Kelly Groucutt, R.I.P.
Kelly Groucutt, bassist and backing vocalist for ELO from 1975-1983, died unexpectedly on Thursday at the age of 63. You can say the words “Electric Light Orchestra” and get 50 geeks like me going off about the genius of Jeff Lynne as songwriter and producer, but not nearly enough people ever raved about the sheer showmanship of Kelly Groucutt. Put simply, Kelly could work a room, or a stadium – the size of the crowd was irrelevant, he could entertain them: it’s just what he was there to do. After the breakup of Lynne’s ELO, Kelly soldiered on with his own group, OrKestra (the K emphasized to point out that he and fellow ELO alumnus, violinist Mik Kaminski, were in the band), which was later absorbed into another ELO reunion band, ELO Part II, in 1992. Now with several former members of the original band at its heyday, Part II gamely played to any crowd that showed up, gaining a slightly humorous reputation as being a classy British band that would show up for any ribfest or state fair that would foot the bill.
It was in that phase of the band’s career that ELO Part II landed in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1996, the night before Thanksgiving as I remember. I was at a fairly miserable nadir in my own life, desperately wanting to get out of the job I was seemingly stuck in, when – more by accident 
than anything – I caught wind of Part II playing Fort Smith. The tickets were only ten bucks. The crowd was sleepy – they really seemed to be there for the booze, not for the band, so I was a bit of an oddity, sitting off by myself, taking in the music, and as always not touching a drop of anything, which I’m sure made me a valued customer at that venue.
The show was as good as you could hope it would be; the only recorded documents of ELO Part II’s live act have “guest starring” local symphonies, but this was the show most folks got for the price of admission: no orchestra (aside from whatever was coming out of Louis “Hooked On Classics” Clark’s keyboards), just rock ‘n’ roll. The group’s own originals sounded better on stage than on CD, and they did the old ELO chestnuts proud too. Sensing that he was losing a sleepy room in an already-sleepy town, Kelly grinned mischeviously as he started changing the words of “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” into “Can’t Get Her Out Of My Bed” on the fly.
It wasn’t difficult to get to say hi to the band after the show – if anything, it was more a case of “Holy crap, a fan!” I try hard not to be starstruck by anyone if I can help it, but when you’re talking about Kelly Groucutt and Bev Bevan and Mik Kaminski and Louis Clark, you’re talking about people who I’d been listening to since the age of six. Bev was friendly but intimidating – I was a little too aware that this was someone who’d played at the Marquee with the Move; he was Walking History and I could barely look him in the eye, which was okay since he was incredibly tall as well. Kelly and the rest were very approachable, and I think all I was able to croak out was that I’d been listening to them my whole life, loved the music, and was glad they’d finally landed within shouting distance so I could see them live. The weird thought occurred to start handing out hugs, because I’m a big, hug-giving teddy bear of a guy, but I thought maybe that’d be pushing it.
I can still go on for days about the songwriting and studio genius of Jeff Lynne, but I’m not sure I’ve ever said nearly enough about Kelly and the other guys having the chutzpah to get on a stage and entertain. As a musician myself, I’m more of a Lynne: a studio rat, holed up by myself, playing and singing everything myself because I’m aware of my limitations and know that I’d be holding a live group back with my own self-consciousness: I’d kill any vibe that was there. But to see Kelly and the other guys on stage, playing their songs, plying their trade and trying to leave a crowd with a few smiles, was to want to be a musician more like Kelly Groucutt: a real entertainer.… Read more
