{"id":697633,"date":"2026-06-11T11:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/697633\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T11:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:50:11","slug":"the-1988-song-jeff-lynne-wrote-that-a-rock-icon-couldnt-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/697633\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1988 song Jeff Lynne wrote that a rock icon couldn\u2019t stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jeff<\/p>\n

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

Thu 11 June 2026 9:43, UK <\/p>\n

From humble beginnings as a Brummie rock\u2019 n\u2019 roll fanatic, Jeff Lynne<\/a> soared through the 1970s as the big-haired figurehead of the Electric Light Orchestra. <\/p>\n

With immortal pop-rock hits like \u2018Mr. Blue Sky\u2019 and \u2018Evil Woman\u2019 tucked safely under his belt by the decade\u2019s close, Lynne sought a moment of respite to sharpen his production skills. Little did he know then, he would soon find himself working alongside a former Beatle in arguably the most intriguing chapter of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a lifelong Beatles devotee, the experience bordered on surreal. Having grown up idolising the Fab Four from afar, Lynne suddenly found himself collaborating with the very musicians who had inspired him to pursue music in the first place.<\/p>\n

Impressed with Lynne\u2019s production work on some of ELO\u2019s material, George Harrison invited him to co-produce his 1987 comeback album Cloud Nine. Lynne was one of The Beatles\u2019 biggest fans through his teen years and even managed to step in and watch the group in action at Abbey Road Studios during his pre-fame years in a moment that enraptured his ambitions. It\u2019s safe to say Lynne jumped at the opportunity. <\/p>\n

Thanks to its hit lead single, \u2018Got My Mind Set on You\u2019<\/a>, Cloud Nine was a huge commercial success, marking a significant comeback for Harrison. While working together, he and Lynne became close friends as the early plans for Traveling Wilburys, which saw the pair form a supergroup with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison, came to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Ithaka Darin Pappas<\/p>\n

As if such an experience wasn\u2019t enough, Lynne\u2019s work on Cloud Nine was just the first in a series of high-profile production jobs, including Paul McCartney\u2019s 1997 album Flaming Pie and a co-production job with George Martin on The Beatles: Anthology. While he was checking off his list of all-time greats, Lynne casually strolled into a collaboration with The Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson. <\/p>\n

The request from Wilson arrived in 1987, just after Cloud Nine hit the shelves. \u201cWarner Bros. asked me to produce Brian Wilson,\u201d Lynne once told Rolling Stone, still awed by the moment a few decades on. \u201cI was like, \u2018You can\u2019t produce Brian Wilson. He\u2019s the best producer in the world.\u2019 But I said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n

Although commissioned to produce Wilson\u2019s self-titled debut album of 1988, his sessions with the legendary composer became more of a songwriting endeavour. While Lynne\u2019s production contributions were limited, with Andy Paley, Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker also working on the album as producers, he co-wrote a song with Wilson. \u201cWe wrote \u2018Let It Shine\u2019 at his house in Malibu,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Tragically, during the 1980s, Wilson found himself in a personal and professional nadir. Dipping in and out of The Beach Boys several times over this period, Wilson was under the strict supervision of his controversial psychiatrist, Eugene Landy. It\u2019s generally understood that Landy took advantage of Wilson\u2019s unstable mental state to raise his own status and profit from his celebrity client.<\/p>\n

Lynne has fond memories of working with Wison in Malibu but felt the ominous presence of Landy<\/a>. \u201cHe was really struggling in his life. It was horrible, and he was being treated badly,\u201d Lynne continued. \u201cBut you could see what a nice guy he was despite everything happening in the background. It was all very distressing. I only saw Dr. Landy a couple of times, walking around with his cape and walking stick. I don\u2019t really want to talk about that, though. Brian\u2019s doing great now and has a lovely wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Wilson received lukewarm reviews, and it remains one of Wilson\u2019s more forgettable discs. Wilson, himself, would certainly rather forget the record given that Landy\u2019s dominating presence pervades in the songwriting credits on five of the 11 songs, with his wife, Alexandra Morgan, credited on four. These credits were omitted from the 2000 reissue. <\/p>\n

As for \u2018Let It Shine\u2019, according to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys: The Complete Guide to Their Music, Wilson allegedly \u201cintensely disliked the track\u201d. The song was certainly not a reflection of Wilson or Lynne\u2019s finest work as a flaccid marriage of the Beach Boys\u2019 vocal harmonies and ELO\u2019s orchestral sheen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While neither Brian Wilson nor Jeff Lynne would rank \u2018Let It Shine\u2019 among their greatest achievements, the collaboration remains a fascinating footnote in both men\u2019s careers. It brought together two celebrated architects of sophisticated pop music at a moment when one was enjoying a remarkable professional ascent and the other was fighting through profound personal difficulties. Even if the results fell short of expectations, the meeting of those two creative minds remains an intriguing chapter in rock history.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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