The greatest working experience of Jeff Lynne’s life: “The best fun”
Many of Jeff Lynne’s most notable career achievements seem to have occurred by pure happenstance.
After all, Lynne was the one who initially floated the idea of forming a group with George Harrison while they were working on Cloud Nine. At the time, Harrison had been in half a mind to laugh him off, but his casual quips soon transformed into the project of a lifetime. The Traveling Wilburys were truly lightning in a bottle, the kind that quite literally only happens once in a lifetime.
All of this proves the simple fact that, all things considered, Lynne’s deep intuition with what works best both musically and practically makes him a bit of an unsung hero. We love to talk about how great the music of Electric Light Orchestra is, but it feels that we too often overlook the methods and practices – and genre-blending – Lynne turned other musicians onto in the process.
He also could have followed in the same direction as many of his peers and built on established pop and rock foundations, but instead introduced more classical elements to stadiums for mainstream audiences. It was seemingly impossible, when you think about it, to have commercial appeal with something so risky, but Lynne’s vision paid off in the end.
All of these moments came straight from Lynne’s gut instinct. In the Traveling Wilburys, he was basically the glue holding the whole thing together – the one who wasn’t afraid to go against the grain when he thought something could be done better. With that many big names crammed into one room, someone had to take the reins, and Lynne slipped into that role like it was second nature.
It’s also how he managed to charm more than one Beatle across his career. Before working on The Beatles Anthology and Flaming Pie, Paul McCartney already knew Lynne was one of the most unique minds in music. He wasn’t just perfect to work with, but he also had ideas that would bring McCartney’s vision to life, being just the right amount of polished without pushing to play by the book.
Recalling the experience, McCartney didn’t have a bad word to say about his musical comrade. “Just listening to the records he’d done, I knew he made good records, and I know he’s very good at harmonies,” McCartney mused, from the Flaming Pie Archive Collection. He went on, saying he’s “very good at being precise with his production” and “a fun guy who comes from our school of thought”.
Mostly, it was the fact Lynne understood operating on intuition, turning to McCartney and saying, “We just make it all up, don’t we?” Which charmed McCartney more than any pretence about music theory or sheet music ever could.
Lynne also thoroughly enjoyed the experience working alongside McCartney. Like McCartney, Lynne remembers how fun the whole thing was. “I didn’t know Paul [McCartney] all that well, but we got to be good pals,” he recalled to Tape Op. “That’s how I ended up doing a lot of tracks on his album, Flaming Pie, at his studio. That was a lot of fun. What can I say? It was the best fun you could have working with great people.”
There’s a common theme among those who have worked with Lynne. And it’s the way he creates an easy atmosphere in any creative environment, despite his immense credentials. Lynne could enter any situation with a complex about how things should be done, but as we’ve seen, his main source of inspiration comes from bouncing off the energy of others, and letting ideas flow even if there’s no plan in place.
