''Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra'' (also known as ''Mr. Blue Sky'') is an album of re-recordings by

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...

of hits by

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

. It was issued in 2012 by

Frontiers Music Frontiers Music – formerly Frontiers Records – is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino started working in the m ...

simultaneously with Lynne's cover album '' Long Wave''.

Background

told ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine that the idea came from him listening to the original

recordings, and thinking that he could produce a better result having since had a long career as a record producer. Lynne decided to re-record a number of songs from scratch, and began with "

Mr. Blue Sky "Mr. Blue Sky" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featured on the band's seventh studio album '' Out of the Blue'' (1977). Written and produced by frontman Jeff Lynne, the song forms the fourth and final track of the "Concerto fo ...

". He told ''Rolling Stone'': "I enjoyed doing that a lot, and when I listened back to it and compared it to the old one, I really liked it much better." It was suggested by his manager that Lynne record a few more versions of Electric Light Orchestra songs, the results being recordings of " Evil Woman" and " Strange Magic". Lynne also liked these versions, so he continued by producing a full album of re-recordings.

Release and content

The album features all new recordings of some of the group's hits, as well as two bonus tracks: a new song, "Point of No Return", and a

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

recording of "

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

" on Japanese releases. The album debuted at number 8 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and at number 2 on the UK Top 40 Independent Albums Chart, then also at number 118 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, at number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Top Independent Albums chart and at number 46 on the ''Billboard'' Top Rock Albums chart.

Track listing

All tracks written, produced, and performed by

.''Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra''

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

Japanese bonus track

iTunes Store "Deluxe edition" bonus tracks

Personnel

Personnel per album booklet: Musicians *

– lead vocals, background vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, piano, bass, drums, keyboards,

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

, cowbell, production, mixing,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Marc Mann – string arrangements,

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

(" Turn to Stone"), engineering *Laura Lynne – background vocals (" Evil Woman", " Strange Magic", "

Showdown A showdown is a duel. The term may also refer to: Places * Showdown Ski Area, in Montana, United States Books * ''Showdown'' (Amado novel), a 1984 novel by Jorge Amado * ''Showdown'' (Dekker novel), a 2006 novel by Ted Dekker * ''Showdown'' (F ...

", "

Livin' Thing "Livin' Thing" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and performed by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It appears on ELO's 1976 album ''A New World Record'' and was also released as a single. Patti Quatro sang uncredited vocals, particularly the "hig ...

") *Steve Jay –

shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, mixing, engineering *Ryan Ulyate – piano solo ("Evil Woman"), engineering * Howie Weinberg –

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

*Dan Gerbarg – mastering engineer

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Electric Light Orchestra albums Albums produced by Jeff Lynne Covers albums 2012 greatest hits albums