Kelly article from CashBox 3/26/83
Jul 18, 2022 23:30:19 GMT
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Post by ajv on Jul 18, 2022 23:30:19 GMT
Kelly Groucutt article from CashBox magazine March 26, 1983
“Time" was the title of the last album by the platinum-selling recording group Electric Light Orchestra and that’s exactly what ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt found he had on his hands when he decided to fill the gaps between LPs by cutting a record of his own. So, with the help of his groupmates Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy, Louis Clark and Mik Kaminski, Groucutt set about recording the newly released "Kelly.” The Riva/PolyGram waxing has been previously released in Europe, where, according to the 37-year-old Groucutt, it was "reasonably well received” and it promises to do even better in the States, with the overall sound being, not surprisingly, very similar to ELO’s.
“I started writing just for fun, about six years ago," said Groucutt in a telephone interview during a recent promotional tour stop in Los Angeles. “It wasn’t until the ’Out Of The Blue' album (by ELO) that I really began to pursue writing seriously, and with Jeff (Lynne, ELO leader) composing just about all of the group's material, I was looking for an outlet of my own. Jeff obviously doesn’t need any help with his writing, so this seemed like a natural step."
Groucutt’s musical career began at the tender age of 15 when he joined his first band as a singer and, two years later, he took up playing the bass guitar, a 1962 Fender Precision bass that he still plays today.
It wasn’t through rock ’n’ roll or even pop that Groucutt made his entry into professional, or rather semi pro, playing. He joined a comedy cabaret band called Sight and Sound and toured with the group for three years, impersonating the likes of Nancy Sinatra and Gilbert O’Sullivan during the course of his act.
In 1972, he met up with ex-ldle Race drummer Roger Spencer, who introduced Groucutt to Jeff Lynne, who’d been in the popular rock outfit The Move with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan. Two years later, in 1974, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy came to a club in Groucutt’s home town of Birmingham (England) to see him perform and subsequently in- vited him to join ELO.
“I did the tour that followed the 'El Dorado’ album,” said Groucutt. He added with a chuckle, “I even got a gold album for that one, even though I didn’t perform on it."
He did, however, appear on the “Face The Music” LP, which really launched the band towards stardom, and on each subsequent ELO album.
"We (ELO) just completed a new album which is being mixed by Jeff in Holland right now," Groucutt pointed out.
Because Lynne is such a meticulous craftsman, though, there are often lengthy lag times between ELO records, giving Groucutt the opportunity to record and even, perhaps, to tour. "Right now. I’m in the middle of recording a follow-up to 'Kelly,' and we're hoping to put something together in the way of a tour later on this year, schedule permitting, with Bev on drums and Louis Clark,” he said.
However, being a family man with a wife and three children, ages 12 to 2 1/2 back home in Birmingham, Groucutt’s main concern isn’t spending a lot of time on the road to promote the record. On the other hand, he has enough of a sense of humor to poke fun of his position with a Chuck Berry-like tune on “Kelly” called “Old Rock ’n’ Roller.”
“I don’t find I can write stuff with heavy messages,” he concluded.
worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/80s/1983/CB-1983-02-26-OCR-Page-0008.pdf#search=%22kelly%20groucutt%22
“Time" was the title of the last album by the platinum-selling recording group Electric Light Orchestra and that’s exactly what ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt found he had on his hands when he decided to fill the gaps between LPs by cutting a record of his own. So, with the help of his groupmates Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy, Louis Clark and Mik Kaminski, Groucutt set about recording the newly released "Kelly.” The Riva/PolyGram waxing has been previously released in Europe, where, according to the 37-year-old Groucutt, it was "reasonably well received” and it promises to do even better in the States, with the overall sound being, not surprisingly, very similar to ELO’s.
“I started writing just for fun, about six years ago," said Groucutt in a telephone interview during a recent promotional tour stop in Los Angeles. “It wasn’t until the ’Out Of The Blue' album (by ELO) that I really began to pursue writing seriously, and with Jeff (Lynne, ELO leader) composing just about all of the group's material, I was looking for an outlet of my own. Jeff obviously doesn’t need any help with his writing, so this seemed like a natural step."
Groucutt’s musical career began at the tender age of 15 when he joined his first band as a singer and, two years later, he took up playing the bass guitar, a 1962 Fender Precision bass that he still plays today.
It wasn’t through rock ’n’ roll or even pop that Groucutt made his entry into professional, or rather semi pro, playing. He joined a comedy cabaret band called Sight and Sound and toured with the group for three years, impersonating the likes of Nancy Sinatra and Gilbert O’Sullivan during the course of his act.
In 1972, he met up with ex-ldle Race drummer Roger Spencer, who introduced Groucutt to Jeff Lynne, who’d been in the popular rock outfit The Move with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan. Two years later, in 1974, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy came to a club in Groucutt’s home town of Birmingham (England) to see him perform and subsequently in- vited him to join ELO.
“I did the tour that followed the 'El Dorado’ album,” said Groucutt. He added with a chuckle, “I even got a gold album for that one, even though I didn’t perform on it."
He did, however, appear on the “Face The Music” LP, which really launched the band towards stardom, and on each subsequent ELO album.
"We (ELO) just completed a new album which is being mixed by Jeff in Holland right now," Groucutt pointed out.
Because Lynne is such a meticulous craftsman, though, there are often lengthy lag times between ELO records, giving Groucutt the opportunity to record and even, perhaps, to tour. "Right now. I’m in the middle of recording a follow-up to 'Kelly,' and we're hoping to put something together in the way of a tour later on this year, schedule permitting, with Bev on drums and Louis Clark,” he said.
However, being a family man with a wife and three children, ages 12 to 2 1/2 back home in Birmingham, Groucutt’s main concern isn’t spending a lot of time on the road to promote the record. On the other hand, he has enough of a sense of humor to poke fun of his position with a Chuck Berry-like tune on “Kelly” called “Old Rock ’n’ Roller.”
“I don’t find I can write stuff with heavy messages,” he concluded.
worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/80s/1983/CB-1983-02-26-OCR-Page-0008.pdf#search=%22kelly%20groucutt%22