The “intensely disliked” song Jeff Lynne wrote for Brian Wilson
From humble beginnings as a Brummie rock’ n’ roll fanatic, Jeff Lynne soared through the 1970s as the big-haired figurehead of the Electric Light Orchestra. With immortal pop-rock hits like ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ and ‘Evil Woman’ tucked safely under his belt by the decade’s 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.
Impressed with Lynne’s production work on some of ELO’s material, George Harrison invited him to co-produce his 1987 comeback album Cloud Nine. Lynne was one of The Beatles’ 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’s safe to say Lynne jumped at the opportunity.
Thanks to its hit lead single, ‘Got My Mind Set on You’, 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.
As if such an experience wasn’t enough, Lynne’s work on Cloud Nine was just the first in a series of high-profile production jobs, including Paul McCartney’s 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.
The request from Wilson arrived in 1987, just after Cloud Nine hit the shelves. “Warner Bros. asked me to produce Brian Wilson,” Lynne once told Rolling Stone, still awed by the moment a few decades on. “I was like, ‘You can’t produce Brian Wilson. He’s the best producer in the world.’ But I said yes.”
Although commissioned to produce Wilson’s self-titled debut album of 1988, his sessions with the legendary composer became more of a songwriting endeavour. While Lynne’s 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. “We wrote ‘Let It Shine’ at his house in Malibu,” he added.
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’s generally understood that Landy took advantage of Wilson’s unstable mental state to raise his own status and profit from his celebrity client.
Lynne has fond memories of working with Wison in Malibu but felt the ominous presence of Landy. “He was really struggling in his life. It was horrible, and he was being treated badly,” Lynne continued. “But 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’t really want to talk about that, though. Brian’s doing great now and has a lovely wife.”
Brian Wilson received lukewarm reviews, and it remains one of Wilson’s more forgettable discs. Wilson, himself, would certainly rather forget the record given that Landy’s 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.
As for ‘Let It Shine’, according to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys: The Complete Guide to Their Music, Wilson allegedly “intensely disliked the track”. The song was certainly not a reflection of Wilson or Lynne’s finest work as a flaccid marriage of the Beach Boys’ vocal harmonies and ELO’s orchestral sheen.
