Legacy: Roy Wood or Jeff Lynne?

[OSJ]

Okay, this may seem random as fuck, but with Prince passing to join my other musical heroes, Warren Zevon, Lux Interior, & David Bowie I'm left with the eternally lovely Joan Jett and two guys that I've followed since the early 1970s... Watching the Prince version of "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" I was struck by just how omnipresent Jeff Lynne is. Not to take anything away from him, but going back to his days in the Move and ELO, I was always more of a Roy Wood guy. Roy didn't give a shit about what was popular, he did exactly what the fuck he wanted to do and damn the torpedoes. It was mid way into their first tour as ELO when Jeff and the rest of the band had finally had enough of Roy's weirdness and kicked him out of the band. No big deal, he immediately founded Wizzard and recorded the iconic album Eddy & the Falcons. 

Whatever hard feeling there were years ago have seemingly been mended as Jeff promotes the shit out of Roy's projects on his website and all seems amiable. So here's my question, after nearly fifty years in the business, which gentleman's work do you prefer and who will have the more lasting legacy? These two guys are more Lennon/McCartney than Lennon & McCartney ever were, with Jeff Lynne taking the populist spot of Paul McCartney and Roy Wood remaining the unapologetic, iconic rock n' roller ala John Lennon.

[odessasteps]

For me, I would think with ELO, the Wilburys and all the stuff he "just" produced, it would be Lynne. 

[zev]

Lynne. But just the idea that there's a thread here extoling the virtues of Roy Wood is cool.

 

[OSJ]

I think I have to agree with you guys that Jeff Lynne's legacy will be the one most remembered, there's just too much there to overlook. However, personal preference is still for Woody. After all, recording the perfect rock n' roll song (California Man) has to count for something. Also, who else would have the balls to include a bassoon part on Cherry Blossom Clinic?

https://youtu.be/eYhlbVED-mc

[zev]

Wood did the bass work on Bo Diddley's London sessions, right?

Here's a playlist:

 

[zev]

And if there's an excuse to share the Wilburys, someone should take it:

 

[odessasteps]

Guilty pleasure

 

[zev]

@odessasteps I think you've found Paige's entrance for next year's Mania.

[ChrisM]

Wood was quirky as hell, almost to his detriment. Having said that, he really was a mad genius who concocted some very catchy songs, especially during his days with the Move. 

Lynne is an underrated pop songwriting wizard. It's a shame that he isn't mentioned more often in the same breath as Lennon/McCartney, Brian Wilson, or Elton John/Bernie Taupin. His songs are like  an Encyclopedia of unforgettable hooks and melodies. 

He actually released a new record under the moniker "Jeff Lynne's ELO", last year, called "Alone In The Universe". This incarnation of ELO is currently touring the UK to huge crowds, including three sold out nights at London's O2 Arena. 

Here's one of the gems from that new album, "One Step At A Time". It's fun playing spot the influence with a lot of his songs, and this one is definitely not an exception. 

 

 

 

[AxB]

1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

Guilty pleasure

 

Hmm. Saturday Live was a late night comedy show on Channel 4 (a copy of SNL, sort of). That video's from Saturday Superstore, which used to be on BBC1 at 9AM on Saturdays. It was a kid's show. Everyone watched it, because of the 'Only four channels on British TV' thing we had then.

[Joel Martin]

Disco Jeff Lynne

 

[Charro!]

I'm gonna go with Jeff, but I like Roy a lot too. Both are very, very interlinked with each other & were in the Idle Race (if I'm correct), definitely in the Move which eventually transitioned into E.L.O. Wizzard were a top Glam Rock band and Roy wrote one of the better novelty Christmas records "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" too. Jeff Lynne gets my vote because of the fact he's a totally underrated songwriter, worked with Brian Wilson, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Paul McCartney, Ringo, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and of course was a TRAVELLING WILBURY~!. Jeff's heavily influenced by The Beatles which is interwoven with his work for ELO (Horace Wimp is one good example) and it all went full circle when he produced "Free As A Bird". I'd actually like to see the original ELO reunite with Roy Wood, Bev Bevan et al. I know some of the guys at one point broke off to form Violinski too which had a hit with "Clog Dance".