Roy Wood

Roy Wood, born in Birmingham, England, on November 8, 1946 (whose birth name is oftentimes incorrectly listed as Ulysses Adrian Wood due to a flip comment made in an interview), has long been regarded as one of the most important, if eccentric, rock musicians to have come out of that city, primarily for his role as the leader/co-founder of both the Move and the Electric Light Orchestra. Wood took up the guitar in his early teens, and the first "successful" band of which he was a member was Gerry Levene & the Avengers, which actually got to record a single. They broke up in mid-1964, and Wood joined Mike Sheridan & the Nightriders. During this period, Wood attended the Moseley College of Art, from which he was expelled in 1964. That same year, he organized the Move, with Bev Bevan (drums), Carl Wayne (lead vocals), Ace Kefford (bass), and Trevor Burton (guitar). The band was fortunate enough to land a residency at London's Marquee Club, where they began to build an enthusiastic following. Wood contributed most of the songs and eventually many of the vocals to the Move. Their single "Night of Fear" rose to number two on the U.K. charts in early 1967. The group evolved over the ensuing three years, eventually becoming a quartet. Later, the group added guitarist Jeff Lynne and passed through psychedelic, progressive, and heavy metal phases on albums such as Shazam, Message from the Country, and Looking On, which were popular in England but virtually unknown in America. Their sound embraced everything from old-time rock & roll, including Duane Eddy and even some doo wop influences, but also displayed Beatles-style harmonies and lyrical complexity. By 1971, Wood had developed ideas and ambitions that were too wide to be embraced by any one band, and proposed the formation...