The Move - California Man

[DaNukePaintballGames]

Wow, I want the bass player in my band!!

[swedrose]

thanks for this amazing video from the past ... rock on

[mapgroup2000]

To think Jeff Lynne is 64 today. Hasn't changed a bit!!!

[eddyvideostar]

CatKeaton. I know that this is not coming from you, but (at 2:37). No. Not even ELO could be categorized in the same breath as Led Zeppelin.

[Krzyszczynski]

Meant to add this as well:

Roy Wood's favourite singer is Dusty Springfield. Word is, in the early days back in Brum, he used to don a blonde wig and a fancy frock and do impressions of Dusty. Brave fella! (That was before the beard and 'tache appeared, natch.)

[Krzyszczynski]

Someone once called this "the de facto first single from Wizzard" - and you can see why. The various permutations of Move/ELO/Wizzard, plus or minus RW, were getting a bit too complex by this time to be comprehended by mortal man.

Yes, the first verse is missing from this clip. Pity.

The introductory riff is "borrowed" from Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue".

[geofftayloruk]

2G's and the Pop People ;D) Class!

[alfiesgirluk]

Brilliant!! for any one who is interested, check out Birmingham Beat here on youtube which someone has kindly posted it is excellent honest!

[jonajonesyboy]

off to the robin 2 in bilstonin about an hours time, to see woody himself, always a great show and this close to xmas no guessin what,ll be his encore

[TheKunig]

Cant imagine why anyone would dislike this - just a couple of geniuses having fun !!!

[doughnutdoney]

I think this was the last hit for the 'The Move' and then it was ELO.

[spacecowboy7580]

@doughnutdoney

Correct...give that man a cigar!

[rhimember72]

The first song I heard on the first transistor radio I ever owned, when I was 13, life was never quite the same from that time on!!!!

[termsofusepolice]

How in the hell did The Move travel back in time to do this weak cover of the fantastic Cheap Trick track, "California Man"??!!

[bobgure]

Bev Bevan; One of the greats, with Mick Tucker, Buffin, Bonham, BJ Wilson, Clem Cattini etc. You know what i'm sayin'......

[jasonpp1973]

Look at Bev Beven, what a strange drum grip!

[ELOSHAZZY]

Jeff Lynne was the stand out artist in The Move he wrote all their best songs in the group........<3

[shaftsbury94]

sad to say but roy took this look to wizzard, and i thought they wern't very good,

[DJPaulgee1]

@shaftsbury94 I agree. But at the same time we saw the birth of ELO. Mr Jeff Lynne is a true legend

[mrbag60]

No wonder Cheap Trick covered this later in the 70's, it is actually a wonderful nostalgia trip back to the rock of the 50's which as i remember was in quite a few songs around 1971-73. These guys were scary good but unfortunately didn't translate into record sales, unlike ELO who were quite popular from 1975-1979.

[goodchickenbroccoli]

Bev Bevan is such a stud

[CalyxAsgard]

Great music. The scary thing is that I seen people walk around dressed like this recently.

[ELOSHAZZY]

check out the DISCOVERY ELO WEB SITE great sie lot's of cool info it said sometime in JUNE JEFF LYNNE album will be released let's hope they are right.......JEFF LYNNE FAN4EVER....

[KuiamaLovesELO]

@ELOSHAZZY Yes, the ELO Discovery Website is awesome Shazzy! :-) My name is also Shaz by the way, and I am a MASSIVE ELO fan! My friend Nicolas runs that site, and the ELO Radio Show he has posted about recently in the news on there, is my show. Check it out if you get the chance :-)

[DJPaulgee1]

@ELOSHAZZY Can you pm me the link for the discovery site please? Thanks

[ELOSHAZZY]

@DJPaulgee1 GOOGLE ELODISCOVERY Great web site if you are an ELO fan I has video and updates about Jeff Lynne. Latest news is the two new song produced by Jeff lynne for Joe Walsh check it out good tunes!!!!

[therealjohnnyenglish]

Where is that new Jeff Lynne album?!?!?!

This is a classic!

[accessarry]

F'ing  Hilarious!

[ELOSHAZZY]

JEFF LYNNE IS A CALIFORNIA MAN FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS OR SO........LOL NEW JEFF LYNNE ALBUM OUT SONE TIME IN JUNE 2011. POST ON ELO DISCOVERY WEB SITE CHECK IT OUT COOL SITE <3

[haveagojoe90]

No wonder the great Carl Wayne had ducked out by this time. What a load of pants!

[jayrox40]

@haveagojoe90 Yes and he became a cabaret singer singing a load of pants!

[spacecowboy7580]

@haveagojoe90

Hahaha pmsl at your stupid comment..as someone else said...he went from The Move to singing crap in cabaret...he even looked like a cabaret singer in The Move..dodgy tache and shades..throwing poses...The Move were even better without him...as this song proves.

[MrBazza86]

Everything Wood was involved in was excellent . . . and still sound great

[vince198803]

Roy Wood can do no wrong in my eyes. Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan - 3 of the greats

[cozener1]

Thats how to do it Showaddywaddy!!!

[Millermaniacal]

Freakin' Hilarious! Well done! It's hokey and it rocks at the same time.

[VenusGrnys]

god Bev Bevan was so HOT!!!!! Love the Move and ELO and Roy Wood~~~~~~

[Jhensy2012]

'Time Warp/Rocky Horror', anyone?

[tuppy20]

Oh I've never seen this before. Jeff is looking like he is having fun, and I've never seen him on stage playing piano. He's so darn cute. Thanks so much for posting!!

[DaveInBridport]

Great vid - Bev Bevan looking very self conscious. Jeff Lynne still looks like this!

[skoockum]

Yeah.. I'm definitely seeing some Banana Splits influence here

xD

[SCSilk]

I absolutely love this song, and this video is INSANE!

Looks like Jeff Lynne was Prince before Prince was...

[mrbillhicks]

I'm sure Kenny Everett modeled one of his characters on Jeff Lynne

[ioriorioriorio]

Is that that jeff lynne guy???...Oh my f. WOrd....you mean they let him back on a stage after this travesty???? ...reminds me of the banana splits

[velvetplumms]

@ioriorioriorio hahahahahaah.. I know exactly what you mean :)

[martinjp1958]

This was a really good series - with lots of top acts, and on at a decent time [6.30?]. Summer of 72!!!!

[thepofmeister]

magic!

[Ian2861]

Superb!

[THRILLAKILLA187]

wOw The Doctor Detroit is really diggin this pre ELO STAGES b4 elo! thanks for this awesome treasure chest gem jam!thx again n big props to @thecatkeaton!

[dvfmliv]

It's said the original line-up of the Move was the best, but they're wrong. The Wood-Bevan-Lynne nucleus was such a potent line-up of musical talent that it was probably just as well the Beatles had split up!

[MrArnold1972]

jeff lynn.roy wood .bev bevan= pure musical talent at its best.

[inkytotty]

this came out the year i left school, i have allways been a roy wood fan

[reddevil1953]

Roy wood got Jeff Lynne etc together then turned them into ELO and let them get on with it, he is a brilliant

[daKandiman14]

I like them better after they became ELO.

[PaulMorricone]

Utterly magnificent! From when it was cool to look like you were having fun. People could learn a lot from this!

[tbzeee]

roy made the transition from psych to glam admirably (killer songs are the reason) and it's all with plenty of humour. teaming up w/jeff lynne didn't hurt either. and yes, richard o'brien was watching. i totally flashed on eddie's sax solo in rhps during this.

[eddielieber]

"This is Bev Bevan. Favorite composer: Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne" HAHAHAHA great call!

[doire1962]

And it was only a short time from here to the ELO...

[MIKECNW]

Far beeter than Cheap Trick's version.

BTW, are you sure 1972's the right year?

I've heard 1971.

[IThinkYouLookLarvely]

@MIKECNW The clip is '72, but I think you're right about the song being recorded in '71 at least. ELO and The Move overlapped by at least a couple of years. This was effectively the swansong for The Move, as ELO were well underway, and that's what they were more interested in. I'm thinking they had a lot more fun with The Move here, as they knew it was the end of that band?!

[garyhelsinger]

Looks like Richard O'Brien must have been a big fan of The Move when he wrote Rocky Horror Picture Show!

[fumetti]

The Cheap Trick version is much better.

[Whicol2]

Listen to this.....then go listen to "I can hear the Grass Grow" and then tell me that things don't get worse over time?

Their earlier stuff is WAY cooler.

[ThatMiserableCat]

Wow!

Thanks for posting! A rare clip with rather good fidelity, as well. Good show!

Glad to see ELO B4 they were. What a wonderful time in musicland!  What a great time for creativity!

I must say, I loved the music from the '60and '70s, and the art and expression and great times that made up that wondrous time which shall never be seen again.

I miss the 60-70's and that's why I'll say:

I am Lost in The Space & don't want Out of the Place!

Blessed 'Be,

Fluffy

[MIKECNW]

Obviously a Chuck Berry influence in the song.

[harfarhs]

If you listen carefully you find the melody is clever and well-crafted.. it's a shame that aspect is covered up by the 50s pastiche..

[mobyboy]

well... I prefare their sunshine-pop / psyech. from the late 60's

[gav1w]

What a load of rubbish.

[pipefitter0127]

California Man ..my fav Move tune...Do Ya No.2...Better than ELO version

[oiyabastard]

U MEAN CHEAP TRICK?

[pipefitter0127]

@oiyabastard ....No ....I meant what I said

[psalms51fave]

is roy wood chongs brother??? great song!!!

[animal90sFreak5]

wow what a classic,how come the way he sings kinda reminds me of Jerry Lee Lewis???

[lewisner]

Was the Sax player in the Muppets?

[jmad1952]

This was great Thanks.

[greenkhan]

Pure awesome raw talent....something I really miss

[davekm43]

What a true statment at the end of this, one of the biggest mistakes in music history is Roy Wood & Jeff Lynne not staying together. I would have been Lennon & McCartney all over again.

[niacom8]

Totally agree.

And brilliant drumming at 1.17

I seem to think there is a verse missing from this performance, because I remember another drum fill as well as 1.17, that was even cleverer.

IMO this blew away everything else in the hit parade that month. Yes, it's a parody, but the guys got right to the absolute essence of rock and roll. Hugely underrated raw talent and professionalism.

[niacom8]

Ah, just found the full length version and the missing drum fill at watch?v=uNClsvgv2V0

[TheWoolfy1]

@davekm43 I agree 100% with this!

[FamilyUSA]

Roy, Bev, Jeff etc will never know the feeling of growing up in the USA in the 50's and 60's. They do a nice job of reflecting the mood but like most Brits are a degree or two off, I still love the Move though. Brontasaurus is my favorite w/Message From The Country second.

[nathanielscott]

Jeff Lynn and Roy Wood are both awesome, this is a real delight!

[BeaMazaira]

i love roy wood!!!

[8tiesfreak]

Some references to ELO here and quite rightly so but this has more of a Wizzard feel about it and you can see the origins of both these bands in this one video. Xllent

[movilwagg]

Great!!!!

[gorillazfan3]

does anyone have the sheet music for the piano?

[boinkboink1968]

I have a sneaking suspicion that Mike Meyers got

his Austin Powers costume ideas by looking at this video.

Thats intended in a good way.

[Fordtaurus00]

That's probably truer than you know! Meyer's mom is a native of Liverpool, England. So no doubt Mike knew more 'bout the UK music scene than most in North America. Chances are he might just have seen this!

[lastangelman]

Later, a Roy Woodless ELO would be performing 10538 Overture on that very set

[greenkhan]

Roy wood and Jeff lynee too geniuses, just different sides...how do u combine that power successfully?

[Tenagra71]

This was a joke, right? Like the Batman TV series and Spinal Tap? Cheap Trick's version is way better.

[brabon1]

no joke

this was the movie's only hit in the states

and it is the missing link between the move and elo

[shaggydowah]

far f_______ out man,

[McMunchy]

Wow, look at Bev Bevan. Love it!

[Promoagent]

Teddy boys with long hair lol good rock'n'roll song any ted would enjoy though

[ensconce]

they're havin so much fun, it comes out in the jam to the very end. I like the Jerry Lee Lewis feel that Wood gets in the song too..

[zacandtaylorrule]

Awesome. As a Cheap Trick fan it is great to hear the original.

[MuzzikLvr]

That was crazy cool!

A precursor to pop up videos.

[NobbyOlder]

Cheap Trick also did a cover of their "Rock-n-Roll

Tonight" and Jellyfish did "I Can Hear The Grass Grow"

[die2no]

this song too

[jsc1215]

Awesome teamup of Lynne and Wood. Cheap Trick did a cool version of this song here in the states; I would love to see a Move reunion show!

[MattHatter]

Yes it'd be great but it would have to be without their original vocalist Carl Wayne who passed in '04 from cancer. Everyone else who's been in The Move is still alive though; Roy, Trevor, Ace, Bev, Rick, and of course Jeff.

[fatdanios]

Boy, did they get hairy! Check them out when they did I Can Hear the Grass Grow!

[Glasshouse27]

haha Yeah they sure did!

[fatdanios]

Do you happen to know what year this was?

[SkeebWilcox]

Jeez, The Move were the BEST!

[sadlsore]

This is a fun video. These guys are one of the strangest looking bands ever!

[FinnMove]

Is that crazy saxophone- man Bill Hunt ?

He was helping The Move in their last

TV- shows. The for a while ELO member and

the most famous as Roy Wood´s Wizzard.

[chefsupreme64]

Yes, Bill Hunt has the tenor sax.

The guy with the string bass is the ELO sound engineer Trevor Smith, so I've been told.

The footage is from a short-lived ITV series called Two Gs and the Pop People. ELO appeared on the same show, even though Wood had already departed, interestingly enough taking both Hunt and Smith with him.

[FinnMove]

It´s strange they handled these couple of

different things at the same time.

[PinkFairy1961]

This is my Porcupine's fav song !!

[shazzang18]

love the trick version love this one. i don't know which is better. This one is certainly groovier. the cheap trick one just rocks harder.

[fatley]

Roy Wood actualy plays on the Cheap Trick version cos CT were massive Move fans!

[ensconce]

ah cool man this is part Jerry Lee Lewis + Punk rock = California Man

[SYDWAZ69LV]

never seen this one that was a great yr!

[Unpleasantness]

Take it , Jeffrey!

[jimmyfourchannels]

Cheap Trick! pah!!!

Zey they ze authors, zey outrank them!!!

[ColtsFan1818]

cheap tricks is WAAAAYYY better

[clecompte93]

Cheap Trick's version mops the floor w/ this one!!! I love Jeff Lynne later on w/ ELO, but this version is brutal...

[mishaunique]

This is great! I didn't know this was the original. Fun, fun, fun!

[econoroller]

Cheap trick owes a little to the Nazz as well. At one point Stewkey was playing with them right before they changed to Cheap trick. For anyone who doesn't know Nazz, check 'em out.

[spookyphill]

roy was in charge of the band...jeff came along and had other ideas..they agree to differ and the band split after this record

[moveitwoody]

Showaddyploddy never did rock n roll as good as this.

[moveitwoody]

Anybody got Chinatown ??

[spookyphill]

things were going fine until jeff lynne came along...........

[DovneHund1]

what you mean with that? he is singing okay.

[jcgm97]

Who the HELL would dispute the fact that Cheap Trick rocks the Move like no other?!

[saguaroboy]

Cheap Trick owes their career to the Move. This style of rock and roll, well written as it may be, is really the domain of American rockers. Cheap Trick removed the farty sax, mocking nasal vocals, and kicked up the guitar energy a 1000%- and made it their own.

[moveitwoody]

Me for one, I heard Cheap Trick's version..it's lousy !

[WizzoHotspur]

Roy Wood - The undisputed KING of ROCK N ROLL!!!

Must be amongst the best ever sax style rock n roll songs ever, by anyone.

[SO4TO]

Great song but the is only Bev Beven and Roy Wood of original Move.

[ray03lu05]

Excellent video

[dylanfan1969]

Does anybody else realize this is Jeff Lynne singing?

[moveitwoody]

I think any Move fan would realise that.

[moveitwoody]

Watch the video again...Roy and Jeff BOTH sing !!

[toeternietoe]

Brings back memory's ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺

[redrick2030]

Interesting that nobody was playing a guitar.

[suziq60]

this sounds a little bit like Jerry Lee Lewis in some parts...??

[theuncletodd]

great stuff but has been noted before--Cheap Trick smokes this tune along with Brontesaurous

[610646]

This song sends chills down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up FANTASTIC

[teebee17]

Just f---ing awesome

[diego31079]

excelente!...

[lendmeyourears]

what a song - only discovered it recently on a remastered move album - excellent,

[maestrodad]

I discovered these guys in 1972. Used to play this song every day. It's great to see them play it live, even lip-synching.  Thanks for the video.

[amberleaf45]

yeah great record i have on 45 single

and still good today

[npaflas]

Sorry, but Cheap Trick's version just destroys this.

[Sayeret1]

This is amazing, Jeff Lynne has still got a bum fluff beard and the sax player is pre-dating the Rocky Horror Show by a good few years.Classic.

[Maneachicken]

Mind you, shows what model professionals Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev are.

[dvfmliv]

The strange thing about this clip is Roy Wood had already left ELO by this time, but was still performing with Jeff and Bev as The Move. ELO played "10538 Overture" on this same show, minus Roy....

[Maneachicken]

Must've been a kick in the balls for Roy seeing Jeff sing Roy's line in 10538.

[ueberRegenbogen]

They mimed in both cases (standard practice on these shows, even today). 10538 was the album track, so Jeff was miming to Roy's vocal—making things extra weird. Presumably they hadn't had the opportunity to whip out a reperformance track with a Jeff vocal.

[Just so no one gets confused, i'm talking about the ELO song from the same show (v=wUk-xB86o2c)—not this one.]

[ultramouse]

This is Roy Wood... favorite color: all of them at once!

[shleml]

Super stuff! They played 10538 on the same show without ROY!

[damiandal]

Bev borrowed Jeffs hat for this film. DD

[rdsklw]

Never heard of them until I heard this song on XM's deep tracks and instantly loved it. Never knew the back story of them.

[ronnieneo]

Jeff winning the Dave Stewart look-a-like contest.

[topofthepopsguy]

Love Message from the Country album, have the origional UK release on vinyl. Love the remastered song on the Message CD release. Thanks again for posting. And, which show did this come from exactly ? Thanks again for the vintage performance of The Move. The Guy on the Cello really is dancing around, also on the TOTP clip as well, he is seen going nuts, interesting. Thanks Again !

[60skid]

i love this song

[martyonline1957]

the "other two" look like mike burney and rick price from wizzard, might be wrong but.........

[bluesbrother37]

rick price left the move in 1969.

[vidpop]

The Move packed fun into this single.

[ELONut]

This IS great Stuff! The other two were as someone else mentioned Bill Hunt (ELO/WIZZARD Horns) and Trevor Smith (ELO Cello)

[SteveHillier]

Total class - looks like Bill Hunt was there too (later of Wizzard); what a great track, largely unacknowledged, as is that national treasure, Roy Wood

[mattess]

Looks like Prince borrowed Jeffs jacket and shirt

[HazMatCFO]

Classic.

[guywalker29]

Hilarious, fantastic, unmentionable,undescribeable,p­lastic,crunchy!

[ngobleus]

They point out Roy, Bev and Jeff...who were the other two?

[motthoople]

Classic....Thanks for posting !!