{"id":778948,"date":"2026-09-22T14:20:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778948\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T14:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:20:14","slug":"the-1960s-icon-jeff-lynne-struggled-to-work-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/778948\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1960s icon Jeff Lynne struggled to work with"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jeff<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ Jeff Lynne<\/p>\n

Tue 22 September 2026 12:01, UK <\/p>\n

Jeff Lynne<\/a> could justifiably be called a student of classic rock. Despite having his own sound with ELO, Lynne was able to take the best of what he had learned from everyone, from The Beatles to Del Shannon and fuse them with grander spectacles whenever he went into the studio, making the kind of Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry leads played by violins and cellos. <\/p>\n

No producer of the modern age would be where they are without The Beach Boys, but when Lynne got the chance to work with Brian Wilson, he was slightly reluctant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For any producer looking to go into the studio, having Wilson beside you is already bound to be nerve-racking. This is the same guy who wrote \u2018Good Vibrations\u2019 and created recording techniques that no one had thought were possible, so how are you supposed to sit next to him and think you can come up with something just as good out of the blue?<\/p>\n

The intimidating part was that Wilson had already helped establish the studio language Lynne spoke so fluently. The dense harmonies, unusual instrumental combinations and determination to treat production as part of the composition itself all left fingerprints on ELO\u2019s music. <\/p>\n

Working with Wilson, therefore, meant producing one of the figures who had indirectly taught him how records could be made. Yet, the collaboration also offered Lynne a chance to return that influence in a different form, filtering Wilson\u2019s melodic instincts through the polished and immediately recognisable sound he had developed for himself. <\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Caribou Records \/ Public Domain<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy, but it helps when you realise Wilson was one of the nicest people in the music industry. For all of the business side of The Beach Boys, Wilson was always into music for the simple joy of being able to put melodies together, but his first solo album with Lynne on production did have a few hangers-on in the background.<\/p>\n

This was part of Wilson\u2019s much-maligned 1980s period, where he would find himself under the watchful eye of Dr Eugene Landy. While Wilson would break free from Landy\u2019s grasp later, Lynne remembered little getting done some days because of how much input they had on the production.<\/p>\n

When talking about making the record, Lynne remembers the songs going through multiple hands, saying<\/a>, \u201cIt was a tiny bit difficult, yeah, but only because of the way it was structured, with all the doctors and that stuff, and you have to go through this chain of events before you do anything. Like you\u2019d lay down a tape, a little rough thing of a song that I wrote with him, and suddenly someone\u2019s got a copy of it, and they\u2019re playing it to the record company saying, \u2018Look at this! What\u2019s he trying to do?\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

The song at the centre of that strained process was \u2018Let It Shine\u2019, which Lynne co-wrote and produced for Wilson\u2019s self-titled debut solo album. It sounds like a meeting between their respective worlds, pairing Wilson\u2019s instinctive melodic warmth with the crisp drums, layered vocals and gleaming finish associated with Lynne\u2019s productions.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the shady therapist involvement, the songs are actually a lot more indicative of where Wilson was at the time. Although they weren\u2019t reaching the same levels as Pet Sounds<\/a> or anything, it\u2019s easy to see why the eventual biopic Love and Mercy got its title from one of the songs on this record. This was a man desperate to get out of his situation and find something better, and given Landy looking over his shoulder, \u2018Love and Mercy\u2019 sounds like a cry for help.<\/p>\n

The process didn\u2019t taint Lynne\u2019s experience working with Wilson, though, eventually saying, \u201cThey\u2019re all nice guys. Brian\u2019s lovely. It\u2019s a shame he\u2019s got so many problems with all these people messing him up\u201d. Luckily, Wilson would break free of Landy soon enough, eventually going so far as to have his name revoked from the credits on the album for songs he allegedly helped write.<\/p>\n

Lynne did his best behind the producer\u2019s chair, but Wilson was far from the last time he would mingle with fellow rock legends. He was halfway to The Traveling Wilburys, and chances are, if he hadn\u2019t learned the dynamic of Wilson\u2019s session, he might not have been able to balance everything going on with The Beatles Anthology.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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