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Lucky, Lefty, Nelson, Otis and Charlie T, Jr – together, they were known as The Traveling Wilburys, but who was really behind the curly hair and shades?

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Lucky, Lefty, Nelson, Otis and Charlie T, Jr – together, they were known as The Traveling Wilburys, but who was really behind the curly hair and shades? One obfuscating legend claimed they were “the only known surviving members of this once great tribe of wandering musicians,” with an ancestry that “goes back so far that their exact origins have become extremely difficult to… separate from the legends and myths that have grown around them.”

The irony was that this was just one of many myths that surrounded the musicians who, individually, had been the subject of many a rock’n’roll rumor before they joined forces as The Traveling Wilburys. By the time Bob Dylan, George Harrison , Roy Orbison , Tom Petty , and Jeff Lynne convened in 1988, they’d individually been the subject of many an article – and, in some cases, book – that invariably raised more questions than they answered. That said, the fact that the group existed at all seems to have been augured by the fates. Turns out the Wilburys had been crisscrossing each other’s paths for decades.

Listen to The Traveling Wilburys Collection on Apple Music and Spotify .

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Roy Orbison, for instance, had toured with The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania, establishing himself as a massive star in the UK. Shortly after, Dylan and Harrison became life-long friends – and professional rivals – as he and The Beatles pushed rock music to ever greater heights during the 60s. As the 70s dawned, Dylan was guest of honor at the Concert For Bangladesh – a rare appearance during that period in his career, and something only Harrison could have conjured.

A magnet for creative talent, Harrison enlisted Jeff Lynne to produce his 1987 solo album, Cloud Nine . That same year, Dylan was touring with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers as his backing band, and it wouldn’t be long before Lynne was manning the boards for solo albums by Tom Petty ( Full Moon Fever ) and Roy Orbison ( Mystery Girl ).

Despite the self-created myth that surrounded “Lucky,” “Lefty,” “Nelson,” “Otis” and “Charlie T, Jr,” the Wilburys’ creation story is actually pretty well known: Harrison needed a B-side for his Cloud Nine single “This Is Love,” fortuitously had three of the others on hand to pitch in, and brought Petty into the fold when he swung by the erstwhile Heartbreaker’s house to retrieve his guitar. The result, “Handle With Care,” was too good to hide away on a single flip… so while these multi-millionaire rock stars were enjoying making music with no egos or no pressure – playing and recording just for the fun of it – they thought they’d knock out a whole album.

They chose their Traveling Wilburys moniker after the nickname that Lynne and Harrison had for spooky goings on with studio equipment – and, as Petty put it, because they “didn’t want it to sound like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, like a bunch of lawyers.” In the studio they captured magic: a whole history of rock’n’roll, country, and pop, making the Wilburys a perfectly formed supergroup that embodied the very essence of Americana.

With a nod to Orbison’s Sun labelmates, the famed Million Dollar Quartet – Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash , Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins – the individual Wilburys can comfortably claim to be the Billion Dollar Quintet. Come with us behind the shades as we pin these traveling troubadours down…

Bob Dylan (aka Lucky Wilbury)

In the early 60s, Bob Dylan emerged as an astonishingly prolific folk singer who doffed his flat cap to Woody Guthrie; with songs such as “Blowin’ In The Wind” he quickly established himself as a pioneering protest singer. Fast outstripping that scene, however, Dylan altered the face of rock music with his “thin, wild mercury sound,” as captured on Blonde On Blonde , and elevated lyric-writing to the level of poetry with epochal songs the likes of “Mr Tambourine Man” and “Like A Rolling Stone.” “Tangled Up In Blue” remains a masterpiece from his mid-70s “break-up album,” Blood On The Tracks , while “Hurricane” saw him return to the protest themes that he initially made his name with.

Traveling Wilburys highlights: “Tweeter And The Monkey Man,” “Dirty World,” and “7 Deadly Sins”

Listen to the Lucky Wilbury playlist on Spotify .

George Harrison (aka Nelson Wilbury)

As one of The Beatles, George Harrison blazed a trail through pop music like no other guitarist of his generation. He is almost single-handedly responsible for introducing Eastern music into mainstream Western rock and pop, while, as the 60s progressed, he became that rarest of beasts: a lead guitarist with impeccable songwriting skills. “Here Comes The Sun,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Something” remain some of The Beatles’ most-loved songs; after the group split, Harrison burst forth with an almost unstoppable creative flow, penning classics such as “My Sweet Lord” and “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth),” while also recording the definitive version of the Rudy Clark-penned “Got My Mind Set On You.” Though he succumbed to cancer in 2001, his posthumous album, Brainwashed , released in 2002, contained “Stuck Inside A Cloud,” which proved that Harrison’s creativity remained undimmed right until the very end.

Traveling Wilburys highlights: “Handle With Care,” “Heading For The Light,” and “Maxine”

Listen to the Nelson Wilbury playlist on Spotify .

Roy Orbison (aka Lefty Wilbury)

The one Wilbury with roots to Sun Records and the birth of rock’n’roll in the 50s, Roy Orbison brought a special gravitas to the group. With songs such as “In Dreams” and “Only The Lonely,” Orbison patented a strain of emotive songwriting that continues to send chills down the spine, while “Oh, Pretty Woman” showed that he could knock out a transatlantic pop No.1 with ease. A late-period resurgence led to him working with Jeff Lynne on sessions that produced the classic “You Got It,” while “I Drove All Night” (posthumously issued as a single in 1992, but recorded in 1987) took Orbison back into the US Top 10 for the first time in 25 years, and proved that his expressive vocals had lost none of their power over their time. Orbison died of a heart attack in 1988, between Wilburys albums, but his spirit very much pervades the group’s second – and final – album.

Traveling Wilburys highlights: “Not Alone Any More,” “Last Night,” and “Handle With Care”

Listen to the Lefty Wilbury playlist on Spotify .

Tom Petty (aka Charlie T, Jr, Wilbury)

As both a solo artist and leader of The Heartbreakers, Tom Petty has embodied heartland rock like no other artist. The Heartbreakers might have emerged at the height of punk, yet songs such as “American Girl” established the group as a raw roots-rock outfit that could more than hold their own among the political firebrands. As a solo artist, Petty raced to the upper echelons of the charts with the likes of “Free Fallin’” and “I Won’t Back Down.” He has since settled into the role of roots-rock custodian, issuing acclaimed albums at his own pace, while presenting his own radio show, Buried Treasure , on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Traveling Wilburys highlights: “Last Night,” “Cool Dry Place,” and “You Took My Breath Away”

Listen to the Charlie, T, Jr, Wilbury playlist on Spotify .

Jeff Lynne (aka Otis Wilbury)

A leader of Electric Light Orchestra, Jeff Lynne established his group as the 70s’ answer to The Beatles, working up increasingly ambitious pop-rock masterpieces such as “Livin’ Thing” and “Mr. Blue Sky,” which have gone on to define the decade. It’s fitting, then, that in the wake of ELO’s split, Lynne would go on to co-produce George Harrison’s latter-day solo material, and eventually worked with The Beatles themselves when he helped them complete “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” from unfinished John Lennon demos for the Anthology project in the mid-90s. Though Lynne’s own solo albums have been few and far between, “Every Little Thing” and “She” remain highlights in a hugely varied back catalogue.

Traveling Wilburys Highlights: “Rattled,” “Poor House,” and “Runaway”

Listen to the Otis Wilbury playlist on Spotify .

17 Comments

June 10, 2016 at 9:08 pm

Very informative piece. However, it lists the “Million Dollar Quartet” as Elvis, Jerry Lee, Cash and “The Big O himself”, meaning Roy Orbison. Roy was with Sun Records but was not the fourth member of the “Quartet. That was Carl Perkins.

June 11, 2016 at 1:23 am

Absolutely right, it was Carl (Blue Suede Shoes) Perkins in the famous photo of the million dollar quartet, not Roy. The picture can be seen on the Sun Studios website.

Mick DeLeon

June 15, 2016 at 5:48 pm

And, had he been alive, I’ve no doubt that Carl Perkins would’ve been a Wilbury. He and George were good friends, and Carl was arguably George’s biggest influence.

Wesley Scott

June 11, 2016 at 12:11 am

I Hate to be that guy but, Harrison didn’t pen “Got my mind set on you” it was a cover.

MojoSpindles

October 5, 2017 at 8:12 am

It does read, ‘ while also recording the definitive version of the Rudy Clark-penned ‘Got My Mind Set On You’.

June 11, 2016 at 12:40 am

So, you tease with some mystery about the I.D. of Otis Wilbury. Where’s the intrigue? I see no surprising information, etc.

eljingoslin

June 11, 2016 at 12:56 am

You left out Buster Sidebury, AKA Jim Keltner

Jeffrey Ellis

October 27, 2019 at 6:36 am

Glad you made that point. Jim K was (and still us) a superstar in his own right.

June 11, 2016 at 1:20 am

So sad this world lost such a bright light as Roy Orbison so soon. Not only was he a walking Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame singer, author, performer, he was a source of musical imagination that comes along once in a lifetime. Tom Petty, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan were, and are, stellar musical luminaries in their own right, and together they made a special impact on the world of recording that ended far too soon. Rest well, Lefty and Nelson. Your Stars still shine brightly.

June 11, 2016 at 2:35 am

I’m 59 years old, and I’ve been a Roy Orbison fan as far back as I can remember; listening to my mother’s Mercury LPs. I got to see him in a touring Grand Ole Opry show, probably in the late 60s. On my 32nd birthday, I lost my job because of an accident at work. So I’m unemployed, stitches in my face with a diabetic wife, AND ROY ORBISON HAD DIED! I tell you, it was tough to go on. Earlier this year, I drove to nearby Vernon, Texas, his birthplace, wearing a Roy Orbison t-shirt. There’s a park there named after him. I had gone to a birthday party for him, but I was a day early and missed it. Maybe next year.

June 11, 2016 at 3:30 am

Well, Harrison had cancer that derived from smoking,but it was a brain tumor that finally took him.

June 11, 2016 at 4:46 am

the last of the supergroups – no one else will ever come close

June 11, 2016 at 7:22 pm

Kevin Wlbury

June 11, 2016 at 8:20 pm

George Harrison didn’t write Got My Mind Set On You. Rudy Clark wrote it and it was first released in 1962. George wanted it to be recorded by the Beatles in ’63/’64.

October 5, 2017 at 8:13 am

‘while also recording the definitive version of the Rudy Clark-penned ‘Got My Mind Set On You’.

jasondraper

June 13, 2016 at 12:23 pm

Thanks to everyone who commented – particularly those who spotted some mistakes. The man who wrote this shall hereafter be known as “Chancer Wilbury” and is being forced to travel from here to John O’Groats with no shoes on!

Bill Royaloak

December 13, 2021 at 2:08 am

…And then there were 3; RIP Charlie Jr.

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The True History Of The Traveling Wilburys , a Free Film Documenting the Making of the 1980s Super Group">Watch The True History Of The Traveling Wilburys , a Free Film Documenting the Making of the 1980s Super Group

in Music | February 26th, 2021 8 Comments

“It real­ly had very lit­tle to do with com­bin­ing a bunch of famous peo­ple,” says Tom Pet­ty about the Trav­el­ing Wilburys. “It was a bunch of friends that just hap­pened to be real­ly good at mak­ing music.”

One of the most mod­est super­groups of the 20th cen­tu­ry, one that fate and chance threw togeth­er for a very brief peri­od, the Trav­el­ing Wilburys made music that sits out­side the usu­al his­to­ries of 1980s music, fea­tur­ing five men in dif­fer­ent states of their careers. Tom Pet­ty was about to have a come­back, George Har­ri­son had just had one, Jeff Lynne was no longer hav­ing chart hits as ELO, but he was shap­ing the sound of the late 1980s as a pro­duc­er, Roy Orbi­son was *about* to have a posthu­mous come­back, and Bob Dylan was…doing what­ev­er Dylan does—every album he put out in the ‘80s had an equal num­ber of detrac­tors and come­back claimants. Put it this way: the Trav­el­ing Wilburys didn’t feel like a nos­tal­gia act, and nei­ther did it feel like a mar­ket­ing idea. It was actu­al­ly light­ning in a bot­tle.

“It was George’s band,” Lynne says in the above mini doc­u­men­tary, but it wasn’t real­ly formed as one. It just sort of *evolved*.

As he explains ear­ly in the doc, Har­ri­son was hav­ing din­ner with Roy Orbi­son and Jeff Lynne and invit­ed them along to a stu­dio in Los Ange­les the next day. He had the han­ker­ing to make a tune, and they wound up using Bob Dylan’s home studio—the nor­mal­ly reclu­sive Dylan actu­al­ly picked up the phone on the first ring and gave the okay. And Harrison’s gui­tar was over at Tom Petty’s house, so he came along as well. The song they record­ed that day was “Han­dle with Care,” which fell togeth­er like mag­ic. (Dylan pro­vid­ed the title after look­ing over at a card­board box).

Har­ri­son sat on the song for a while, hav­ing no idea what to do with it. The only thing he could do, was to record nine more songs and call it an album. Which, once they had found time in everybody’s sched­ule, they did. The songs were record­ed at the home stu­dio of Dave Stew­art (of the Eury­th­mics) and final­ized back in Lon­don with Har­ri­son and Lynne. The group gave them­selves the assign­ment of one song writ­ten and record­ed per day. That the record isn’t a mish-mash of jam­ming, left­over ideas, and cov­ers, and instead has a legit­i­mate amount of clas­sic sin­gles and career-high­light moments is a tes­ta­ment to the friend­ship between the five (and drum­mer Jim Kelt­ner, who knew them all).

Friends indeed, but it doesn’t mean they weren’t also big fans of each oth­er. What’s cool to watch in the doc is how in awe they all seem: George is amazed by Bob’s cryp­tic scrawled lyrics and his abil­i­ty to nail a song on essen­tial­ly the first take. Tom Pet­ty is in awe of George’s demo­c­ra­t­ic ways with choos­ing who gets to sing one of the songs, regard­less of who wrote it—really, how do you fol­low Roy Orbison’s ver­sion of a song? But Tom Pet­ty still had a go.

The album main­tains that friend­ly vibe in the record­ing: micro­phones were mobile to catch music wher­ev­er it hap­pened. Jim Kelt­ner played rhythm on the inside of the kitchen’s refrig­er­a­tor. Songs were writ­ten in the kitchen. And after the work was done, the music would con­tin­ue. “A lot of ukule­les till dawn,” says Har­ri­son.

Roy Orbi­son only made it into the first music video off of the album, “Han­dle With Care.” He passed away just after the album went plat­inum in 1988, and appears as an emp­ty rock­ing chair on the next video, “The End of the Line.”

The four remain­ing Wilburys would reunite for one more album (jok­ing­ly titled Vol­ume 3 by prankster Har­ri­son), but the first album still sounds time­less, five friends just hav­ing a good time togeth­er.

The True His­to­ry Of The Trav­el­ing Wilburys will be added to our col­lec­tion of Free Doc­u­men­taries , a sub­set of our col­lec­tion, 4,000+ Free Movies Online: Great Clas­sics, Indies, Noir, West­erns, Doc­u­men­taries & More .

Relat­ed Con­tent:

George Har­ri­son Wrote His Last Let­ter to Austin Pow­ers Cre­ator Mike Myers, Ask­ing for a Mini Me Doll (2001)

Sad 7‑Foot Tall Clown Sings “Pin­ball Wiz­ard” in the Style of John­ny Cash, and Oth­er Hits by Roy Orbi­son, Cheap Trick & More

The Sto­ry of WHER, America’s Pio­neer­ing, First All-Woman Radio Sta­tion (1955)

Ted Mills is a free­lance writer on the arts who cur­rent­ly hosts the Notes from the Shed pod­cast and is the pro­duc­er of KCR­W’s Curi­ous Coast . You can also fol­low him on Twit­ter at @tedmills , and/or watch his films here .

by Ted Mills | Permalink | Comments (8) |

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Comments (8), 8 comments so far.

I’d argue that Orbi­son made his come­back just as he was about to die, and died at his sec­ond-peak. Remem­ber, his songs were just fea­tured in mul­ti­ple David Lynch films, he had that wild­ly-pop­u­lar Black & White Con­cert, where he was backed by oth­er super­stars, and his song “You Got It” and his album, “Mys­tery Girl”, were at the top-of-the-charts when he sud­den­ly ascend­ed into Rock & Roll Heav­en. Good for Roy, he was a nation­al-trea­sure!

Hi, good arti­cle over all but you got a major fact wrong about Roy Orbi­son and his involve­ment in the first Wilbury album. He was fea­tured on almost every sin­gle track on the album and well as a stand alone song, above and being the tit­u­lar Han­dle With Care. His pres­ence was huge, and I don’t know how you couldn’t know that unless you haven’t actu­al­ly lis­tened to the record you’re talk­ing about. Very strange.

I caught that too. But what do I know, I’m an old rock and roll ani­mal with one foot in the grave. I record­ed this doc on DVD from the Sun­dance chan­nel decades ago. Still have it and coin­ci­den­tal­ly just watched it again.

For myself, this group of incred­i­ble guys will always be a part of my music world. All of them leg­ends, and sad­ly 3 are gone. When TW was active­ly record­ing and tour­ing, I was not famil­iar with them. I’m embar­rassed about that, although I was always lis­ten­ing to all of them indi­vid­u­al­ly. I just was not aware of the group itself. I love the music now and will always!

They didn’t say that Orbi­son wasn’t involved with every track on the album. Only that he was in one music video. Which is absolute­ly true.

Orig­i­nal writer here: yes, that was an unfor­tu­nate typo on my part, writ­ing “song” instead of “music video”. I was Run­ning Scared from the inter­net com­ments at first, and was Cry­ing over it , but now we’ve fixed the error. I apol­o­gize and ask for [Pret­ty Woman riff} Mer­cy!!!

I’m not an IT guy. Where can I watch the doc­u­men­tary of the Wilburys?

If you read the artical,it said he only made it into the first Music Video off the first album

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The True History of the Traveling Wilburys

Spring, 1988: George Harrison asks Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty to spend a day in the studio at Bob Dylan's L.A. house. The result is "Handle With Care." He liked the process so mu... Read all Spring, 1988: George Harrison asks Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty to spend a day in the studio at Bob Dylan's L.A. house. The result is "Handle With Care." He liked the process so much that the five of them, plus Jim Keltner, spend a week in May at Dave Stewart's house, w... Read all Spring, 1988: George Harrison asks Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty to spend a day in the studio at Bob Dylan's L.A. house. The result is "Handle With Care." He liked the process so much that the five of them, plus Jim Keltner, spend a week in May at Dave Stewart's house, where they write and record a song a day to produce an album. We watch the creative process... Read all

• George Harrison
• Jim Keltner
• 1 User review
• 1 Critic review

• (archive footage)
• (as Lucky Wilbury)

• (as Nelson Wilbury)

• (as Buster Sidebury)

• (as Otis Wilbury)

• (as Lefty Wilbury)

• (as Charlie T. Jr.)

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia This documentary is available on the bonus DVD of The Traveling Wilburys Collection, released by Rhino in 2007.
• Crazy credits The names of the band members and their characters are reversed, as if their Wilbury name was their correct name. So instead of listing Bob Dylan as Lucky Wilbury the credits list Lucky Wilbury as Bob Dylan.
• Connections Referenced in The Beatles Films Podcast: The True History of the Traveling Wilburys (2022)

User reviews 1

• classicsoncall
• Dec 5, 2016
• June 12, 2007 (United States)
• United Kingdom
• United States
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 25 minutes

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The Photography

The manuscript, the limited edition.

The Traveling Wilburys

The official signed limited edition book.

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS presents over 150 photographs most of which have never been seen before.

Unseen often unfinished handwritten lyrics run throughout the book as well as song arrangements notes sketches and recording logs many of which are tipped-in or hand pasted onto and between pages as individual facsimile reproductions.

The Traveling Wilburys is the limited edition chronicle of the bands adventures published in a numbered edition of only 3000 copies worldwide - each hand-signed by band member and co-producer Jeff Lynne aka Otis aka Clayton Wilbury.

'What a magical, once-in-a-lifetime group! Thanks again for outdoing any other publisher in the world. Genesis sets standards that are incomparable.'  - B. Bosso , Subscriber, USA

'An absolutely stunning volume, with such lush full-page photos. Each detail of the book is so carefully thought out, and captures the spontaneity of this band of 5 brilliant songwriters. I especially appreciate the abundance of handwritten lyrics, notes, and puns affixed throughout - that's been an unexpected delight. How wonderful (and remarkable) that these papers were saved so they could be included in the book! The linen book cover, the slipcase, and the snapshots are simply perfect, as is the "Handle With Care" tape on the outside of the package. Wonderful!' - K. Hannahs , Subscriber, USA

Select from the following editions:

• ISBN: 9781905662159
• Collector: 2650 copies
• Signed by: Jeff Lynne
• Binding: Italian linen, matched to the jacket Nelson Wilbury (aka George Harrison) wore in the video for ‘Handle With Care’
• Box: Cloth-covered slipcase
• Extras: Includes a limited edition print: a facsimile 'Handle With Care' lyric sheet

The official book of the band's adventures, published in a numbered edition of only 3,000 copies worldwide – each hand-signed by band member and co-producer Jeff Lynne (aka Otis, aka Clayton Wilbury).

• Page size: 240mm x 320mm

• Deluxe: 350 copies
• Binding: Fully bound in two faux leathers with an onlay on the front cover, hand tooling and gilded page edging.
• Box: Copies are housed in a unique travel case covered in brown and yellow tweed and lined with felt. A clasp secures the folding lid to completely encase and protect your limited edition.
• Extras: An exclusive, hand-numbered, limited edition photograph by Alberto Tolot. Also includes the limited edition print, 'Handle With Care' lyric sheet.

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WATCH: A True History of The Traveling Wilburys

A documentary about The Traveling Wilburys is now available to watch online.

It's called "A True History of The Traveling Wilburys" and was posted on the band's YouTube channel last week in honor of the 30th anniversary of their second album, Vol. 3.

The doc was filmed back in the spring of 1988 while they were recording Vol. 1 in LA.

You can check it out below, or on YouTube .

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The official releases...

The traveling wilburys music.

George Harrison first mentioned the Traveling Wilburys during a radio interview with Bob Coburn on the Rockline radio station in February 1988. When asked what he planned to do as a follow-up for his Cloud Nine album, Harrison replied: “What I’d really like to do next is… to do an album with me and some of my mates… a few tunes, you know. Maybe the Traveling Wilburys… it’s this new group I got: it’s called the Traveling Wilburys, I’d like to do an album with them and later we can all do our own albums again.

“Wilbury” was a slang term first used by Harrison during the recording of Cloud Nine with Jeff Lynne. Referring to recording errors created by some faulty equipment, Harrison jokingly remarked to Lynne, “ We’ll bury ’em in the mix”.   Thereafter, they used the term for any small error in performance and the term was used again when the group were together…

Limited Edition

Picture disc.

The Traveling Wilburys Vol.1 gets a 30th-anniversary limited edition 12-inch picture disc, celebrating this blue moon moment in rock ’n’ roll history. With an A-side featuring the band’s bold logo, a B-side displaying an Alberto Tolot photo of the Wilburys, and a die-cut sleeve revealing the picture disc in all its glory, this vinyl version is an aesthetically stunning salute to the world’s ultimate supergroup.

2CD/DVD Box Set

Nearly twenty years after the creation of the band, and over a decade since the music was last available to fans, the music of The Traveling Wilburys is reissued in this collection. The previously released albums Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 and Traveling Wilburys Volume 3 feature inarguably some of music’s greatest singer-songwriters, as the iconic band The Traveling Wilburys.

Deluxe Limited Edition

By overwhelming popular demand, The Traveling Wilburys Collection (Deluxe Limited Edition) is back. Linen-bound with the Wilburys logo on a linen-bound box, theDeluxe Limited Edition follows the original cream-colored Traveling Wilburys Collection, which sold out on the first day of its worldwide release in June 2007.

Deluxe linen-bound box

The Traveling Wilburys’ all-star configuration had such a rockin’ good time cutting the track ‘Handle With Care’ that they decided to release it under the Wilburys moniker. The band’s camaraderie can be heard in every groove of their albums Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 and Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, reissued here on vinyl with a bonus 12′ of remixed and previously unreleased tracks.

This edition of the Wilburys’ GRAMMY-winning 1988 debut album, Traveling Wilburys Volume 1, is now available after being out-of-print for over a decade. The album won the GRAMMY for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals, and introduced the Wilburys’ classics ‘Handle With Care’, ‘End Of The Line’ and ‘Heading For The Light,’ among others.

After being out-of-print for over a decade, The Wilbury’s second album, 1990’s Traveling Wilburys Volume 3, is now celebrated with a new edition. Though it was their second release, the album was mischievously titled Vol. 3 by George Harrison. According to Jeff Lynne, “That was George’s idea. He said, ‘Let’s confuse the buggers.'”

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18 Facts About Legendary Band “The Traveling Wilburys”

June 6, 2018, 12:47 pm

1- The Traveling Wilburys recorded two albums, the first in 1988 and the second in 1990, though Roy Orbison died before the second was laid down.

2- The Traveling Wilburys were the original rock ‘n’ roll supergroup. They consisted of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Beatle George Harrison, Roy Orbison and ELO’s Jeff Lynne.

3- Their 1988 album  Travelling Wilburys Volume One  won the 1989 Grammy award for Best Rock Performance by a Group with Vocals.

4- According to Petty, Harrison’s dream for the Wilburys was to handpick the participants and create “the perfect little band”, but the criteria for inclusion were governed most by “who you could hang out with

5- The band came together in April 1988,  when Harrison was in Los Angeles to oversee the filming of his HandMade production  Checking Out .

6- George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison, all contributed verses to “Handle With Care” which was to be the B-side. The record company rejected it as a B-side because they felt that the song was “too good to throw away,” and thus the first steps to “Volume 1” began. “That’s What It Takes” and “Zig Zag” took the place as the B-side, depending on what country released the single.

7- They were so super, in fact, that at first blush the Traveling Wilburys sounded like a cruel hoax. Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty in the same band? That couldn’t happen, right? But it did – and on Oct. 18, 1988, we heard our first full-length proof of their union.

8- The band The Traveling Wilburys was formed almost as a joke in order to make a B-side to a George Harrison single This Is Love .

9- Jeff Lynne was leader of the Electric Light Orchestra, Tom Petty’s group was the Heartbreakers and George Harrison was lead guitarist with The Beatles. Genesis was an English rock band whose original lineup was Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Chris Stewart. Phil Collins also played drums with Genesis.

10- ‘Traveling Wilburys Vol.1’ was followed by ‘Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3’ in 1980. The reason for this was given as “George being George”. I made up all the wrong answers. In 2007 a box set, ‘The Traveling Wilburys Collection’, containing both albums and a DVD, was released. It went straight to number one in the UK, and also charted at number 9 in the US Billboard 200.

11- Their debut album  Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1  proved an enduring critical success, in 1989 and 1990 winning accolades such as a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.

12- Roy Orbison sadly died in December 1988, so was not on the second album. The video for the Vol.1 song ‘End of the Line’, shows a rocking chair and Roy Orbison’s guitar as a tribute over his vocals.

13- Harrison first suggested “the Trembling Wilburys” as the group’s name; at Lynne’s suggestion, they amended it to “Traveling Wilburys”

14- “End of the Line” takes place on a train. The four surviving Wilburys take turns singing their parts and when Roy’s turn comes up (after Tom sings “maybe somewhere when somebody plays Purple Haze”) the train enters a tunnel and the lights dim. If you remember the video, next to Tom is a picture frame with Roy’s photo in it, possibly from a photo shoot for his “Mystery Girl” album and a rocking chair with his guitar is between Jeff and Bob.

15- They were named after a slang term that George Harrison and Jeff Lynne gave to studio equipment. The pair referred to equalizers and limiters as “wilburys,” as in “we’ll bury that mistake in the mix.”

16- George Harrison first mentioned the Traveling Wilburys publicly during a radio interview with Bob Coburn on the show  Rockline  in February 1988

17- Tom Petty was Charlie T. Wilbury Jr. on the first album and Muddy Wilbury on the second, George Harrison was Nelson Wilbury and Spike Wilbury and Jeff Lynne was Otis Wilbury and Clayton Wilbury.

http://www.songfacts.com/facts-the_traveling_wilburys.php

http://www.wiki-zero.net/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvVHJhdmVsaW5nX1dpbGJ1cnlz

bob dylan george harrison facts Roy Orbison facts tom petty facts Traveling Wilburys Traveling Wilburys band members Traveling Wilburys facts

You need Fact 19. End of the Line was recorded in Los Angeles but what train and where was it running in the video?

I think…. it might have been old Number 3 out of Railroad 1897 at Jamestown California. That looks like the proper countryside. Please find out.

This was one of the best band ever.. the talent was amazing

The very first time I heard THEM I fell in love with their music. I hunted for YEARS looking for the 2nd album to complete the set. Then found out there never was a second album. Never the less…the Wilbury’s were (after Tom and the Heartbreakers), in my opinion the best band ever. Dripping with talent, but not one hint of egotism amongst them…

3 is the second and final studio album by the Traveling Wilburys, a group consisting of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. It was released on October 29,

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• Behind the Song
• country rock
• Traveling Wilburys

The Story Behind “Handle with Care” by the Traveling Wilburys and How It Was Inspired by a Box in Bob Dylan’s Garage

by Jay McDowell April 11, 2024, 7:00 pm

While George Harrison was recording Cloud Nine with Jeff Lynne, they discussed creating a band to record a song as a bonus track for his next European single. The resulting supergroup took on pseudonyms as half-brothers from the traveling Wilbury family. Based more on “who would you rather hang out with” than musical ability, they brought in Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Roy Orbison to fill out the group. They each shared a love of ’50s music as well as the comedy of Monty Python. As the song was recorded, everyone agreed it was too good for the limited exposure it would receive as a bonus track on a European single. They instead recorded an entire album and used the song as the lead single. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Handle with Care” by the Traveling Wilburys .

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Been beat up and battered ’round Been sent up, and I’ve been shot down You’re the best thing that I’ve ever found Handle me with care

The Band’s Formation

As Harrison worked on Cloud Nine , producer Lynne was also working on Roy Orbison’s Mystery Girl . Although the studio was booked, Harrison invited Orbison to join him for the session. He called Dylan, who agreed to let them use his Malibu studio. Harrison went to Petty’s house to retrieve a guitar and asked the singer to join them in the studio.

Reputations changeable Situations tolerable Baby, you’re adorable Handle me with care

It Came from a Box

When the band recorded the basic tracks, they used Dylan’s Ampex recorder in his Malibu garage. There was a box there marked “Handle with Care,” which inspired the lyrics. The track started with acoustic and electric six- and 12-string guitars and a drum machine.

I’m so tired of being lonely I still have some love to give Won’t you show me that you really care?

A Great Picture Emerges

All five band members shared writing credit on “Handle with Care,” but Petty talked about writing a song with Dylan. In 2010, he told Mojo magazine, “There’s nobody I’ve ever met who knows more about the craft of how to put a song together than he does. I learned so much from just watching him work. He has an artist’s mind and can find in a line the key word, and think how to embellish it to bring the line out. I had never written more words than I needed, but he tended to write lots and lots of verses, then he’ll say, this verse is better than that, or this line. Slowly, this great picture emerges. He was very good in The Traveling Wilburys. When someone had a line, he could make it a lot better in big ways.”

Everybody’s got somebody to lean on Put your body next to mine and dream on

“I’m playing the guitar in front of a Beatle!”

They originally asked Mike Campbell, who is part of Petty’s backup band The Heartbreakers, to play the guitar. He told Uncut magazine, “They didn’t have the slide intro. I set up my amp, and Tom, Jeff, and George are there. I’m trying my best, but I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m playing the guitar in front of a Beatle!’ I played pretty good, but I said, ‘I really think George would be better on this. His fill would be much sweeter.’ So, he used my amp, and I handed him my guitar. He came up with that beautiful guitar part.”

I’ve been fobbed off, and I’ve been fooled I’ve been robbed and ridiculed In daycare centers and night schools Handle me with care

The Recording

Harrison added the electric slide guitar part on a Rickenbacker 12-string, and Dylan played harmonica. Drummer Ian Wallace and Lynne overdubbed percussion. The Wilburys wanted Jim Keltner to be involved, and he also added some percussion to the drum machine track at Quincy Jones’ Los Angeles studio.

Been stuck in airports, terrorized Sent to meetings, hypnotized Overexposed, commercialized Handle me with care

“The Big O”

The “Handle with Care” music video was shot in October 1988 at an abandoned brewery in Los Angeles. David Leland directed the video after recently completing Harrison’s HandMade Films production Checking Out . The Wilburys performed the song around a single microphone. It was the last video to feature Orbison, who died of a heart attack two months later. “The Big O” had entertained the rest of the band by reciting entire Monty Python sketches. In 2015, Lynne told author John Van der Kiste, “He’s got this enormous and most infectious giggle you’ve ever heard, and we’d all be giggling like schoolgirls after a minute or two and all fall about!”

A Guitar on a Chair

The remaining members of the band carried on and made another video for “End of the Line.” When Orbison’s lines came up, shots of a guitar on a chair were shown to represent the departed singer. Funnily enough, a second album was also made, entitled Volume 3 .

The Song’s Afterlife

In 2002, Petty, Lynne, and The Heartbreakers performed the song at the Concert for George , a tribute to Harrison, who died in 2001. In 2004, they performed “Handle with Care” with Harrison’s son Dhani at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. In 2006, Jenny Lewis covered the song on her debut solo album Rabbit Fur Coat . In 2014, Lynne performed the song in London’s Hyde Park for the BBC Radio 2 Festival in a Day . In 2019, Dhani Harrison was the featured guest during Jeff Lynne and ELO’s tour of the U.S. He included the song in his sets.

I’ve been uptight and made a mess But I’ll clean it up myself, I guess Oh, the sweet smell of success Handle me with care

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The Mega-Hit Song George Jones Almost Refused to Record

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Music | Bay Area fan accumulates epic collection of…

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Music | may day and gaza protests sweeping the bay area wednesday, music | bay area fan accumulates epic collection of rock music memorabilia, bill guardino has over 250,000 pieces in his collection.

“I don’t know where to begin,” the 69-year-old fan says as he is about to guide me on a private tour of his artifacts, curiosities and undeniably cool stuff.

So, I make the decision for him and immediately zoom past the Beatles, Grateful Dead, etc. and follow my own musical passion right to a gorgeous framed display of Black Sabbath’s debut record, signed by all four of the band members.

“That’s the album that started it all,” Guardino says of the 1970 epic that is considered to be ground zero for heavy metal.

From there, Guardino continues to provide commentary as we soak up such treasures as a signed Doors picture (“That’s a rare piece — to have all four signatures on a photograph like that”) and a copy of Pink Floyd’s “A Saucerful of Secrets” album that is signed by all four original band members — including the late Syd Barrett (“I just can’t believe that I have Syd’s signature on that”).

We pause a moment to savor the sight of a bass guitar that is signed by none other than the legendary Paul McCartney.

“It might be one of my favorites,” Guardino says. “But There are too many to chose.”

That’s made abundantly clear as we move on to a framed Traveling Wilburys display featuring signatures from all five members of the ultimate rock supergroup — Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.  And, oh, wow, that’s a guitar signed by the great bluesman Muddy Waters.

“What I’m showing you is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Guardino, who operates a successful drywalling business, Guardino Drywall, Inc, in the South Bay. “What I am showing you today is probably 1 percent.”

Actually — doing the quick math — it’s far less. I’ll only see a few hundred pieces (at least up close) during this tour. Yet, Guardino estimates he has 250,000 items, constituting what he believes to be the largest collection of music memorabilia in Northern California.

“This is a six bedroom house and every room is full — and the walls,” comments Janet Guardino, who briefly joins our informal tour before disappearing off to her office.

Full is a bit of an understatement. Some of these rooms are so stuffed with goodies — including some non-music, pop culture memorabilia — that it’s hard to even walk through them. All of the items mentioned thus far in this story were framed and prominently displayed on the walls in this two-story house.

Yet, the Guardinos would need dozens (if not hundreds) of other houses in order to have the wall space necessary to display all the worthwhile memorabilia in this collection. Most of the treasures are just stocked up in piles, awaiting for their chance to impress.

That fact is underscored as Guardino thumbs through some more items, eventually landing upon a framed copy of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album that is not only signed by the legendary singer-songwriter himself but also his then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo (who appears on the album cover with Dylan).

“This needs to be displayed,” Guardino comments of the historically significant piece. “It’s amazing it’s not hanging on the wall.”

It’s really the classic rock items — from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s — that jump out at you while strolling through his collection. Yet, Guardino has stuff from other decades and musical genres as well.

“I try to accumulate from every era,” he says. “And I have.”

As if to illustrate the point, we soon come items from Nirvana, Foo Fighters and — wait — is that Justin Bieber?

“That’s a yard sale find,” Guardino clarifies.

Yet, that’s how he’s put together much of his collection, garnering one piece at a time from a variety of sources over the course of decades. His passion for collecting can be traced back to elementary school, when he started buying up Beatles 45s. It went to the next level, however, once he really began to notice all the cool art that adorned rock posters and album covers of the era.

“The artwork is just really inspiring to me,” he says. “That’s really what got me into collecting.”

And one of the bonuses of this pursuit is that Guardino is certainly never at a lack for something music-related to wear.

“I have maybe 3,000 concert T-shirts,” he reckons.

Yet, he’s not just a collector. He’s also a vendor, having transformed his oversized hobby into a side job. He sells music memorabilia at Ashford’s Heirlooms on Monterey Street in Gilroy as well as online through his own Head Trip Music website, www.headtripmusic.com .

“Obsession? Maybe,” Guardino says of his collection. “Passion? Definitely?

“Investment? Definitely.”

Yes, he’s certainly enjoyed some good returns on his investments over the years. As an example, he shows off some rare Grateful Dead handbills, with Rick Griffin art, for a gig that was scheduled to take place in Hawaii, but didn’t end up happening.

“I got these things for $10, $15 a pop and I’ve sold them for $3,000,” he says.

He turns to his vinyl collection — which he reckons numbers around 100,000 — and showcases a sealed, early number, first pressing of the Beatles’ “White Album.”

“I’d have to get $12,000 for that,” he comments.

Yet, this is not really a money thing for Guardino. That much is made abundantly clear as you witness the joy on his face and hear the passion in his voice as he walks through the amazing collection that he’s put together through the decades. It’s about the love music and the joy of the hunt — of finding that next cool new piece to add to the mix — that keeps him collecting.

“I don’t want to stop,” he says.

See more pictures at facebook.com/headtripmusicgilroy .

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