May 112012
I’d forgotten about this little hit song of Dave Edmunds, “Slipping Away.” It’s got a lot in common with one of ELO’s last hit songs, “Don’t Bring Me Down.” That song and this Edmunds production by ELO’s Jeff Lynne set the stage for a decade of constipated production jobs by Lynne for already established tight-ass artists Edmunds, George Harrison, and Tom Petty. I don’t necessarily dislike the records Lynne produced for these artists, man, get these guys some bran muffins!
I like the songs, for the most part, but have NEVER liked Lynne’s production style: It’s always sounded so artificial and samey to me – like sonic Cheez Whiz®™. It baffles me that he was so successful as a producer of hits.
That “Information” song he did sound like this too.
This may have been covered in an earlier World’s Collide, but I was just thinking of odd pairings this week while reading the Gregg Allman book excerpt in Rolling Stone with Obama on the cover. He recounts the ill-fated Allman & Woman record with then-wife Cher. He called it a horrible record that didn’t sell.
Here they do “Love Me”
http://youtu.be/lNKODaZaLAo
Gregg also says he never liked Cher’s voice, but she was incredibly beautiful, naive about drugs, and bossy. I forgot what a big deal their marriage was and how weird veryone thought it was at the time.
Listening to a Jeff Lynne production makes a metronome sound as if its swinging like Count Basie.
He made the Beatles sound like ELO. That is actually some accomplishment, considering that ELO was created to sound like “I Am the Walrus”-era Beatles.
As much as I dislike Lynne’s production, I must confess that Edmunds production isn’t the best sounding either. I find a lot of his early-mid 70’s production lacking punch. Shake Some Action and New Favourites of Brinsley Shwarz immediately come to mind. I find the sound to be a little soggy with very little kick drum. Unlike Lynne though, I don’t think the sound takes away from the quality of the music.
Bingo!