Move on Blackberry Way, on bass guitar and sometimes piano, Andy Craig on cello, Wilf Gibson on violin, Hugh McDowell on cello and Mike Edwards on cello. Curiously, Wilf and future ELO cellist Melvyn Gale were good friends and Wilf had suggested Melvyn join the band at this time, but he refused, instead recommending Hugh McDowell (who joined) and Mike Edwards (who also joined just days before the band's first show). The band typically rehearsed at Roy's home on Rosemaries Hill Road in Birmingham. Several shows scheduled in March and early April 1972 were booked, then cancelled because the band was just not ready.

There was a New Musical Express report that, as a marketing tool, a 35-minute film was created to show the creation of Electric Light Orchestra and to show the transformation from The Move. However, nothing more is known about this and it has never been seen.

It was also during this period that the band was involved in the infamous Freedom City film. This was a futuristic film, directed by Peter Webb and produced by John Elton (no relation to Elton John), with acting by the band. The first ELO album was to serve as the film's soundtrack. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to all involved, but the band were not actors and it was (according to the band) a very bad film. It has never been seen by anyone since it's filming and remains unreleased.

Press photo with the band on tourThe tour gets started: When the newly formed Electric Light Orchestra did finally start the tour, it was a difficult beginning. The first show was at a club/pub called The Greyhound (often incorrectly referred to as The Fox At Greyhound) in south London on April 16, 1972. What would have been the second show two days later in London was cancelled for reasons unknown but assumed to be dissatisfaction with the performance on the first show. Later reports (likely exaggerated) are that the band struggled as the unamplified classical instruments could not be properly heard over the louder electric instruments; as well as the problem of a lengthy wait between songs as musicians, mainly Roy, changed instruments and the struggles with wires and tuning getting in the way. Reviews were not always kind and attendance was low with reports that at some shows, the band outnumbered the audience (although this may have been an exaggeration as well). It is likely, however, that the amplification problems and long wait between numbers is a great exaggeration. Reviews at the time make no such mention of these problems (with most reviewers seemingly more confused why there are no Move songs). Most of the comments of sound problems and delays came after Roy left the band, so it may have been a way to distance the public's mind from the poor reviews during this time, to promote the new Jeff Lynne led ELO. Financing the band was also becoming quite costly, with the both Roy and Jeff (and probably Don Arden) putting in a lot of their own money to keep things afloat. The band was using Black Sabbath's old equipment too, although it's unclear if it was borrowed or bought off of them. Throughout this period, the Move remained active too, recording the songs California Man and Do Ya, although no live shows as The Move were done other than a few TV appearances. The intention was for The Move to continue alongside the Electric Light Orchestra, but that never happened after Roy left.

Electric Light Orchestra on Set Of 6Roy took on a strange appearance for many of the shows, wearing a long white wig and beard. This was a carry over from his earlier Move makeup (reportedly impersonating Dusty Springfield), first used on the 1970 BBC Disco 2 performance of Brontosaurus, where he took on a star man type of appearance. This look may have been not only to entertain the audience with a strange, interesting look, but also, perhaps to sort of hide from the audience behind the makeup and strange personality. Jeff would imitate this on the 10538 Overture music video, wearing an eye patch and a sailor's cap. And this would carry over with Roy in Wizzard, where he wore his well known starman makeup (as well as a bat costume-- acts that were later cited to inspire the KISS makeup); and it would carry over briefly for Jeff as well when he appeared on Top Of The Pops wearing heavy eye makeup, a silver wig and a pink boa.

Record Mirror article on Don Arden's Italian arrestThe tour did take the band to Italy where they played ten shows and the Avant Garde Music Festival. The latter was filmed and the band appeared briefly on the 2 Festival Della Musica D'Avanguardia E Nuove Tendenze TV program. It is perhaps strange that the band should tour Italy, rather than other, probably more lucrative European countries that were more receptive to foreign bands. The reason for going to Italy are not entirely clear, but it is probably the case that manager Don Arden wanted to take advantage of the Avant Garde Music Festival and the European exposure this would bring. It was also an opportunity to allow Roy and Jeff to get away from the British press and the tension that they were causing.

Don Arden was arrested at the show in Padova, Italy. The previous show in Arezzo had the crowd so excited that there was reportedly a near-riot. Because of this, the Italian police got particularly involved at the Padova show. An altercation occured between Don Arden and the police chief, where Don assaulted him, not knowing he was with the police. The show was shut down, he was arrested and left the following morning for England.

The name of the location of ELO's first live appearance is correctly referred to as "The Greyhound" although the names it has been given by fans and the press vary considerably due the the peculiarities of British culture. Most commonly, and even on several advertisements, it is shown as "Fox At Greyhound", which was a very common misnomer. The club, at the time owned by Howard Bossick, opened in 1969 and featured many British artists of the era in their early days who went on to international fame, including David Bowie, Queen, Status Quo, Deep Purple, and of course, Electric Light Orchestra. "Fox" is thought to be the promoter, who brought the bands to the club and promoted the shows, thus the name "Fox at Greyhound" and the additional variation of "Fox & Greyhound". The identity of Fox is unclear, but it may be Peter Fox, who became a prominent DJ at the club beginning in 1977 when it was sold and went from rock shows to punk. Further, because there were several Greyhound pubs and clubs (or variation on such a name) throughout England, sometimes the venue is referred to as "Fox & Greyhound Croyden" to denote the location, but it is not an actual part of the name of the pub. Croydon is a district/town in south London. The club closed in 1985 and reopened a year later as Blue Orchid, then closed forever in 2003.

It was reportedly during this part of the tour where Jeff's life and career almost ended and he learned a valuable lesson. It's not known which show the incident happened, but at some point Jeff came on stage to perform. Due to a wiring problem of some sort, while performing or just before performing, the danglers on his guitar neck brushed the incorrectly wired microphone, causing an electrical short and a big electrical bang. Of course, this startled everyone involved. Jeff has since been insistent that the connections be correct and tested before he will ever go on stage. In an interview, Jeff's mate and sometimes live engineer, Jake Commander, believes this event actually happened at a Move gig in Ireland. Also note that Bev Bevan also cites this as an Ireland gig with The Move, so that may be a more accurate fact. Details often get mixed up and obscured with time.

Roy's departure: It was during this tour that Roy and Jeff began to not get along. The problems were initially caused because of the attention Roy was getting over Jeff, especially with the press. Although Electric Light Orchestra was a completely joint venture with the two songwriters/producers/musicians equally splitting the tasks on the first album and during the tour, Jeff's songs were featured even more than Roy's songs. However, at the time, Roy was the much bigger star, having had big chart success as a songwriter and more with The Move. Jeff, on the other hand, had experienced no chart success with the Idle Race and little to no chart success as a songwriter when he joined The Move. So at press events and many of the tour performances, it was Roy who was getting all the attention, with very little left over for Jeff. According to many sources, they nearly came to blows at times and would stand at the edge of the stage on performance nights and argue who should be the last to go on to the stage. There are specific reports of this in Italy, so that "getaway" leg of the tour did little to allay the problem. Roy claims, and probably accurately, that manager Don Arden fomented the rivalry, with the goal of getting one to leave the band and then he would have two bands with talented musicians to manage, rather than one band with two talented musicians.

The reason for Roy's departure was the subject of gossip columns for many years after it happened. The truth is, the band was having difficulties functioning with two leaders. Roy and Jeff were great friends, sharing a dream with the creation of the Electric Light Orchestra concept. Roy has stated that he was often troubled by the disagreements over the direction of his band while in The Move and would not go through that again. So when Roy and Jeff were apparently feuding in Electric Light Orchestra, the very thing he didn't want to happen was happening. There are some stories of them arguing over such miniscule things as who would go on stage first while at shows. Therefore, Roy left to form another band, Wizzard, where he was the sole leader. The problem was that Roy left without telling anybody. When the band came together in July to work, Roy was simply gone and Jeff and Bev learned about Roy leaving from the music trade papers. The band had to scramble to perform and their first appearance without Roy was a performance of 10538 Overture on Top Of The Pops on July 27. Certainly this caused a lot of consternation between the members in the heat of the moment, but time seems to have mellowed everyone's temper. Within a few years, Roy was having success with Wizzard and Jeff was having success with Electric Light Orchestra, so in hindsight it was probably for the best. Still, everyone still expressed annoyance at Roy's not telling anybody else in the band that he was leaving! Bev stated as much in a December 5, 1977 interview on WNEW Radio, which can be heard HERE. -> play

Jeff Lynne on the late 1972 tourThe tour without Roy: The pressure was too much to bear and some time in July 1972, Roy had made the decision to leave the band. He began courting various musicians to form a new fusion type band that would eventually become Wizzard. Unfortunately, he did much if this without the knowledge of founding members Jeff and Bev. It was through the music papers that Jeff and Bev found out about Roy's new venture and that he was leaving the band. This left Jeff to unexpectedly carry on as the creative force in the Electric Light Orchestra and having to scramble for more musicians as Roy took Bill Hunt and Hugh McDowell with him to Wizzard. Andy Craig was also let go after the Italian tour for undisclosed reasons. After a regrouping and hiring of Colin Walker on cello and Mike de Albuquerque on bass guitar, the band carried on, first appearing on August 12 at the Reading Festival. Richard, who had been on bass guitar before, switched to keyboards instead. Thus, they carried on the tour, completing the recording of tracks for the ELO 2 album during this period, which would be released in March 1973 and the newly structured band began appearances to support it. There was talk amongst the management and various band members of The Move still continuing into this post-Roy period of late 1972, with the trio of Roy, Bev and Jeff, but this never happened.

Part of the tour included several shows marketed as "The Harvestmobile On Tour". These shows included several Harvest artists, which included Electric Light Orchestra and Roy Wood's Wizzard. However, each show on the Harvestmobile tour included only a subset of the set of bands advertised. Thus Electric Light Orchestra was not featured in all shows advertised. The only show on the Harvestmobile tour that is confirmed to include the band is the November 5, 1972 show in London.

It was also in the post-Roy Wood era that, thanks to a find by manager Don Arden, the band began using the Barcus Berry pickup to amplify the strings appropriately. Thus the problem of sound on stage was mostly solved by August 1972. The sound was much better and the band praised the Barcus Berry equipment for many years to come as saving the band from total failure. Note that this story may also be an exaggeration from management, as the surviving material that exists prior to July 1972 appears to show no problems at all with string amplification. Although to this day, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan both talk about problems with string amplification in the early days.

The songs: Because the tour can be split into with-Roy and post-Roy segments, the songs performed on each segment are distinctive. The with-Roy segment included several songs from the first album, including 10538 Overture, Queen Of The Hours, Whisper In The Night and First Movement (Jumping Biz), several Jeff's Boogies (songs without title that would later appear on ELO 2 as In Old England Town and From The Sun To The World), Roy's Dear Elaine from his yet-to-be-released Boulders album, and the live only performance of the Jerry Lee Lewis song Great Balls Of Fire with it's unusual string arrangement. It's likely that other songs were performed during this period, but are not yet identified. After Roy left the band, the group had to adjust, dropping Dear Elaine and Whisper In The Night (Roy songs). Following the mixup of personnel in July 1972 and before the release of the ELO 2 album in March 1972, the band refined their earlier rough sound, moving more toward a rock band type of arrangement rather than the chamber orchestra type of arrangement from the earlier shows. Certainly the Barcus Berry equipment helped improve the sound dramatically. They added more new material from the as-yet unreleased (and perhaps unrecorded) ELO 2 album, such as Momma. They also added to their repertoire by performing a cover of Chuck Berry's Roll Over Beethoven. This song seemed a perfect example of what the band was trying to accomplish-- a fusion of classical instruments in a rock band. It's unclear if there were plans to ever record the song when it was first added to the band's repertoire, but they did eventually recorded it in September of 1972. Apparently the earlier versions of the song, before recording, experimented with various arrangements, including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (rumored, but not likely) to open the song; however the band settled for Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and it's familiar four note motif. The recording and mixing of the ELO 2 album was done during the summer and fall of 1972 between touring gigs. Also added to the post-Roy setlist was a cover of Edvard Grieg's In The Hall Of The Mountain King, another song that would be studio recorded and released in the band's future.

Per the performances, Jeff seems to have picked up the habit of singing somewhat random lyrics for many of these shows. For 10538 Overture, he is heard singing the wrong lines ("was it 10538" at the start of the song), or just fumbling his way through, singing lines that only vaguely sound like the correct lyrics. For the two boogies, he sings random, vaguely important sounding lines that bear no resemblance to the true lyrics as recorded.

Electric Light Orchestra on 2Gs and the Pop PeopleWhen not touring or recording, the band made occasional promotional appearances. Because the band was without key members at these times, roadies and crew would sometimes appear and mime cello as needed. In the 10538 Overture music video, created before the band's first live show, Trevor Smith and Phil Copestake and someone unknown (the latter two in pig masks), miming cello to the studio recording of Roy's playing (who also appears in the video playing cello). It's unclear exactly when the 10538 Overture music video was filmed, however, it must have been well before the band even released the single and first album (late 1971). It was released as a single and promoted on July 29, 1972, which was after Roy had left the band. Before Roy's departure, the band as The Move (minus the string players) appeared on a May 4 broadcast of Top Of The Pops to promote the California Man single. They also appeared on a July 8 broadcast (June 28, 1972 performance) of 2Gs And The Pop People, performing both as Electric Light Orchestra (10538 Overture) and The Move (California Man). Perhaps this dual performance was an effort to show that both bands were still active. However, this was the last appearance ever of The Move. It was also unusual because Roy must have already made it known of his decision to leave the band because if the June 28th performance date is to be believed, it's very curious that Roy featured in the performance of California Man, but not 10538 Overture. ELO made an appearance on BBC's Top Of The Pops on July 27, which featured some of the band's new line-up after Roy's departure and Bill Hunt borrowed from Roy's new band (and Jeff wearing the eye patch and sailor's hat from the music video). Sadly, this video was wiped from the BBC archives, however, an audio recording of the live performance survives and was released in November 2001 on the First Light disc of the First Light Series: The Electric Light Orchestra set. This BBC performance also includes a violin part added by Wilf Gibson, which was not on the original studio track.

One promotional appearance with Roy that remarkably survives is ELO's May 9, 1972 performance for a June 20, 1972 Set Of 6 broadcast. Despite the name of the program, this features five songs only, taken from the band's then-current live setlist. This shows the truly avant garde nature of the new venture with bringing a classical quartet into a rock scene. Three of the five songs were released as audio only on the First Light disc of the First Light Series: The Electric Light Orchestra set. And the video was partially released (and often obscured) as documentary footage on DVD releases of Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973 (Music Reviews LTD CRP1811) and Total Rock Review (Storm Bird STB2179).

Lastly, there was a BBC Radio performance from November 1, 1972 which featured no songs at all from the The Electric Light Orchestra album, but only songs from the as-yet released ELO 2. It may very well be that the band did additional songs on this date for the BBC, even those from the first album, but as the performances were not broadcast until the first months of 1973, when ELO 2 was released and the album then being promoted.

Band and Crew Members

The band and crew on this tour were:

Spring 1972
Summer/Fall 1972
Roy Wood: vocals, guitar, cello, saxophone
Jeff Lynne: vocals, guitar
Bev Bevan: drums
Bill Hunt: French horn, keyboards
Richard Tandy: bass, piano
Andy Craig: cello
Wilf Gibson: violin
Hugh McDowell: cello
Mike Edwards: cello
Jeff Lynne: vocals, guitar
Bev Bevan: drums
Richard Tandy: keyboards
Wilf Gibson: violin
Mike Edwards: cello
Colin Walker: cello
Mike deAlbuquerque: bass, backing vocals

Jake Commander: engineer

Tour Dates

This tour ran from April to December 1972. The first part, with Roy, was from April to June only and the rest without Roy and the restructured band.

Date City, Country Venue Opening Act(s) Images Comments
Early Cancelled UK Tour (Spring 1971)
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
Record Mirror announcement of 1971 tour dates
Record Mirror announcement of 1971 tour dates
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
April 22, 1972 New Musical Express article
April 22, 1972 New Musical Express article
Newspaper ad listing early tour dates
Newspaper ad listing early tour dates
Newspaper ad listing early tour dates
Newspaper ad listing early tour dates
April 5, 1971 Birmingham, UK (CANCELLED) Birmingham Town Hall N/A
April 6, 1971 Hull, UK (CANCELLED) Hull City Hall N/A
April 7, 1971 Liverpool, UK (CANCELLED) Liverpool Stadium N/A
April 8, 1971 Bradford, UK (CANCELLED) St. George's Hall N/A
April 9, 1971 Glasgow, UK (CANCELLED) Green's Playhouse N/A
April 10, 1971 Edinburgh, UK (CANCELLED) Empire Casino N/A
April 11, 1971 Newcastle, UK (CANCELLED) Newcastle City Hall N/A
April 13, 1971 Wolverhampton, UK (CANCELLED) Wolverhampton Civic Hall N/A
April 14, 1971 Nottingham, UK (CANCELLED) Albert Hall N/A
April 15, 1971 Oxford, UK (CANCELLED) Oxford Town Hall N/A
April 16, 1971 Manchester, UK (CANCELLED) Free Trade Hall N/A
April 17, 1971 Malvern, UK (CANCELLED) Winter Gardens N/A
April 18, 1971 Bristol, UK (CANCELLED) Colston Hall N/A
April 19, 1971 Sheffield, UK (CANCELLED) Sheffield Oval N/A
April 20, 1971 Bournemouth, UK (CANCELLED) Winter Gardens N/A
April 21, 1971 Tunbridge, UK (CANCELLED) Wells Assembly Hall N/A
April 22, 1971 London, UK (CANCELLED) Lyceum N/A
April 23, 1971 Lancaster, UK (CANCELLED) Lancaster University N/A
April 24, 1971 Brighton, UK (CANCELLED) Big Apple N/A
April 22, 1971 Cardiff, UK (CANCELLED) Unknown N/A
The Electric Light Orchestra UK Tour (Spring 1972)
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
New Musical Express announcement of 1971 tour dates
Newspaper ad for 1972 tour dates
Newspaper ad for 1972 tour dates
Newspaper ad listing early tour dates
Newspaper ad listing early tour dates
New Musical Express on the tour
New Musical Express on the tour
June, 1972 New Musical Express article
June, 1972 New Musical Express article
March 9, 1972 Birmingham, UK (CANCELLED) Kinetic Circus N/A
Magazine ad for March 9, 1972 show
Magazine ad for March 9, 1972 show
Magazine ad for March 9, 1972 show
Magazine ad for March 9, 1972 show
Advertisement
March 25, 1972 Liverpool, UK (CANCELLED) Liverpool Stadium N/A
March 30, 1972 Wolverhampton, UK (CANCELLED) Civic Hall N/A
April 1, 1972 Austria (CANCELLED) Unknown N/A
April 1, 1972 Wishaw, UK (CANCELLED) Belfry Hotel Tramp
Newspaper/magazine ad for April 1, 1972 show
Newspaper/magazine ad for April 1, 1972 show
Newspaper/magazine ad
April 2, 1972 Switzerland (CANCELLED) Unknown N/A
April 3, 1972 Holland (CANCELLED) Unknown N/A
April 9, 1972 London (Croydon), UK The Greyhound Unknown
Poster for April 9, 1972 show
Poster for April 9, 1972 show
Advertisement
April 15, 1972 Dagenham, UK (CANCELLED) Village Roundhouse N/A
April 16, 1972 London (Croydon), UK The Greyhound Alex Harvey
Poster for April 16, 1972 show
Poster for April 16, 1972 show
Ad for April 16, 1972 show
Ad for April 16, 1972 show
Poster Advertisement
April 18, 1972 London, UK (CANCELLED) Rainbow Theatre N/A
April 22, 1972 North Wales, UK Bangor University N/A
April 23, 1972 Stoke-on-Trent, UK Victoria Hall Unknown
April 25, 1972 London, UK Royal Academy of Music Unknown
April 26, 1972 Hemel Hempstead, UK (CANCELLED) Pavilion N/A
April 27, 1972 Wallington, UK Fox at Wallington Public Hall N/A
April 28, 1972 Hanley, UK (CANCELLED) Victoria Hall N/A
April 28, 1972 Derby, UK Cleopatra's Unknown
April 29, 1972 Liverpool, UK Liverpool Stadium Unknown
May 2, 1972 Bristol, UK Colston Hall Colin Blunstone
May 3, 1972 Brighton, UK The Brighton Dome Colin Blunstone
Ticket for May 3, 1972 show
Ticket for May 3, 1972 show
Poster for May 3, 1972 show
Poster for May 3, 1972 show
Ticket Poster
May 6, 1972 Nottingham, UK Albert Hall Unknown
May 7, 1972 Guildford, UK Guildford Civic Hall Colin Blunstone
May 8, 1972 Leicester, UK De Montfort Hall Colin Blunstone
Poster for May 8, 1972 show
Poster for May 8, 1972 show
Poster
May 9, 1972 Manchester, UK Free Trade Hall Colin Blunstone, Natural Acoustic Band, Colin Scot
Ticket for May 9, 1972 show
Ticket for May 9, 1972 show
Ticket
May 10, 1972 Sheffield, UK Sheffield City Hall Colin Blunstone
May 11, 1972 Portsmouth, UK Portsmouth Guild Hall Colin Blunstone
May 12, 1972 Plymouth, UK Plymouth Guild Hall Colin Blunstone
May 14, 1972 London (Croydon), UK Fairfield Hall Colin Blunstone; Fishbaugh, Fishbaugh & Zorn
Flier for May 14, 1972 show
Flier for May 14, 1972 show
New Musical Express review of the May 14, 1972 show
New Musical Express review of the May 14, 1972 show
Record Mirror review of the May 14, 1972 show
Record Mirror review of the May 14, 1972 show
Poster Review
May 17, 1972 Aberdeen, UK Music Hall Colin Blunstone
May 18, 1972 Newcastle, UK Newcastle City Hall Colin Blunstone
May 19, 1972 Glasgow, UK Green's Playhouse Colin Blunstone
May 20, 1972 Edinburgh, UK Edinburgh Empire Colin Blunstone
May 22, 1972 Solihull, UK Solihull Civic Hall Colin Blunstone
May 23, 1972 Liverpool, UK Philharmonic Hall Colin Blunstone
May 26, 1972 Preston, UK Preston Public Hall Colin Blunstone
Italy Tour (June 1972) plus a few additional UK shows
Newspaper ad listing Italian tour dates
Newspaper ad listing Italian tour dates
Newspaper ad for Italian tour
Newspaper ad for Italian tour
June 1, 1972 Milan, Italy Unknown Unknown
June 4, 1972 Rome, Italy Foro Italico Tennis Stadium Unknown
SEE CLIP
ON

See it on YouTube.
This performance was part of the four day music festival called 2 Festival Della Musica D'Avanguardia E Nuove Tendenze (translated as the Second Festival of Avant-Garde Music and New Trends) in Italy. A small portion of the band performing 10538 Overture was filmed and broadcast on Italian TV.
June 5, 1972 Arezzo, Italy Teatro Politeama Unknown
Poster for June 5, 1972 show
Poster for June 5, 1972 show
Poster
June 6, 1972 Padova, Italy Teatro Corso Unknown This show ended early when ELO's manager, Don Arden, was arrested by the Italian police for striking the police chief. There were reports that there would be a riot and police wanted to stop the show, which prompted the assault and the end of the show. Arden was detained for two hours, after which he flew back to England and the band carried on the tour without him.
June 7, 1972 Capri, Italy Il Picchio Unknown
June 8, 1972 Cardano al Campo, Italy Nautilus Unknown
June 9, 1972 Toscanella, Italy Piro Piro Club Unknown
June 10, 1972 Viareggio, Italy Piper 2000 Club Unknown
June 11, 1972 Cavallermaggiore, Italy Le Cupole Unknown
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Photo from the June 11, 1972 show
Concert Photos
Images above are (c) 1996 FTM Germany "Unexpected Messages", (p) 1972 Zbigniew Andrzejuk or Bruno Vaglienti
June 20, 1972 London, UK Kings Cross Cinema Fruupp
June 21, 1972 London, UK Hornsey Town Hall Mark-Almond
Newspaper/magazine ad for June 21, 1972 show
Newspaper/magazine ad for June 21, 1972 show
Sounds review of June 21, 1972 show
Sounds review of June 21, 1972 show
New Musical Express review of June 21, 1972 show
New Musical Express review of June 21, 1972 show
Newspaper/magazine ad Reviews
June 30, 1972 London, UK Kings Cross Cinema Frupp
Newspaper/magazine ad for June 30, 1972 show
Newspaper/magazine ad for June 30, 1972 show
June, 1972 Birmingham, UK Barbarella's Unknown
The Electric Light Orchestra Follow-up UK Tour (Summer/Fall 1972)
Trade flier listing later tour dates
Trade flier listing later tour dates
September 9, 1972 Record Mirror article
September 9, 1972 Record Mirror article
August 12, 1972 Reading, UK Little John's Farm Faces, Edgar Broughton, many others
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
Ad for August 12, 1972 show
New Musical Express review of the ELO set for August 12, 1972 show
New Musical Express review of the ELO set for August 12, 1972 show
Review of the ELO set for August 12, 1972 show
Review of the ELO set for August 12, 1972 show
Review of the ELO set for August 12, 1972 show
Review of the ELO set for August 12, 1972 show
Ticket Advertisements Reviews
This was part of the annual Reading Festival (sometimes called the Jazz, Blues & Rock Festival (and sometimes including "Folk" in the title)). It's a three day musical festival with ELO playing the second day. It's not entirely clear where ELO's set was in the long list of bands that played that day. They apparently preceded the much more popular Small Faces on the day, and some reports are that they were harassed during their performance by the impatient Small Faces fans.
August 20, 1972 Torquay, UK Rainbow Pavilion Unknown
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August 25, 1972 Dunstable, UK Dunstable Civic Hall Gary Moore Band
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September 8, 1972 Bridlington, UK Spa Hall Unknown
September 12, 1972 Sheffield, UK Sheffield City Hall Fusion Orchestra
September 16, 1972 Dagenham, UK Roundhouse Rat
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September 17, 1972 Preston, UK Public Hall Unknown
September 22, 1972 Malvern, UK Winter Gardens Bandy Legs, Sidewinder
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September 23, 1972 Southsea, UK South Parade Pier Unknown
September 28, 1972 Manchester, UK Hardrock Concert Theatre Quintessence
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An article in New Musical Express indicated this concert was supposed to happen on September 21. So either the article was in error or the show was rescheduled to the following week.
September 29, 1972 London, UK Polytechnic of Central London Silverhead
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September 30, 1972 Cambridge, UK Cambridge Corn Exchange Unknown
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October 1, 1972 Guildford, UK Guildford Civic Hall Unknown
October 3, 1972 Bradford, UK University of Bradford Unknown
October 6, 1972 Cardiff, UK Cardiff University Unknown
October 7, 1972 St. Albans, UK St. Albans City Hall Rick Williams
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October 10, 1972 Birmingham, UK Birmingham Town Hall Harvey Andrews
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October 12, 1972 Llanelli, UK Glen Ballroom Unknown
October 14, 1972 Southampton, UK Southampton University Mike Maran
October 20, 1972 Margate, UK Dreamland Margate Unknown
October 21, 1972 Bath, UK University of Bath Unknown
October 25, 1972 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK The Newcastle City Hall Unknown
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October 26, 1972 Liverpool, UK St. George's Hall Unknown
October 27, 1972 Alsager, UK Alsager College of Education Unknown
October 28, 1972 Bristol, UK Polytechnic University Unknown
November 1, 1972 London, UK BBC's Langham 1 Studios N/A This is a BBC radio recording session.
November 3, 1972 London, UK Edmonton Sundown Carol Grimes, Uncle Dog
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November 4, 1972 Loughborough, UK Loughborough University Unknown
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November 5, 1972 London, UK Sundown (Mile End Road) Unknown
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This concert was billed as "The Harvestmobile Tour" and featured several bands on the Harvest label, including Roy Wood's Wizzard.
November 11, 1972 London, UK Chelsea College Unknown
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November 14, 1972 Norwich, UK UEA Assembly Hall Sparks
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November 21, 1972 Leeds, UK Leeds Locarno Spontaneous Combustion, Babe Ruth
November 22, 1972 Hanley, UK Hanley Top Rank Spontaneous Combustion, Babe Ruth
November 23, 1972 Sunderland, UK Sunderland Top Rank Spontaneous Combustion, Babe Ruth
November 26, 1972 Bournemouth, UK Village Bowl Babe Ruth
November 30, 1972 London, UK Sundown (Mile End Road) Velvet Underground
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December 3, 1972 Hemel Hempstead, UK Dacorum Pavilion Steve Gibbon's Band
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December 4, 1972 Doncaster, UK Doncaster Top Rank Babe Ruth
December 8, 1972 Lancaster, Lancashire, UK Lancaster Polytechnic Unknown
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December 15, 1972 Glasgow, UK Glasgow University Sam Apple Pie

Setlist

It's really quite difficult to pinpoint a solid setlist during the tours. As the band was just starting, they varied their selections, choosing material off the first album, cover songs, songs not yet recorded, and songs recorded for other projects. Very little detail is available, although luckily a single bootleg recording from Guildford Hall on May 7, 1972 survives that gives good insight into the band's very early efforts. This recording is believed to be complete. A recording from the Set of 6 TV show also shows this early band, although they tailored their performance a bit for the TV recording. After Roy left the band, almost nothing survives for the rest of 1972 except a incomplete recording of Jeff's Boogie No. 1 from the August 12 Reading Festival and a BBC radio recording from November 1, 1972. Information on the setlist for the post-Roy period has been gleaned from various publications during the era.

Certainly during the Roy Wood era, the band was pulling material from the first album as well as a bizarre cover of Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls Of Fire and the Roy Wood song, Dear Elaine, which had been recorded for his solo album, Boulders, that had not yet been released. Also included was the songs dubbed Jeff's Boogie No. 1 and Jeff's Boogie No. 2, which were as yet untitled songs that would eventually be released on the ELO 2 album under the titles From The Sun To The World (Boogie No. 1) and In Old England Town (Boogie No. 2). These early version of the song featured completely different lyrics. From the Set Of 6 recording, Roy comments about Jeff's boogies, numbering up to 13, however, this comment is probably only in jest in reference to Jeff not titling the songs yet.

For the second part of the tour, after Roy left the band, the setlist evolved to not include any of Roy's songs from the first album, and including the not-yet-released ELO songs Momma. Also added to the setlist were covers of Roll Over Beethoven and In The Hall Of The Mountain King. These covers would prove popular enough on the stage that they would eventually be recorded in the studio and released on the ELO 2 and On The Third Day albums. One newspaper report mentions that the band performed Roy Wood's First Movement (Jumping Biz) on the second part of the tour, but this is believed to be an error and the song was not actually performed.

For a BBC radio broadcast, a November 1, 1972 BBC studio performance was recorded. This performance was only of the songs Momma, Boogie No. 1, Roll Over Beethoven and In The Hall Of The Mountain King with the first two being vocal and some instrumentation overdubs of studio recordings, so they are not true representations of the live performance. These songs were released on the BBC Sessions CD in August 1999 (Eagle Records EAMCD095), but were labeled incorrectly, stating that three of the songs were recorded on April 25, 1973. Also on this set included a broadcast of Kuiama that was of the studio recording only. It's not clear if Kuiama was actually performed at any of the 1972 live shows.

It's amusing that for these performances, Jeff and probably Roy too, were a bit lazy with the lyrics to the songs. Certainly for the two "Boogie" songs, Jeff just made up the lyrics as he sang, so they often made little sense and would vary from performance to performance.

It actually remains quite difficult to know the setlists accurately. It is very likely that the songs performed varied from show to show, with various songs being added or removed and the order of songs constantly changing. Shown below are all the known songs during the legs of the tour.

Song Title Arrangement Song comments
Spring 1972
10538 Overture This is generally the same as the original single/album version, but with an added violin part throughout and a non-fading end.
Queen Of The Hours This is an extended version of the The Electric Light Orchestra album version. It is the same as the album version up until after the third verse/chorus, which is then followed by an extended piano (played by Bill Hunt) and electric guitar (played by Jeff Lynne) segment, then a full repeat of the third verse and chorus, to end the song just as it is on the album.
First Movement (Jumping Biz) This is a slightly extended version of the The Electric Light Orchestra album version. All the normal woodwind parts are played by Bill Hunt on organ with a very different arrangement. Following this, the slow bit that normally ends the song is played, but instead of ending the song, another wild organ part is added, then the song continues to end like normal.
Dear Elaine This is a the same basic arrangement as the version on Roy Wood's Boulders album, but without the multitracked choir parts.
Great Balls Of Fire This is a unique, live only Jerry Lee Lewis song with arrangement for strings by the band. It's actually rather strange to hear the sawing strings play this rock 'n' roll classic. Note that the band would continue to perform this song on later tours, but the arrangement was changed to a more rock arrangement and less emphasis on the strings.
Jeff's Boogie No. 1 This is the same basic arrangement as what would end up on the ELO 2 album as From The Sun To The World (Boogie No. 1), but clearly a rough, early version without the moog synthesizer parts. The quiet middle part includes a section with electric guitar and additional vocals from Jeff. All lyrics are very different from the album version and they are made up in the moment. And the guitar jam at the end is quite different and also made up in the moment.
Jeff's Boogie No. 2 This is the same basic arrangement as what would end up on the ELO 2 album as In Old England Town (Boogie No. 2), but clearly a rough, early version with added organ parts throughout. All lyrics are very different from the album version and they are made up in the moment.
Whisper In The Night This is the same arrangement as the The Electric Light Orchestra album, except missing the choir. The final "angels sing" choral line on the bridge is played by violin instead. The only known recording of a live performance of this song is from the Set Of 6 TV program. As performed there, Roy sings the verses differently from the album, singing verse 1, verse 3, then verse 1 again. It remains unclear if this was done by accident or if this was simply how Roy chose to perform it live.
Summer/Fall 1972
10538 Overture This is the single/album arrangement, with added violin parts. The only known recording of the performance of this song on this part of the tour is from a July 27, 1972 performance for Top Of The Pops that survives as and audio track only. This recording is actually an instrumental of the studio track, Jeff singing all vocal lines live and an added violin part by Wilf.
Momma This is the same as the ELO 2 album. The only known recording of this performance is a BBC session recording from November 1, 1972. It is unconfirmed, but it sounds as if this is an instrumental of the studio recording with new vocals added only.
Jeff's Boogie No. 1 This is the same version that was performed in the Spring 1972 tour performances, but extended with another quiet break in the middle, an additional verse, and a greatly extended guitar jam at the end. Sources of this song come from an incomplete recording from the August 12 Reading Festival (it cuts in partway through) and a BBC session recording from November 1, 1972. It is unconfirmed, but it sounds as if the BBC is an instrumental of the studio recording with new vocals added only. Jeff clearly makes up the lyrics in the Reading Festival recording, but stays mostly true to the album versions lyrics on the BBC recording. Perhaps between August and November, he worked out some real lyrics and started singing them consistently.
Roll Over Beethoven This is the same as the seven minute ELO 2 album version, but without the mellotron intro.
Great Balls Of Fire This is assumed to be the same orchestrated version that was performed in the Spring 1972 tour performances, only without Roy Wood's saxophone No recording of this performance exists.
In The Hall Of The Mountain King This is the same basic arrangement as what was eventually recorded for On The Third Day.
Jeff's Boogie No. 2 This is assumed to be the same version that was performed in the Spring 1972 tour performances. No recording of this performance exists.

Releases

ELO performing on Set of 6Inside the Electric Light Orchestra 1971-1973 DVDTotal Rock Review DVDThe Set Of 6 TV performances have had partial release only. The film was originally recovered by ELO archivist, Rob Caiger, around 2000 or 2001, discovered in the Granada archives in Yorkshire, England on a 1-inch tape. This was the source of audio only releases for three of the songs on the 2001 The Electric Light Orchestra: First Light remaster (EMI 5 33374 2). Some of these were under consideration for later audio compilations, but they were nixed by Jeff Lynne and/or Roy Wood before release (which implies that they are not exactly pleased with these recordings). The two remaining songs recorded for the show were probably not released on the 2001 release because they are incomplete; the show started partway through the performance of Queen Of The Hours and ended partway through 10538 Overture, so only this partial performance survives.

In 2005 the video and audio was released on a DVD documentary called Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973 (Music Reviews LTD CRP1811), but the performance was severely edited and various reviewers and experts talked over much of the material. This was done because Music Reviews LTD did not have rights to the performance. To get around the rights issue, they edited it for journalistic purposes only. The audio for this documentary was also released on CD in 2005 under the same title (Music Reviews LTD CRP1812). Thankfully the audio of the documentary features a 5.1 mix with many of the songs isolated in the surround/back channels from the interviews in the center and front channels, allowing for some of the previously unreleased material to be heard. The following year, in August 2006, a company called Storm Bird released this same documentary on a DVD called Total Rock Review (Storm Bird STB2179). On this release, they included bonus material of excerpts from the program, but not the full program. The excerpts are the performances of the three complete songs and a partial performance of Queen Of The Hours, but not 10538 Overture. Further, the bonus release of Queen Of The Hours cuts off a small portion of the beginning of the track as recorded for the program, likely because the producers of the DVD did not want to include the Set Of 6 logo superimposed over the screen in the footage. 10538 Overture was also not included at all because the song is not complete and more importantly, the show's credits played over the footage of the band performing. Storm Bird wanted to avoid including any show credits on the DVD (to avoid any rights problems). Unfortunately, this bonus material is cropped at the top and bottom to make it fully fit the widescreen format. Regarding the rights issues, it's interesting to note that the back of the Total Rock Review DVD box states: "This film is totally unauthorised and has not been approved by past or present members of the Electric Light Orchestra, nor has it been authorised or approved by their past or present management."

The complete audio of the Set Of 6 broadcast was released in 2023 on a bootleg compilation called Live On Air 1972, available on vinyl, CD and digital releases.

The Lost Planet CDThe BBC Sessions CDLive On Air 1972All songs from the BBC recording done on November 1, 1972 have been released. On August 1999 they were all released on the The BBC Sessions CD (Eagle Records EAMCD095), without the accompanying Brian Matthews introduction from the BBC. Tracks include Kuiama (purported to be live, but it's actually the studio recording), Roll Over Beethoven, Boogie No. 1 (retitled to From The Sun To The World), Momma and In The Hall Of The Mountain King. The latter three songs are misidentified on The BBC Sessions as from an April 25, 1973 recording. On March 31, 2003, the songs Boogie No. 1, Momma and Roll Over Beethoven from the BBC broadcast were also released on The Lost Planet, the bonus disc for the ELO 2 remaster CD set. This release also included the BBC introductions by Brian Matthews. These recordings/performances of Roll Over Beethoven and Kuiama were also used on the 2023 Live On Air 1972 bootleg release.

Two different performances of this concert tour are known to have been bootlegged. They are:

Date Location Source Quality Comments
May 7, 1972 Guildford, UK Audience Fair
HEAR IT ON
May 7, 1972 at Guildford Hall.
August 12, 1972 Reading, UK Audience Good
HEAR IT ON
August 12, 1972 in Reading.
Only an incomplete performance of Boogie No. 1 survives.

Opening Acts

There were a lot of varied artists opening for ELO during the various live performances. One of the more notable who opened a string of dates in May 1972 (at least) was Colin Blunstone, who had success in the 1960s as a singer for the Zombies and later as one of the singers for The Alan Parsons Project; Jeff also cited Colin as an influential performer for him in a 2015 interview.

Other significant opening acts include The Gary Moore Band, Velvet Underground and Steve Gibbon's Band. The latter is the newly evolved band from the Idle Race.

The bands Steamhammer and High Broom were set to open the cancelled 1971 shows.

Promotions

SEE CLIP
ON

See it on YouTube.
SEE IT
ON

See it on YouTube.
The tour was promoted in various newspapers, magazines, posters and handbills. Little else regarding any special promotions for the tour are known.

Other than the appearance on Set Of 6, the band appeared on Top Of The Pops and 2Gs And The Pop People performing 10538 Overture. These later two appearances were more to promote that single and album rather than the tour.

Photos

Concert Photos Articles, Advertisements, Promo Items and Others
Last 1972 (Unknown Date)
late 1972 show
late 1972 show
late 1972 show
late 1972 show
Articles and Advertisements
Music Now article discussing trying to get the live band together
Music Now article discussing trying to get the live band together
Record Mirror article on the tour
Record Mirror article on the tour
March 25, 1972 New Musical Express article
March 25, 1972 New Musical Express article
March 25, 1972 New Musical Express article
March 25, 1972 New Musical Express article
July 1, 1972 Sounds article
July 1, 1972 Sounds article
July 8, 1972 Sounds article
July 8, 1972 Sounds article
Music Now article discussing trying to get the live band together New Musical Express article on expected early 1972 shows and film March 25, 1972 New Musical Express article July 1, 1972 Sounds article July 8, 1972 Sounds article
July 8, 1972 New Musical Express article
July 8, 1972 New Musical Express article
July 15, 1972 Sounds article
July 15, 1972 Sounds article
July 15, 1972 New Musical Express article
July 15, 1972 New Musical Express article
July 15, 1972 Record Mirror article
July 15, 1972 Record Mirror article
August 12, 1972 Sounds article
August 12, 1972 Sounds article
July 8, 1972 New Musical Express article July 15, 1972 Sounds article July 15, 1972 New Musical Express article July 15, 1972 Record Mirror article August 12, 1972 Sounds article
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 1
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 1
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 2
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 2
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 3
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 3
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 4
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 4
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 5
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 5
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 6
The Electric Light Orchestra pamphlet page 6
Promotional pamphet (promoting, not the tour, but the album, but still an interesting part of ELO history), Pages 1 through 6
No other photos from this tour are currently available. If you have any to share, please contact the email address at the bottom of this page.

Fan Comments

Enter comments only about this tour. (Inappropriate comments will be removed.)


Roy has since stated that he and Jeff never actually had a falling out and has dismissed it as something fabricated by the media.

Missed all of the Liverpool Tours. Firstly I was slightly too young, then I had no money - came from a poor Merseyside Family. Then Married at 16, 2 babies at 17. Not really listening to any music back then. Emigrated to Australia in ‘73, had my only daughter in ‘76, and THAT is when I discovered the Group, who are STILL my all time favours Groups at the age of a (young!!) 70. Oh what I wouldn’t have given to see more than the ONE Concert they did as ELO Part 2( without Jeff, but with Mik Kaminski and the famous Blue Violin. What a Group, what a Writer, Composer, Producer, music Player, on and on. Probably as good as, if not better than Lennon & McCartney. Best Music in CENTURIES!!

RIP Steve Woolam (1946-1971)

Song Comments

10538 Overture (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
"I Am The Walrus was there in the form of their 10538 Overture..."
J.A. (May 20, 1972 - Record Mirror review of May 14, 1972 concert)

"Their first Birmingham appearance was at Eddie Fewtrell's Barbarella's club in Cumberland Street, but it was to be some time before their live performances would do justice to the ambitious orchestrated rock arrangements that worked so magnificently in the studio."
Laurie Hornsby (2003 - Brum Rocked On)

"On stage their repertoire included some songs from the first album, notably 10538 Overture, Queen Of The Hours, and Whisper In The Night, alongside two lengthy epics written by Jeff the second they had begun recording, both going under the working titles of Jeff s BoogiesFrom The Sun To The World and In Old England Town — Roy s wistful Dear Elaine (which had been recorded as part of his as-yet unreleased solo album), and a new arrangement of Great Balls Of Fire, with additional cello embellishments."
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

Queen Of The Hours (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
"On stage their repertoire included some songs from the first album, notably 10538 Overture, Queen Of The Hours, and Whisper In The Night, alongside two lengthy epics written by Jeff the second they had begun recording, both going under the working titles of Jeff s BoogiesFrom The Sun To The World and In Old England Town — Roy s wistful Dear Elaine (which had been recorded as part of his as-yet unreleased solo album), and a new arrangement of Great Balls Of Fire, with additional cello embellishments."
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

Jeff's Boogie No. 1 (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
Known only to have been played live. This is an early version of From The Sun To The World (Boogie #1) with different lyrics than that which later showed up on the Electric Light Orchestra II album.

"Jeff's Boogie Nos. 1 and 2 showed ELO in full flight..."
Unknown (July 1, 1972 - Sounds review of June 21, 1972 show)

"On stage their repertoire included some songs from the first album, notably 10538 Overture, Queen Of The Hours, and Whisper In The Night, alongside two lengthy epics written by Jeff the second they had begun recording, both going under the working titles of Jeff s BoogiesFrom The Sun To The World and In Old England Town — Roy s wistful Dear Elaine (which had been recorded as part of his as-yet unreleased solo album), and a new arrangement of Great Balls Of Fire, with additional cello embellishments."
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

First Movement (Jumping Biz) (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
"...a piece called First Movement bore a marked resemblance to Classical Gas."
J.A. (May 20, 1972 - Record Mirror review of May 14, 1972 concert)

Dear Elaine (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
Known only to have been played live. A studio version of this song was later released on Roy Wood's Boulders album in July 1973, minus Jeff Lynne's involvement.

"The more melodic songs such as Dear Elaine and Whisper In The Night, sung by Roy Wood take a lot of beating in terms of composition."
Unknown (July 1, 1972 - Sounds review of June 21, 1972 show)

"Even though we didn't actually record it as the Move, I had already written Dear Elaine, which I subsequently put on the Boulders solo album. I thought that was probably the best song I'd written at that time. "
Roy Wood (July 1994 - Record Collector)

"The live set contained: ...Elaine. Elaine later became Dear Elaine by Roy Wood as his second solo single. E.L.O. performed it only in concerts when not playing Whisper In The Night..."
Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 - Unexpected Messages)

"Premiered on stage during the early days of ELO, Dear Elaine, a haunting Tudor ballad backed mainly by lute, cello and recorder, was chosen as the new single [from Boulders]/"
John Van Der Kiste (December 8, 2014 - Roy Wood: The Move, Wizzard and Beyond)

"On stage their repertoire included some songs from the first album, notably 10538 Overture, Queen Of The Hours, and Whisper In The Night, alongside two lengthy epics written by Jeff the second they had begun recording, both going under the working titles of Jeff s BoogiesFrom The Sun To The World and In Old England Town — Roy s wistful Dear Elaine (which had been recorded as part of his as-yet unreleased solo album), and a new arrangement of Great Balls Of Fire, with additional cello embellishments."
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

Great Balls Of Fire (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
This song is known only to have been played live. No known studio recording exists. It's a cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis song. The normal guitar parts are played with violins and cellos! This recording is from the May 9, 1972 recording for the Granada TV's Set Of 6 program.

"Roy Wood sloped around stand in his long cloak, working methodically through bass, guitar, cello and sax (on a riproaring version of Great Balls Of Fire highlighted by clever dischordant passages."
Unknown (July 1, 1972 - Sounds review of June 21, 1972 show)

"The music they made with their excellent mini orchestra was truly magnificent, especially the tremendous Great Balls Of Fire"
Mick Stanczewski (July 1, 1972 - New Musical Express review of June 21, 1972 show)

"We also throw in a few rockers like Great Balls Of Fire to get people going."
Roy Wood (June, 1972 - New Musical Express)

"The live set contained: ...Great Balls Of Fire which had classical extracts of 6 to 10 bars after each rock 'n' roll line, thus the song could be streched [sic] a lot. At the end of it they already switched into the beginning theme of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, played in rock style."
Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 - Unexpected Messages)

"On stage their repertoire included some songs from the first album, notably 10538 Overture, Queen Of The Hours, and Whisper In The Night, alongside two lengthy epics written by Jeff the second they had begun recording, both going under the working titles of Jeff s BoogiesFrom The Sun To The World and In Old England Town — Roy s wistful Dear Elaine (which had been recorded as part of his as-yet unreleased solo album), and a new arrangement of Great Balls Of Fire, with additional cello embellishments."
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

Jeff's Boogie No. 2 (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
Known only to have been played live. This is an early version of In Old England Town (Boogie #2) with different lyrics than that which later showed up on the Electric Light Orchestra II album.

"Jeff's Boogie Nos. 1 and 2 showed ELO in full flight..."
Unknown (July 1, 1972 - Sounds review of June 21, 1972 show)

Whisper In The Night (Early 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
"The more melodic songs such as Dear Elaine and Whisper In The Night, sung by Roy Wood take a lot of beating in terms of composition."
Unknown (July 1, 1972 - Sounds review of June 21, 1972 show)

10538 Overture (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)

Momma (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)

Jeff's Boogie No. 1 (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
This performance is only partially bootlegged from the Reading Festival concert.

First Movement (Jumping Biz) (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)

Roll Over Beethoven (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)
"When I saw [the ELO] live it can contiually quote Beethoven's 5th while the group does Roll Over Beethoven"
Phil Hardy (January 1973 - Let It Rock)

"Lynne and Bevan recruited D'Albuquerque and cellist Walker to fill the gap, new band debuting at Reading Festival and soon scoring with ambitiously arranged of Chuck Berry rock 'n' roll classic Roll Over Beethoven..."
Unknown (October 27, 1973 - New Musical Express)

"Yeah, we play some serious stuff-- well, let's say: as serious as we want it to be. But we've always managed to offset that part of our programme with some harmless nonsense. That's the reason why we came up with Roll Over Beethoven and In The Hall Of The Mountain King. We weren't doing any rowdy rockers at the time and we thought it would be good fun to arrange them for our instrumentation as a bit of a laugh."
Jeff Lynne (March 2, 1974 - New Musical Express)

Great Balls Of Fire (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)

In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)

Jeff's Boogie No. 2 (Late 1972 The Electric Light Orchestra Tour)

Brian Matthew Introduces 10538 Overture
"Brian Matthew introduced Electric Light Orchestra (4 Feb. 1972) - the famous voice of BBC Radio 1 introduces 'a new sound, a new concept', reading from the original EMI Harvest press release. Brian then played the (non-live) album version of 10538 Overture but we follow his words with something previously unheard... [the acetate version of 10538 Overture]."
Rob Caiger (2001 - liner notes for The Electric Light Orchestra remaster CD)

Queen Of The Hours (Set Of 6 May 9, 1972)
The performance, as broadcast, is incomplete because the band was already halfway through the song when the show started.

"A session was recorded on 9 May for Granada TV s Set At Six [sic] in Manchester, and broadcast within the Granada region on 20 June. Thought to be the only surviving film of the first ELO line-up performing live for TV, it included Jeff s Boogie No. 2 (In Old England Town), Whisper In The Night, Queen Of The Hours, Mr Radio, and Great Balls Of Fire."
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)
Editor's Note: The band did not perform Mr. Radio on Set Of 6.

"The arrangements were what the band was known to be performing live at the time, including Queen Of The Hours that featured an extended piano and guitar bridge and Whisper In The Night (without a choir - to which Roy comments they couldn't afford that night) that also included drums and additional backing."
Sergey Lendol (2023 - Electric Light Orchestra - Live On Air 1972 liner notes)

Jeff's Boogie No. 2 (Set Of 6 May 9, 1972)
Known only to have been played live. This is an early version of In Old England Town (Boogie #2) with different lyrics than that which later showed up on the Electric Light Orchestra II album. This recording is from the May 9, 1972 recording for the Granada TV's Set Of 6 program.

"The live set contained: ...Jeff's Boogie No. 2. Jeff's Boogie No. 2 came from a line of songs for which Jeff couldn't find titles for, they were condensed as 'Jeff's Boogies 1 to 13', of which they then respectively played Jeff's Boogie No. 1, Jeff's Boogie No. 2, etc."
Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 - Unexpected Messages)
Editor's Note: It's still not entirely clear if the 'Boogies' actually existed beyond numbers 1 and 2 as known from various sources. It is uncertain if the comment made in concert by Roy Wood about Boogies numbered 1 to 13 was a joke referring to Jeff's penchant for not liking to write lyrics (and thus come up with titles) or if the remaining boogies were incorporated into boogies 1 and 2 or the remaining boogies became other songs (such as Kuiama).

"Jeff's Boogie No. 2, the title doesn't really rank up there with the hundred greatest song titles of all time. But Jeff Lynne was in the habit of creating a lot of different songs, riffs, pieces of music. And obviously he didn't bother giving them the titles until he knew that something was going to happen with them. Now Jeff's Boogie No. 2 didn't exactly make it on to the first album. It was a piece that they played live. So I think what we do is look at it and say, 'Would it have deserved a place on the first album?' And the answer, to be honest, is probably, 'no.' It's not got the finished quality of a song that's been thought through all the way through. It's a little bit staccato [and] jumpy, but then ELO songs perhaps were then. [...] The fact that we got that down on film is obviously a plus because it shows you the way that Jeff's mind was working."
Michael Heatley (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"Hang on a second. This is, you know... It's got some good bits, but it's going all over the place as far as I was concerned. Yeah, Boogie 2 [sic], it's a bit of a strange old brew, that one."
Krusher (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"Jeff's Boogie No. 2 is] a bit hard to understand because Jeff Lynne is a fantastic songwriter and Roy Wood is a brilliant songwriter. So why... They must have had loads and loads of great songs lying around. Why do they do things like that? I mean, don't understand it."
Nick Tauber (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"A session was recorded on 9 May for Granada TV s Set At Six [sic] in Manchester, and broadcast within the Granada region on 20 June. Thought to be the only surviving film of the first ELO line-up performing live for TV, it included Jeff s Boogie No. 2 (In Old England Town), Whisper In The Night, Queen Of The Hours, Mr Radio, and Great Balls Of Fire. "
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)
Editor's Note: The band did not perform Mr. Radio on Set Of 6.

"Jeff's Boogie No. 2 was an early version of what would be recorded and released on the ELO 2 album under the title In Old England Town (Boogie No. 2), but with different lyrics and an altered arrangement. Roy Wood jokingly introduces this as #2 of 13 'boogies' that 'Jeff has written that he can't think of titles for.' "
Sergey Lendol (2023 - Electric Light Orchestra - Live On Air 1972 liner notes)

Whisper In The Night (Set Of 6 May 9, 1972)
"The live set contained: ...Whisper In The Night or Elaine. E.L.O. performed [Elaine] only in concerts when not playing Whisper In The Night, which they'd done in a very hard version with drums."
Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 - Unexpected Messages)

"...taken from Granada TV's Set At Six [sic] programme, recorded in Manchester on 9 May 1972 and broadcast within the local Granada region on 20 June 1972. This film is the only surviving document of the first ELO line up performing live and five numbers were filmed: Queen Of The Hours; Jeff's Boogie No. 2; Whisper In The Night; Great Balls Of Fire; and 10538 Overture. Traced to the Granada archive in Yorkshire, three songs were restored and mastered from the 1 inch film containing the mono TV soundtrack."
Rob Caiger (2001 - liner notes for The Electric Light Orchestra remaster CD)

"A session was recorded on 9 May for Granada TV s Set At Six [sic] in Manchester, and broadcast within the Granada region on 20 June. Thought to be the only surviving film of the first ELO line-up performing live for TV, it included Jeff s Boogie No. 2 (In Old England Town), Whisper In The Night, Queen Of The Hours, Mr Radio, and Great Balls Of Fire. "
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)
Editor's Note: The band did not perform Mr. Radio on Set Of 6.

"The arrangements were what the band was known to be performing live at the time, including Queen Of The Hours that featured an extended piano and guitar bridge and Whisper In The Night (without a choir - to which Roy comments they couldn't afford that night) that also included drums and additional backing."
Sergey Lendol (2023 - Electric Light Orchestra - Live On Air 1972 liner notes)

Great Balls Of Fire (Set Of 6 May 9, 1972)
This song is known only to have been played live. No known studio recording exists. It's a cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis song. The normal guitar parts are played with violins and cellos! This recording is from the May 9, 1972 recording for the Granada TV's Set Of 6 program.

"The live set contained: ...Great Balls Of Fire which had classical extracts of 6 to 10 bars after each rock 'n' roll line, thus the song could be streched [sic] a lot. At the end of it they already switched into the beginning theme of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, played in rock style."
Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 - Unexpected Messages)

"ELO tackled lots of things that people, critics certainly, were a bit bemused by. I mean, for example, doing a version of Jerry Lee Lewis' classic rock 'n' roll tune, Great Balls Of Fire. Is that a good idea to do in the 70s? I'm not too sure because people had firm memories of the original."
Chris White (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"This particular song is a rock 'n' roll classic. And they pretty much just tipped the hat to it. So, I mean, yeah, they did a good job, basically. I think they loved the song. And I think that comes across in their own production. Of course, they added the bigger sound, the strings and all that sort of stuff. But essentially they're holding true to Jerry Lee Lewis' song."
Les Davidson (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"It's not a very easy song to do because it's one of those covers that is always overshadowed by the original, because the original is based so very much on Jerry Lee Lewis' own personality and flamboyance. So when ELO tried to do it, they didn't do it justice because they were overshadowed by the original."
Malcolm Dome (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"Obviously when a band starts its career, it may not have enough music to play a whole set. Great Balls Of Fire serves almost as a not only stuffing in the set, but it also perhaps gives the listener an idea of what ELO are trying to do. Because as you know the song, you can separate the song from the treatment. This was very much a prototype of the type of arrangement that Jeff Lynne would be doing on Roll Over Beethoven in a year hence."
Michael Heatley (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"I can understand [ELO doing] Roll Over Beethoven because Beethoven, string players, rock band... I get that. I get that combination. You've got string players. You've got the word 'Beethoven.' You've got a rock band. Ooh, that's good. It makes sense to me. Great Balls Of Fire? Why? It's a piano song. It's a rock song. What's it got to do with strings? It's either that or they just didn't have enough material. And that's weird because you're talking about Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne, two of the greatest songwriters around."
Nick Tauber (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"I think [Great Balls Of Fire] was best left in its original form."
Chris White (April, 2005 - Inside The Electric Light Orchestra 1970-1973)

"A session was recorded on 9 May for Granada TV s Set At Six [sic] in Manchester, and broadcast within the Granada region on 20 June. Thought to be the only surviving film of the first ELO line-up performing live for TV, it included Jeff s Boogie No. 2 (In Old England Town), Whisper In The Night, Queen Of The Hours, Mr Radio, and Great Balls Of Fire. "
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)
E
ditor's Note: The band did not perform Mr. Radio on Set Of 6.

10538 Overture (Set Of 6 May 9, 1972)
This song, although officially unreleased, can be pulled from the Inside The Electric Light Orchestra and Total Rock Review DVD's 5.1 mix in the surround channels. Only part of the performance is available because the song was cut short in the broadcast.

10538 Overture (Top Of The Pops July 27, 1972)
This live version (partially mimed) was recorded shortly after Roy Wood left the band. They borrowed Bill Hunt back from Roy's new band, Wizzard, and used some of their road crew to sit in and mime cello.

"...introduced by Brian Matthew, this unique version features a remix of the original backing track, a new violin part and Roy Wood's vocals replaced by Jeff Lynne's (Wood having just left the group). Traced to a BBC library copy of a vinyl transcription disc, originally prepared for European radio during July 1972). [...] The BBC version of 10538 Overture is taken from a session for Top Of The Pops, but without Roy Wood and the three band members that had recently left with him. 10538 Overture had become a hit, so with Bill Hunt back on temporary loan from Roy's new band, the Jeff Lynne-led ELO made a triumphant debut appearance on the UK's premier music programme. At other times, the band had to press-gang sound engineer Jake Commander and their roadies to mime cellos-- hidden behind animal masks! This version is unique: violinist Wilf Gibson (miming cello on TV) recorded a new violin part for the backing track, new Jeff Lynne vocals replaced Roy Wood's verses and his backing vocals were pushed down in the mix. The rest of the track was as the released single. The recording was traced to a BBC library copy of a vinyl transcription disc, prepared for export to the European radio market."
Rob Caiger (2001 - liner notes for The Electric Light Orchestra remaster CD)

"FIRST LIGHT (Electric Light Orchestra 30th Anniversary edition) 10538 Overture - remix of the original track, Roy's vocal replaced, plus new vocal by Jeff and violin part by Wilf."
Rob Caiger (March 21, 2008 - Showdown mailing list)

"An appearance by the group to promote [10538 Overture] on Top Of The Pops increased everyone s confidence, with Bill Hunt brought back temporarily into the lineup to join in the miming."
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

10538 Overture (Festival of Avant-Garde Music June 4, 1972)
SEE IT ON
10538 Overture on 2 Festival Della Musica D'Avanguardia E Nuove Tendenze.
This is a partial only performance, found on the June 1972 broadcast on Italian TV called 2 Festival Della Musica D'Avanguardia E Nuove Tendenze. As broadcast, on a short, minute and a half of the song is heard.

Brian Matthew Introduces From The Sun To The World
Oddly, the 2014 digital album includes this introduction to From The Sun To The World, then never includes the song but instead is followed by the single version of Roll Over Beethoven.

"Though the original BBC session tapes were wiped, the three-song performance survives, copied for Brian Matthew's European BBC Top Of The Pops programme. His excellent 'classic BBC-style' introductions to the tracks have been included and the session versions of From The Sun To The World, Momma and Roll Over Beethoven have been remastered for the very first time."
Author Unknown (March 31, 2003 - website only expanded liner notes for ELO 2 remaster CD)

From The Sun To The World (Boogie No. 1) (BBC November 1, 1972)
Excerpt from book called In Session Tonight by Ken GarnerThis performance features Jeff singing and playing guitar over the studio recording only.

The The BBC Sessions CD incorrectly states that this song was recorded on April 25, 1973.

"Roy Wood Music are presumably very pleased at getting a slice of Jeff Lynne's From The Sun To The World."
Rob Caiger (July 19, 1999 - Showdown mailing list)
Editor's Note: This is reference to the CD liner notes incorrectly crediting the song publisher as Roy Wood Music, rather than the correct EMI Songs, Ltd.

"Though the original BBC session tapes were wiped, the three-song performance survives, copied for Brian Matthew's European BBC Top Of The Pops programme. His excellent 'classic BBC-style' introductions to the tracks have been included and the session versions of From The Sun To The World, Momma and Roll Over Beethoven have been remastered for the very first time."
Author Unknown (March 31, 2003 - website only expanded liner notes for ELO 2 remaster CD)
Editor's Note: Actually four songs survived as In The Hall Of The Mountain King was from this session was included on the The BBC Sessions CD from 1999.

"From The Sun To The World [on Eagle Records The BBC Sessions is an] early mix of the ELO 2 album track plus live vocal."
Rob Caiger (March 21, 2008 - Showdown mailing list)

Momma (BBC November 1, 1972)
This performance features Jeff singing and playing guitar over the studio recording only.

The The BBC Sessions CD incorrectly states that this song was recorded on April 25, 1973.

"Though the original BBC session tapes were wiped, the three-song performance survives, copied for Brian Matthew's European BBC Top Of The Pops programme. His excellent 'classic BBC-style' introductions to the tracks have been included and the session versions of From The Sun To The World, Momma and Roll Over Beethoven have been remastered for the very first time."
Author Unknown (March 31, 2003 - website only expanded liner notes for ELO 2 remaster CD)
Editor's Note: Actually four songs survived as In The Hall Of The Mountain King was from this session was included on the The BBC Sessions CD from 1999.

"Momma [on Eagle Records The BBC Sessions is an] early mix of the ELO 2 album track plus live vocal."
Rob Caiger (March 21, 2008 - Showdown mailing list)

In The Hall Of The Mountain King (BBC November 1, 1972)
The The BBC Sessions CD incorrectly states that this song was recorded on April 25, 1973.

"In The Hall Of The Mountain King [on Eagle Records The BBC Sessions is a] session recorded 1 November 1972, no backing track used, all done in the BBC studio."
Rob Caiger (March 21, 2008 - Showdown mailing list)

Brian Matthew Introduces Roll Over Beethoven
"Though the original BBC session tapes were wiped, the three-song performance survives, copied for Brian Matthew's European BBC Top Of The Pops programme. His excellent 'classic BBC-style' introductions to the tracks have been included and the session versions of From The Sun To The World, Momma and Roll Over Beethoven have been remastered for the very first time."
Author Unknown (March 31, 2003 - website only expanded liner notes for ELO 2 remaster CD)

Roll Over Beethoven (BBC November 1, 1972)
"Though the original BBC session tapes were wiped, the three-song performance survives, copied for Brian Matthew's European BBC Top Of The Pops programme. His excellent 'classic BBC-style' introductions to the tracks have been included and the session versions of From The Sun To The World, Momma and Roll Over Beethoven have been remastered for the very first time."
Author Unknown (March 31, 2003 - website only expanded liner notes for ELO 2 remaster CD)
Editor's Note: Actually four songs survived as In The Hall Of The Mountain King was from this session was included on the The BBC Sessions CD from 1999.

"Roll Over Beethoven [on Eagle Records The BBC Sessions is a] BBC session recorded 1 November 1972, no backing track used, all done in the BBC studio."
Rob Caiger (March 21, 2008 - Showdown mailing list)


This page is intended to be a complete record of information on the Electric Light Orchestra's first tours in 1972. If you notice any errors or omissions (which there are many), please contact me at jefflynnesongs@gmail.com and let me know. I strive for accuracy.

Robert Porter
September 2024