Jeff Lynne, the longtime frontman of the Electric Light Orchestra, celebrated his 77th birthday on Monday, December 30. Lynne co-founded ELO in 1970 with multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan, both of whom he previously played with in The Move.
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Lynne became the sole driving creative force in ELO after the 1972 departure of Wood. Jeff then produced all of the band’s subsequent albums and wrote all of the group’s original tunes.
Among the many classic ELO tunes composed by Lynne are “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” “Evil Woman,” “Strange Magic,” “Livin’ Thing,” “Do Ya,” “Telephone Line,” “Turn to Stone,” “Mr. Blue Sky,” “Sweet Talkin’ Woman,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and “Hold On Tight.”
Beginning in the 1980s, Lynne also became an in-demand producer, working with such major artists as the surviving members of The Beatles, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Dave Edmunds, and The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson.
In addition, Lynne became a member of the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, along with Petty, Orbison, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan. In the 2010s, Jeff relaunched the Electric Light Orchestra under the moniker Jeff Lynne’s ELO. This incarnation released two studio albums—Alone in the Universe (2015) and From Out of Nowhere (2019).
The band also has toured frequently in recent years, although Lynne has announced that the group will retire from the road following a 2025 U.K. summer trek that wraps up with a July 13 concert in Hyde Park in London.
Meanwhile, Lynne also has lent his songwriting talents top some of the famous artists whose albums he produced or co-produced. In honor of his birthday, here a four hit songs Jeff wrote for and/or with other music stars:
“Slippin’ Away” – Dave Edmunds (1983)
Lynne co-produced veteran British rock singer/guitarist Dave Edmunds’ 1983 solo album Information. He also wrote the album’s lead track, the catchy synth-driven “Slippin’ Away.”
The song became Edmunds’ first Top-40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since his classic 1970 cover of “I Hear You Knockin’.” “Slippin’ Away” peaked at No. 39, is Dave’s last song to date to crack the Hot 100’s Top 40.
The synthesizer on the track was played by longtime ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy.
“When We Was Fab” – George Harrison (1987)
Harrison tapped Lynne to co-produce his 1987 comeback album Cloud Nine, which was the former Beatles guitarist’s first solo effort since Gone Troppo in 1982.
Jeff also co-wrote three songs on the album with Harrison, including the Beatles homage “When We Was Fab.”
The song was released as a single, and reached No. 23 on the Hot 100 in 1988. It became George’s final Top-40 solo hit on the chart.
Lynne played bass and keyboards on the track, while Ringo Starr played drums. Harrison’s friend Gary Wright, of “Dream Weaver” fame, played piano. Lynne and Starr also contribute backing vocals.
A quirky and clever music video for “When We Was Fab” features appearances by various musicians who played on the Cloud Nine album. They include Lynne, Starr, Elton John, Jim Keltner, and Ray Cooper.
Lynne and Harrison would soon team up in the Traveling Wilburys. Lynne also later co-produced the two new Beatles songs that were put together for The Beatles Anthology compilation series in the 1990s—“Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.”
“You Got It” – Roy Orbison (1989)
Mystery Girl was the final studio album Orbison recorded before his death from a heart attack at age 52 in December 1988. The album was released posthumously on January 31, 1989.
Lynne produced three tracks on Mystery Girl, and also co-wrote the songs with Orbison. Two of the tunes also were co-written by Petty.
One of the latter songs was “You Got It,” Mystery Girl’s opening track, which also was released as the album’s lead single in early January ’89.
The infectious pop-rock love tune reached No. 9 on the Hot 100. It gave the late Orbison his first Top-10 hit since his 1964 chart-topping classic “Oh, Pretty Woman.”
“Free Fallin’” – Tom Petty (1989)
After working on albums by Harrison and Orbison, Lynne collaborated on a record by another of his Traveling Wilburys bandmates, Petty. He and Tom co-produced Petty’s first solo album, Full Moon Fever, along with Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell.
Lynne also co-wrote seven of the album’s 12 tracks with Petty, including the hits “Free Fallin’,” “I Won’t Back Down,” and “Running Down a Dream.”
“Free Fallin’” led off Full Moon Fever, and was released as the album’s third single. It became the highest-charting single Petty ever released, reaching No. 7 on the Hot 100.
Lynne played acoustic guitar, bass, and synthesizer on the song, and also contributed backing vocals to the track.
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