In the 2012 documentary Mr Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO, he could be seen recording guitars in the main hall, singing in the kitchen and even tracking drums from a room looking out to his garden.
Then, during initial rehearsals for the Time Tour, Jeff had the core group play in a variety of unusual places, including a converted outhouse on the grounds of his Walsh Hall estate that was dubbed The Rat Club because of its dark, claustrophobic atmosphere evoking a venue the other members would expect to play in somewhere like Beirut! Later, he'd take over an entire room of the main house, which is credited in the liner notes of his 1990 solo effort, Armchair Theatre, as Posh Studios.Īfter selling Walsh Hall to Robin Campbell of UB40 in 1995, Jeff relocated to Los Angeles, where he quickly fitted every room of Bungalow Palace with microphones linked back to a Pro Tools rig in the study. On the Discovery songs that featured a 40-piece choir, he asked if the professionally trained singers would mind recording from the corridor outside so he could take advantage of the natural echo this provided. Click to expand.ELO might have been known for recording with Mack at Musicland from 1975's Face The Music all the way through to the Time album in 1981, but they also used a few other even less conventional locations over the years.įor example, Jeff Lynne achieved much of his distinctive sound by having Bev Bevan first track the drums from the main room at Musicland, then doubling everything except the cymbals from the toilets.