![\"Jeff](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jeff-Lynne-Electric-Light-Orchestra-1970s-Musician-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Wed 1 October 2025 13:00, UK <\/p>\n
Nothing that Jeff Lynne<\/a> ever played was supposed to be made off-the-cuff when he worked in ELO. <\/p>\n While there\u2019s a certain magic that comes with hearing a live band, there are certain moments that need to be built in the studio that won\u2019t have the same impact as seeing it in the flesh. Lynne always went back to The Beatles\u2019 mentality of treating the studio like an instrument, but he knew when to get the hell out of the way when there was a true guitar master at work behind the board.<\/p>\n Then again, anyone like Lynne could have easily grown a massive ego in the years since becoming ELO\u2019s frontman. This is someone who has made the best pop-rock tunes of the 1970s, been a member of the Traveling Wilburys, and has worked long and hard enough to be considered an honourary \u2018Fifth Beatle\u2019 thanks to his work on Anthology, and yet he carried himself like one of the most grateful rock and roll fans in the world. <\/p>\n Because as much as he loves to play music, he knew that his strong suit was working with the songs half the time he played. The biggest thrill for him would be working with someone like Tom Petty to create the perfect chord progression for a tune like \u2018Yer So Bad\u2019, and even when he did give suggestions to George Harrison when working on Cloud Nine, it was always in service to the song rather than trying to show up a Beatle.<\/p>\n But after his time with the Wilburys wrapped up, things went a bit quiet for Lynne as a producer. There would be a handful of tracks he would produce for Ringo Starr\u2019s album, but up until the 2000s, he was firmly in ELO mode when working on albums like Time. Not all of them hit the mark like they should have, but in the interim years before reviving his old band, Lynne would have a few strange detours behind the desk working with people like Regina Spektor on her solo records.<\/p>\n It\u2019s nice to hear someone like Lynne listening to what the new school of artists were doing, there\u2019s hardly any reason to say no to working with Joe Walsh. Outside of being one of the single most entertaining presences in Eagles, Walsh was a virtual genius whenever he worked on his solo records, and even if there is a touch of humour to everything he played, Lynne knew he was dealing with an absolute legend when he heard \u2018Analog Man\u2019.<\/p>\n He was originally supposed to work on a few tracks, but when Lynne heard the guitar solo Walsh played, he was over the moon, saying<\/a>, \u201cJoe is a fantastic guitar player. He did this solo on \u2018Analog Man\u2019 that still makes my knees turn to jelly. It\u2019s just like somebody on a high-wire who\u2019s wobbling in the wind or something! It\u2019s like, \u2018Is he going to fall, or what?\u2019 He fits these notes in perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n