ELO Destroys Midnight Special With Hit “Evil Woman” In 1975

Getting’ It Right

Written by Jeff Lynne at the piano, “Evil Woman” was born in Munich Germany at Musicland Studios in 1975 and took the world by storm with the Electric Light Orchestra riding its coattails straight to the top. Performing the hit on the Midnight Special, ELO proved to be one of the very few bands of the time that was actually able to live up to their recording quality in person.

Interesting Fact: Their first manager was Don Arden. When he lost interest in the group, he gave them to his daughter Sharon who ran Jet Records. Sharon married Ozzy Osbourne a few years later.

From the band’s fifth album, Face The Music, the single placed in Billboard Hot 100’s #10 spot in 1976 and brought the orchestra the worldwide fame they sought for so long. The English band combined electric rock instruments with orchestral instruments. “Light Orchestras” were small orchestras popular in England in the ’60s; hence the name.

After dedicating a decent amount of time to perfecting their vocals during live performances, ELO finally got it right on the Midnight Special.

+ Evil Woman Lyrics +

You made a fool of me,
But them broken dreams have got to end.

Hey, woman, you got the blues,
‘Cause you ain’t got no one else to use.
There’s an open road that leads nowhere,
So just make some miles between here and there.
There’s a hole in my head where the rain comes in.
You took my body and played to win.
Ha, ha, woman, it’s a cryin’ shame,
But you ain’t got nobody else to blame.

Evil woman.
Evil woman.
Evil woman.
Evil woman.

Rolled in from another town,
Hit some gold, too hard to settle down.
But a fool and his money soon go sep’rate ways,
And you found a fool lyin’ in a daze.
Ha, ha, woman, what you gonna do,
You destroyed all the virtues that the Lord gave you.
It’s so good that you’re feelin’ pain,
But you better get your face on board the very next train.

Evil woman.
Evil woman.
Evil woman.
Evil woman.

Evil woman, how you done me wrong,
But now you’re tryin’ to wail a diff’rent song.
Ha, ha, funny, how you broke me up.
You made the wine, now you drink a cup.
I came runnin’ ev’ry time you cried,
Thought I saw love smilin’ in your eyes.
Ha, ha, very nice to know
That you ain’t got no place left to go.

Evil woman.
Evil woman.
Evil woman.
Evil woman.