Jeff Lynne Quotations

It was so simple in the old days. You put out an album, people promoted it, it got in the charts, and you had a hit.

I think from the age of thirteen, I really wanted to be a producer and I've always thought that the producer was the top of the tree.

Live shows are fun - sometimes. But you have to practice for months on end.

Old music is the same as new music - it's just a different way of delivering it.

I just want to be in the studio. When you've got all the gear you want in your own house, it's difficult to go out and do something else, you know?

I just realized how long it was since the last album, and where did the time go? You know?

To me, making records isn't work.

I don't actually like touring.

When you do a song new live on stage, it's kind of a bit weird until it gets worn in, you know, like oiled up a bit. It's still a little bit stiff until you really thrashed at it for a few weeks.

As you get older, the days have gone, and the years have gone, and it's 'whoosh!

I'm still getting thrilled with music even after 40 years of doing it professionally.

There are a million people who can come up with little bits. The hard work is making those bits into something.

It was dark and misty for 2 weeks, and I didn't come up with a thing. Suddenly the sun shone and it was, 'Wow, look at those beautiful Alps.' I wrote 'Mr. Blue Sky' and 13 other songs in the next two weeks.

The hairs stand up on the back of my neck at certain music.

Yes, I love to play drums and bass and guitar and piano. Those are the main instruments I play. That is it.

The first band I saw were Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders, in their brown mohair suits, in 1966.

I like the natural sound of a room. All the rooms have their own sound, so it's a matter of putting it where you like and seeing what it sounds like.

There's not much you can do with a ukulele that doesn't sound happy.

At the end of the day I have to please myself. And I've made a record to please myself.

I try to find nice chord changes, that's how I love to start, and then I start trying to knock it into a song, knock it into shape.

It all comes down to what you truly love doing, and what I love doing is overdubbing and making new sounds out of things that are sometimes quite ordinary on their own, but when you put them together, they make something new--or something that sounds new. Just discovering things like that musically is a pleasure.

It was a great thrill just to know Roy Orbison, so to play, sing, write hit songs with him and have him in The Traveling Wilburys was beyond my wildest dreams!