''Armchair Theatre'' is the first solo album by

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which was formed in 1970. He has written all of ...

, released in 1990.

History

The album reunited Lynne with

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...

's keyboard player

Richard Tandy Richard Tandy (26 March 1948 – 1 May 2024) was an English musician. He was the full-time keyboardist in the band Electric Light Orchestra ("ELO"). His palette of keyboards (including Minimoog, Clavinet, Mellotron, and piano) was an important ...

and featured fellow

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988, consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest sup ...

member

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

(both Harrison and the Wilburys were signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, parent of

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

which released this album). Lynne wrote and recorded "Now You're Gone" as a tribute to his late mother. The album also features cover versions of two classics: "

September Song "September Song" is an American standard popular song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. It was introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical production '' Knickerbocker Holiday.'' The song has been recorded by n ...

" and " Stormy Weather". The songs " Every Little Thing" and "Lift Me Up" were released as singles, both featuring non-album b-sides, "I'm Gone" from the former and "Borderline" and "Sirens" from the latter. Despite positive reviews the album became only a minor hit. A remaster by Frontiers was released on 19 April 2013 in the UK, and on 23 April 2013 in the US, and included two bonus tracks, one of them being previously unreleased. An additional bonus track was included in the Japanese re-release.

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted. *A ^ "Save Me Now" ends at minute 1:53. After 15 seconds of silence (1:53 – 2:08), an unusual whirring sound and seagull cawing are heard for 13 seconds. After the whirring sound there are 10 seconds of silence, followed by Jeff Lynne saying "Hey, it's still going y'know," and chimes ringing.

Personnel

– guitars, bass, piano, keyboards, autoharp, percussion, lead vocals, backing vocals; drums on #5 and bonus track #13 *

– acoustic guitar on #1, 3 and 5; electric slide guitar on #3, 5 and 9; backing vocals on #1 and 3 *

– acoustic guitar on #1 and 3; piano on #5 and 9; backing vocals on #2, 5, 9 and 10 * Mette Mathiesen – drums on #1–4 and 6–10; percussion on #1, 2, and 6; backing vocals on #5, 9 and 10 * Phil Hatton – backing vocals on #1–5, 7, 9 and 10 ;Additional musicians *

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for ...

– saxophones on #1 and 2 * Hema Desai – operatic vocals on #1, classical Indian vocals on #6 *

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

– string arrangements on #1 and 9 * Jake Commander – backing vocals on #2, 5, 9 and 10 * Dave Morgan – backing vocals on #3, 5, 9 and 10 * Sireesh K. Lalwani – percussion on #3 and 6, violin on #6 * Fateh Singh Gangani, Nellai D. Kanan, Vikram A. Patil – percussion on #3 and 6 * Rita – saw on #5 * Sheila Tandy – backing vocals on #5, 9 and 10 * Ashit Desai – classical Indian vocals on #6 *

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit " Runaway", which was covered la ...

– backing vocals on #10

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1990 debut albums Jeff Lynne albums Albums produced by Jeff Lynne Reprise Records albums