The George Harrison Song That Jeff Lynne Called ‘Magical’
George Harrison and Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra became friends through their many collaborations. Lynne assisted Harrison with a few projects, like his album Cloud Nine, and both were part of the supergroup, Traveling Wilburys. One song Lynne helped Harrison with was “magical” for Lynne as it sounded like a throwback to The Beatles.
Jeff Lynne collaborated with George Harrison on ‘When We Was Fab’
“When We Was Fab” is a song released by George Harrison in 1988 as the second single for the album Cloud Nine. Harrison wrote the song as a nostalgic reflection of the early days of The Beatles when they were known as the fab four. It also featured psychedelic sounds that The Beatles popularized in the 1960s.
Lynne isn’t the only famous musician who appeared on this song, as Harrison brought in his former bandmate Ringo Starr to play drums. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lynne said working on “When We Was Fab” was “magical” as it gave him the feeling that he was making a Beatles song.
“I decided to pack it in 1986. About six months later, George Harrison got in touch with me to ask me to work on his new album,” Lynne said. “A few days after he met me, he said, ‘Let’s go on holiday. I’m going to Australia for a while.’ He took me to the Grand Prix in Adelaide, which was amazing.”
“It felt like an adventure, since I used to just bang out tunes in my little studio. It was now on an international scale,” he continued. “George came up with the words for ‘When I Was Fab’. It was magical for me, since it was supposed to sound like a Beatles song, even though we didn’t exactly use Beatles sounds. The album was a tremendous success and sold about 5 million copies. I was just so touched he wanted to work with me.”
Lynne worked with Harrison on a Beatles song
“When We Was Fab” wasn’t the only time Jeff Lynne had the chance to work on a Beatles-type song with George Harrison. In 1995, he helped the surviving Beatles (Harrison, Starr, and Paul McCartney) create “Free as a Bird” for their Anthology project.
The track was an unfinished John Lennon song that used recorded demos from the “Imagine” singer that were never completed. Lynne helped polish Lennon’s recordings and fit them into the song. He told Rolling Stone it was the “hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life.”
“One night I waited until everyone went home and I started to work. I got John’s first line in there, nudged it a bit and then pressed John in with my finger so it went onto the tape in the right place,” Lynne explained. “I did that all the way through the song, fitting him in wherever I could. It would have been much easer if I had ProTools. The next morning Paul came in and was like, ‘Jeff, you did it! Well done.’ He gave me a big hug. It was a relief and a pleasure at the same time.”
How did ‘When We Was Fab’ perform on the charts?
Upon its release in 1988, “When We Was Fab” was a minor hit, peaking at No. 23 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 25 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was Harrison’s last top-40 hit in the U.S. It received positive critical reception and is considered one of the highlights from Cloud Nine. While Harrison often spoke harshly about his time with The Beatles, he had plenty of fond memories, especially of making music with his four Liverpool friends.
