Extra Scenes: Roy Wood's Side Projects (1972 - 1979)

Roy Wood (far left) with the rest of the Move, 1970.

Roy Wood had begun working on a side project as early as 1969 while he was still a member of the Move; playing every instrument on the album, he explored various genres including classical music, folk, country, art rock, psychedelia and rock and roll. The resulting album, Boulders, was released 21 July 1972, peaking at #15 in the United Kingdom.[1] The main single off of the album, "Dear Elaine", reached #18. Ever since its release, Boulders has received critical acclaim, being regarded as a true solo effort; even Jeff Lynne was known to have spoken positively about his bandmate's album.

Wood's next solo project, Main Street, would not come out until 12 December 1975 on Jet Records, under Wizzo Band, along with former Electric Light Orchestra members Rick Price and Mike Burney.[2] The album showcased the more jazz-rock side of Wood's music, being recorded during Face the Music as it was decidedly noncommercial compared to his output on his last album with ELO. Wood's second solo album, Mustard, was released 12 November 1976, and although more commercial, it failed to chart in either the United States or the United Kingdom despite positive reviews, being regarded as one of his greatest works.

Wizzo Band would put out a second album, Super Active Wizzo, on 9 September 1977, but once again, it failed to chart, resulting in the group splitting up the following year. Roy Wood would put out his third solo album, On the Road Again, on 17 August 1979, before leaving the music scene for several years.

Footnotes

1. Boulders was not released until 1973 because of Roy Wood's busy schedule with the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and then finally Wizzard, due to Don Arden demanding that the release be delayed to avoid clashing with the Move's material. With ELO being a part of Apple, Wood would have been free to release it whenever he liked. The track listing stays the same as it did in OTL; the same applies to Main Street and Mustard.
2. Main Street was recorded in 1975 but stayed in the vaults for many years before being rediscovered in 1999 and released the following year.

Author's Comments

Once again, nothing much to say here. The last paragraph does spill a little bit into Phase Three (1977-1985), but it doesn't really have much of an effect on it in the long run.