Editing Jeff Lynne (section)

===Early years===
In 1963, Jeff Lynne formed a group with Robert Reader and David Walsh using little more than Spanish guitars and cheap electrical instruments. They were originally named the Rockin' Hellcats, then the Handicaps and finally the Andicaps. They practised at Shard End Community Centre and performed weekly. However, in 1964, Robert Reader and David Walsh left the band and Lynne brought in replacements. At the end of 1964, Lynne decided to leave the band to replace Mick Adkins of the local band "the Chads".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.brumbeat.net/andicaps.htm |title=The Andicaps biography |journal=Brum Beat |date=30 December 1947 |access-date=6 October 2010}}</ref>

Some time in or after 1965, Lynne acquired his first item of studio recording equipment, a [[Bang & Olufsen]] 'Beocord 2000 De Luxe' stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder, which allowed multi-tracking between left and right channels.<ref name="Beocord">{{cite web |url=http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=581 |title=BeoCord 2000 Deluxe K Reel to Reel Tape Deck |access-date=6 October 2012 |website=Beoworld |archive-date=14 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014193544/http://beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=581 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="MBS"/> He says it "taught me how to be a producer".<ref name="MBS"/> In 1966, Lynne joined the line-up of the Nightriders as guitarist, having responded to an advertisement in the ''[[Birmingham Mail|Birmingham Evening Mail]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/video-elos-jeff-lynne-says-6826670 |title=Video: ELO's Jeff Lynne says he misses his Birmingham mates and watching Blues |last=Stacey |first=Alison |date=13 March 2014 |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref>

The band soon changed their name to [[the Idle Race]]. Despite recording two critically-acclaimed albums with the band and producing the second, success eluded him. 

In 1968, while performing with [[The Idle Race]], Lynne and the other members of the band were invited to a Beatles session at [[Abbey Road Studios]]. While there, he met the Beatles during the making of ''[[The Beatles (album)|The White Album]]'', witnessing the band making it together. He spent an hour at the session, before going back to the sessions with the Idle Race. Years later, he admitted that being in the same room "caused me not to sleep for, like, three days."<ref>{{cite web |last=Hughes |first=Rob |date=5 February 2020 |title=Jeff Lynne interview: from ELO to The Beatles and into the blue sky |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/jeff-lynne-interview-from-elo-to-the-beatles-and-into-the-blue-sky |access-date=May 17, 2021}}</ref> 

In 1970, Lynne accepted an offer from friend [[Roy Wood]] to join the line-up of the more successful band [[the Move]].<ref name=AM>{{cite web|last=Huey |first=Steve |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jeff-lynne-mn0000228266 |title=Jeff Lynne – Music Biography, Credits and Discography |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=30 December 2012}}</ref>