Music legend Paul McCartney had initially written off Electric Light Orchestra, but changed his mind thanks to one reason.
The Beatles and Wings member says the Jeff Lynne-fronted group were doing what the Fab Four had been doing and little more. But McCartney would come around to liking the band over time. The Let It Be hitmaker would even single out Mr. Blue Sky as a “pretty special song” from the band, with McCartney heaping praise on the group. Lynne would eventually serve as producer to The Beatles for their Anthology project. Though it would take some time for McCartney to come around to liking the band, John Lennon seemed extremely keen on the Turn to Stone hitmakers from their very beginning.
McCartney said: “[Jeff Lynne is] funny, shy, ever so clever, great musician and a total twat. (…) Per se, everyone was part of it [ELO’s sound], from the people he admired. So when I heard ELO, it was very what we’ve been doing on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band [using the cellos], very much what we’ve been into, very sort of mathematical strings. So I think the first thing was: ‘Oh, I know where he got that from.
“But then you can’t resist it and it’s just so good. You go, ‘Oh God, it’s a bloody good song, I wish we’d done that one. They got these ELO strings, they’re singing great, the guitar is good.
“I mean, I’m a sucker for the hits. Mr. Blue Sky is a pretty special song; it’s probably the one that everyone would choose. So it’s a bit boring to choose it, but it’s great. I mean, it just works, and if you’re in the car and it’s a nice day, it really works.
“Jeff’s got a great voice, he’s got a really beautiful voice. Being a singer, it’s not easy to do what he does, got a really classic voice. It’s an individual voice too, it’s distinctive, it’s nobody else, it’s Jeff Lynne. Songwriter, singer, drummer, guitarist, you can’t do it all, he’s not bad at all.”
In an interview given to a local radio station, Lennon picked several songs he would like to be broadcast. One song chosen by Lennon was the ELO track, Showdown. Though the song would miss out on the number one spot, it garnered high praise from Lennon, who included it as one of his radio play choices.
The Beatles’ influence on frontman Jeff Lynne and ELO is clear, with the band stating that they wanted to continue on from where I Am the Walrus left off. Lennon picked up on that desire just a few years on from the release of their On the Third Day single.
Lennon said: “We’re going to play Electric Light Orchestra, from last year. Showdown,’ which I thought was a great record, and I was expecting it to be Number One, but I don’t think UA [United Artists] got their fingers out and pushed it.” The Beatles’ songwriter went on to praise ELO as a “really nice group” who were clearly influenced by the Fab Four.
Lennon added: “And it’s a nice group, I call them Son of Beatles, although they’re doing things that we never did, obviously. I remember the statement they made when they first formed was to carry on from where The Beatles left off with ‘[I Am the] Walrus,’ and they certainly did.”
