George Martin, who had produced most of the Beatles' 1960s recordings, turned down an invitation to produce "Free as a Bird" due to hearing problems (though he subsequently managed to produce and direct the "Anthology" series). Harrison suggested Jeff Lynne (founding member of Electric Light Orchestra and co-producer of Harrison's 1987 album, "Cloud Nine") as producer, and work commenced at McCartney's studio in February 1994. Harrison expressed a desire to work with Lynne or he would not involve himself in the project. Geoff Emerick and Jon Jacobs were chosen to engineer the new tracks.