Jeff Lynne: Walsh & Petty On Hand At Doc Screening

Tom Petty, Joe Walsh and Heartbreaker Mike Campbell were among those on hand for a program devoted to E.L.O. frontman and Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne at L.A.'s Grammy Museum last night (Wednesday). The event included a screening of Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO, a documentary on the singer, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and producer featuring commentary from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Petty, Walsh, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Eric Idle and the late Barbara Orbison.

A 20-minute interview by Grammy Foundation vice president Scott Goldman followed, during which Lynne discussed the two upcoming releases covered in the film: Long Waves, his album of covers of songs from his youth, and Mr. Blue Sky, the Very Best of ELO, on which he re-cuts standouts from the band's catalog entirely by himself. Both albums are due October 9th.

In addition, Lynne revealed that he's eight songs into an album of all-new material he expects to release next year and that he's thinking of some way of presenting his songs in a live setting, perhaps in conjunction with former E.L.O. keyboardist Richard Tandy, who performs as a duo with him in the film.