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Post by Buttler on Aug 15, 2018 8:59:58 GMT
Richard...
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Post by nickheynes on Aug 15, 2018 13:20:37 GMT
Richard is so very important. He spans the join between the Move and ELO more successfully than either Roy or Jeff - Jeff came late and Roy went early. Even though Richard wasn't officially a Move member he was still in the background with his magic fingers. He's always been there. He's the reliable one.
While we're going to miss him if he doesn't play on the tour, at least he's done his duty to us with all the work he's put in over the years. Couldn't agree more.would be nice to say goodbye tho'(if it is) It may be that touring again exacerbated an existing condition and that he'd be ok to play on Jeff's new album as he wouldn't be playing night after night
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Post by ShardEnder on Aug 15, 2018 14:29:36 GMT
The last time Richard played on any of Jeff's studio projects was Zoom, and even then, he was a last minute addition to just one song. While it pains me to say this, his services haven't been required in this capacity for years, with the live band appearing to do quite fine in his absence as well.
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Post by janne on Aug 16, 2018 15:30:08 GMT
The last time Richard played on any of Jeff's studio projects was Zoom, and even then, he was a last minute addition to just one song. While it pains me to say this, his services haven't been required in this capacity for years, with the live band appearing to do quite fine in his absence as well. Not strictly true. He did play on the new versions of Steppin' Out and Can't Get It Out of My Head that were released on Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra in 2012.
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Post by nickheynes on Aug 16, 2018 17:00:57 GMT
I spose I was hoping that as Jeff had got used to (and seems to enjoy) playing with other people in a live setting again that it might spill over into his recordings.
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Post by ShardEnder on Aug 16, 2018 23:22:17 GMT
The last time Richard played on any of Jeff's studio projects was Zoom, and even then, he was a last minute addition to just one song. While it pains me to say this, his services haven't been required in this capacity for years, with the live band appearing to do quite fine in his absence as well. Not strictly true. He did play on the new versions of Steppin' Out and Can't Get It Out of My Head that were released on Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra in 2012. I was careful to describe Zoom as Richard's last appearance on an ELO studio project, since those two bonus tracks from Mr. Blue Sky were originally recorded for the Bungalow Palace acoustic special, which I'd consider more of a live performance (with some minor post production) as opposed to any attempt at creating a new album... Isn't his overall final credit on a non-archival release the Hyde Park concert video?
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Ade
Junior Member
Posts: 15
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Post by Ade on Aug 18, 2018 22:21:31 GMT
I hope Richard is okay. I know Jeff said at Wembley "He will be with us on the next tour".
I'm hoping he meant the UK leg. After all Richard lives in Wales so maybe he didn't fancy hotfooting it across the States.
That's my fervent hope anyway. Richard is a lovely, lovely man.
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Post by rheintz67 on Aug 27, 2018 8:03:37 GMT
He's not listed in the tour program anywhere. My guess is he retired. Nothing solid confirming that as yet, and if he did hang it up, I for one throw my support behind him.
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Post by bmac on Aug 27, 2018 16:03:20 GMT
The fact that there has not been one word about Richard is typical of Jeff. I’m not saying he needs to disclose why he isnt there but say something.
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Post by BSJ on Aug 27, 2018 18:01:52 GMT
It'd be fun if he'd just say "Richard says hello!". But then all that BS will start up.
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Post by raybram on Aug 28, 2018 10:51:20 GMT
The fact that there has not been one word about Richard is typical of Jeff. I’m not saying he needs to disclose why he isnt there but say something. Based on what we know about Jeff's past, maybe he has fallen out with Richard or Richard did something Jeff didn't like. This would then mean that Jeff has finally got rid of the classic 70's line up, and the fact he never mentions Richard then compares with the fact he never mentions any of the others who helped him make ELO big, because he fell out with them all and wants nothing to do with them anymore.
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Post by tremblinwilbury on Aug 28, 2018 12:34:54 GMT
Personally, I'd say that Richard is either not up to this tour - he's getting on a bit, you know - or, as rheintz67 suggests, Richard's retired. I can't imagine him 'n Jeff with handbags at dawn...
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Post by StrangeMagic on Aug 29, 2018 5:18:42 GMT
If Richard was thinking of retiring it would have been nice to give him a big send off at a show to say goodbye and thank you.
Many performers of his talent and position would be uncomfortable without a public profile, it says a lot about Richard's personality that he has probably never in his career even thought of stepping into the limelight.
If ELO was Roy, Jeff and Bev then Richard was never an official founder and so perhaps still thinks of himself as a guest in the ELO phenomena? I can't speak for anyone else but Richard was and is very much a part of MY ELO. He had more to do with the sound of ELO than Bev though Bev was a great drummer. I credit Roy for recognizing Jeff's talent and giving him the boost he needed early on but thats about it. As far as realizing how fans feel about him, how can he not know? To follow up on what Tightrope and queenofthehours said... Listening carefully and critically to the "Golden Years" of ELO - 1974 to 1979 - it becomes clear to me that Richard was a significant contributor to ELO's sound. I have come to believe that less informed fans give too much credit to Louis Clark for the orchestra, when he was more of a conductor and transcriber. I picture Jeff and Richard sitting at the keyboard, playing the string parts for Louis, who did little more than transcribe the notes for cellos, violin, and whatever instruments Jeff wanted to use. Certainly Louis was classically trained, which neither Jeff nor Richard were, but Richard had such an excellent ear for the keyboard, and Jeff for the overall concept of how he wanted things to sound, that 94% of the credit goes to those two, 2% to Bev, 2% to Clark, and 2% to the other musicians who performed on the albums, be they hired members of the string section or other members of ELO. I have no idea how to divide the credit up between Jeff and Richard, except I'm sure the lion's share goes to Jeff. Obviously Jeff wrote the songs. I'm talking about the "sound," the style of the songs, the orchestra riffs, the characteristic musicality that told us a tune was ELO. Go ahead, lambast me, demean me, tell me I'm wrong. None of us really knows because I don't think we were in the studio in those days. Let's discuss it.
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Post by StrangeMagic on Aug 29, 2018 5:22:48 GMT
Personally, I'd say that Richard is either not up to this tour - he's getting on a bit, you know - or, as rheintz67 suggests, Richard's retired. I can't imagine him 'n Jeff with handbags at dawn... I can't imagine Jeff and Richard having a falling out either. My theory is that Richard asked Jeff not to say anything about why he wasn't on the tour.
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Post by bmac on Aug 29, 2018 18:31:18 GMT
Personally, I'd say that Richard is either not up to this tour - he's getting on a bit, you know - or, as rheintz67 suggests, Richard's retired. I can't imagine him 'n Jeff with handbags at dawn... I can't imagine Jeff and Richard having a falling out either. My theory is that Richard asked Jeff not to say anything about why he wasn't on the tour. I feel the same way. While having a falling out with band members is right in Jeff's wheelhouse I doubt that they would start fighting at this late stage. Plus, during the previous tour Jeff did mention that he expected Richard to be back. I'm just hoping Richard is doing well and not suffering in any way.
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