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The Traveling Wilburys

Perhaps the biggest supergroup of all time, a roots combo formed by George Harrison with hired guns Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison.

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The Traveling Wilburys

The traveling wilburys artistfacts.

• 1988-1991 Bob Dylan 1988-1991 Tom Petty 1988-1991 George Harrison 1988-1991 Jeff Lynne 1988-1991 Roy Orbison 1988
• Based on the accomplishments of their members, Traveling Wilburys were the most super of supergroups. The lineup was Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of ELO, all future members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• Harrison was the leader of the group. It came together when he needed a B-side for a single. He got his friend Jeff Lynne to work on it with him and Bob Dylan offered use of his garage studio. Tom Petty and Roy Orbison came along, so the five superstars found themselves together writing and recording the song on the spot: " Handle With Care ." They had such a good time making it and were so impressed with the results, they decided to form a band and include the song on a full album, which they recorded a month later.
• They were named after a slang term 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."
• Like the Ramones, each member took a moniker with the band name in it, although they changed their names for each album. Harrison was "Nelson Wilbury" for the first album and "Spike Wilbury" for the second.
• With the exception of "Handle With Care," the songs on their first album were all written and recorded in a two-week span at the house of Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. Stewart is British, but fell in love with Los Angeles when he came there in 1983. He befriended Tom Petty and co-wrote three songs for Petty's 1985 Southern Accents album, including the hit " Don't Come Around Here No More ." Stewart bought a place in the Encino area of Los Angeles and built a small studio on the grounds. His home became a gathering spot for the future Wilburys, and when they decided to make their album, Stewart gave them the keys. In a Songfacts interview with Stewart , he explained why he wasn't a Wilbury. "I would have loved to and I would have easily been an accepted Wilbury, but it was right at the period of Eurythmics making We Too Are One and touring it."
• Roy Orbison died in December 1988 just two months after their first album was released. The remaining Wilburys decided to make another album without him, which they released in 1990.
• They needed a drummer, so they brought in one of their favorite session players, Jim Keltner, to fill that role. He was credited as "Buster Sidebury," as he was a "sideman."
• The never performed live, in part because Harrison hated touring.

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• Pat Patrick from 98226 Music you can spend time with - Thank you Wp

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‘Experimental Jet Set, Trash And No Star’: A Sonic Youth Masterpiece

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With ‘The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1’, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne entered new territory.

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The Traveling Wilburys are one of the few bands to genuinely merit the “rock supergroup” tag , though given the self-assured and humorous nature of the five members, it was probably a label they would have dismissed. The quintet – George Harrison , Bob Dylan , Tom Petty , Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison – were all global stars at the time of recording their first album together , The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 , the sessions for which were joyous affairs that took place across April and May 1988.

Listen to The Traveling Wilburys Vol.1 on Apple Music and Spotify .

“We would have some coffee and somebody would say, ‘What about this?“ and start on a riff,” recalled guitarist and co-producer Lynne. “Then we’d all join in, and it would turn into something. We’d finish around midnight and just sit for a bit while Roy would tell us fabulous stories about Sun Records or hanging out with Elvis Presley . Then we’d come back the next day to work on another one. That’s why the songs are so good and fresh – because they haven’t been second-guessed and dissected and replaced.”

Multi-instrumentalist Lynne, who had previously been a key member of Electric Light Orchestra, had been working with Harrison as co-producer of his album Cloud Nine , during which time the pair had taken to referring to recording errors with faulty equipment as “Wilburys” (adding the punchline, “We’ll bury “em in the mix”). When the newly formed group were deciding on a name, Harrison suggested The Trembling Wilburys, but Lynne’s variant of “Traveling” went down better with the remaining trio.

The musicians were all assigned names in the new band: Nelson Wilbury (Harrison), Otis Wilbury (Lynne), Lefty Wilbury (Orbison), Charlie T Wilbury, Jr (Petty) and Lucky Wilbury (Dylan), and elaborate backstories were created for the characters. Harrison’s close friend Derek Taylor, former press manager for The Beatles and, later, jazz singer George Melly, even wrote an extensive fictional history of the quintet.

“The only thing I could think of was to make an album”

For The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 , they persuaded Monty Python’s Michael Palin to write liner notes. Using the pseudonym Hugh Jampton, (EF Norti-Bitz Reader in Applied Jacket, Faculty Of Sleeve Notes, University Of Krakatoa, East of Java), Palin joked: “The original Wilburys were a stationary people who, realising that their civilization could not stand still for ever, began to go for short walks – not the ‘traveling’ as we now know it, but certainly as far as the corner and back.”

Lynne was the common link in the tale of how they really got together. While working with Harrison, he was also co-producing Orbison’s album Mystery Girl , on which Petty sang backing vocals and played acoustic guitar. One night when they were socializing, Harrison suggested that they join him on a track called “Handle With Care.” The song was to be the B-side for the “This Is Love” single he was putting out in Europe, ahead of the release of the Cloud Nine album. They rang Dylan, who agreed to let them record it in his garage studio. On the day it was cut, Dylan, who had been making them a barbecue lunch, decided to join in the musical fun.

As soon as the spontaneous single was laid down, with its catchy melody and knowing undercurrent of world-weariness (“Been stuck in airports, terrorized/Sent to meetings, hypnotized/Overexposed, commercialized”), the musicians knew they had created something special. “I liked the song,” Harrison said, “and the way that it turned out with all these people on it so much that I just carried it around in my pocket for ages thinking, ‘Well what can I do with this thing?’ And the only thing to do I could think of was do another nine. Make an album.”

The executives at Warner Bros loved the single and agreed to a complete record. The five friends, sharing songwriting and singing duties, were an instant and extraordinary superstar collaboration.

“He clearly meant it as praise”

Though The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 is only 36 minutes long, it is full of terrific moments. “Dirty World,” a mischievous love song, features some great call-and-response vocals and typically classy saxophone work from Jim Horn, whose playing was so widely admired that he had played on albums with artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Carpenters , Frank Sinatra and Dizzy Gillespie. Other talented session men on the album include percussionist Ray Cooper and Ian Wallace (so dynamic with David Lyndley’s El Rayo-X band), who plays tom-toms on “Handle With Care.”

“Last Night” is a melodic love song, while “Heading For The Light” is a spiritual quest that is vintage Harrison. One of the standout songs is “Tweeter And The Monkey Man,” which started when Dylan – years ahead of social media, obviously – said he wanted to write a song about a man called Tweeter, set in New Jersey. Petty, who joined in writing the song, said Harrison bowed out of lyric duties on a track he thought was “just too American” for him to meaningfully contribute to. “Bob was like, ‘Yeah, we could use references to Bruce Springsteen titles.’ He clearly meant it as praise,” said Petty. The references to Springsteen songs such as “Mansion On The Hill,” “Thunder Road” and “Highway 99” are littered throughout an evocative track.

Tragically, Orbison died of a heart attack just six weeks after the album’s release, on October 17, 1988. But on the sweet ballad “Not Alone Any More,” the 52-year-old showed in his lead vocals that he had lost none of the vocal mastery that had made him a rock’n’roll legend.

The closing track was the vibrant “End Of The Line,” on which the group chirpily sing, “Well it’s all right/Even if you’re old and gray/Well it’s all right/You’ve still got something to say.” With so many magnificent individual albums behind them, and a collective age of 222, these five wonderful Traveling Wilburys proved they had something wonderful to say together.

The Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 can be bought here .

October 17, 2018 at 11:24 am

“…the pair had taken to calling studio equipment “Wilburys”.”

No, it had nothing to do with the equipment. When they had an instrumental or vocal flub, or a variant recording they didn’t like, they would say “we’ll bury it in the mix.” Those unwanted bits because known as “Wilburys,” as in “we’ll bury.”

Terry Hughes

January 21, 2021 at 6:30 am

The group as whole put out some serious music they are and always will be super stars in the music industry it’s a sad a story like there’s was cut off so short

Jason Draper

October 17, 2018 at 4:19 pm

Thanks for the clarification MrG800 – we have corrected that textual Wilbury…

October 17, 2018 at 8:19 pm

The big O’s death and the album release were in 1988 not 1998 as mentioned in the article

November 10, 2021 at 8:32 pm

Thank you Outby10! We’ve corrected that now.

Innocent III

October 18, 2020 at 4:44 pm

Truly amazing how well it all holds up. Can’t play the record without breaking into a smile.

October 19, 2021 at 10:41 pm

The record was made in L.A.(Dylan´s place)not in England

November 10, 2021 at 8:30 pm

Thanks for the eagle eye, Jose! We’ve amended the text now to correct that mistake.

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The 10 Best Traveling Wilburys Songs of All-Time

The 1970s may have been the era of the supergroup, but the most super of them all arrived nearly two decades later. Formed by George Harrison , Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan , and Tom Petty in the late ’80s, the Traveling Wilburys bought together some of the best singers and songwriters of the 20th century.

But while they may have been the ultimate supergroup, they were also the antithesis of every supergroup that had come before. There was no self-importance, no egos, and no attempt to be anything other than a bunch of song and dance men trying to introduce a little sunshine into the world – something that, as our pick of the 10 best Traveling Wilburys songs of all time shows, they more than achieved.

10. Congratulations

Kicking off our roundup of the 10 best Traveling Wilburys songs of all time is Congratulations, a slow-burning, emotionally charged number that chronicles the breakdown of a relationship. Despite the heaviness of the subject matter, the song, like the rest of the band’s output, is studded with enough humor and freewheeling whimsy to give it a sense of charming buoyancy.

9. Heading for the Light

Heading for the Light was written primarily by George Harrison, who also takes the lion’s share of the vocals alongside Jeff Lynne. The lyrics, which describe the singer’s journey from a point of doubt and confusion to a place of surety, have been described by author Ian Inglis and various other biographers as Harrison’s “most joyous account to date of the spiritual journey that had saved him from despair.”

An upbeat rocker with an exhilarating melody and a wonderfully ebullient vocal performance from the two leads, it’s one of the most joyously life-affirming records in the band’s catalog. Released as a single in October 1988, it reached number 7 on Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart.

8. Nobody’s Child

After George Harrison’s wife, Olivia, asked for the band’s help in raising awareness for the plight of thousands of Romanian orphans left abandoned in state-run orphanages following the fall of communism, Bob Dylan suggested they record Nobody’s Child, an old pop standard from the 1940s.

Harrison subsequently reworked the lyrics to include a new verse about the abandoned children, and the lead vocals were shared out between Dylan, Harrison, Petty and Lynne. It was released as a charity single in June 1990, with all proceeds from the sale going towards the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation.

There’s some jaw-dropping guitar playing from George Harrison on Rattled, but the stars of the show on this rockabilly showstopper are Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne, whose exquisite vocals add enough body and character to the song for it to get up and walk. A lusty romp rich in humor and good-time vibes, it’s an unmissable highlight from the band’s equally unmissable debut album.

6. She’s My Baby

She’s My Baby, the opening track to The Traveling Wilbury’s final album (and the first following the death of Roy Orbison), Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, was written by all four remaining members of the band, with each also taking a share of the vocals. Released in November 1990 as the first single from the album, it became one of the band’s biggest hits, spending three weeks at number 2 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks.

5. Last Night

As Classic Rock Review explains , most of the writing of Last Night was taken care of by Tom Petty, with the rest of the group jumping in from time to time with their own contributions. The approach demonstrates one of the key strengths of the band’s attitude to songcraft, with Petty’s straightforward, three-chord folk pattern contrasting beautifully with Orbison’s elaborate, Latin-inspired bridges.

A whimsical tale of romance laced with a vague menace and a big helping of humor, it’s a delight, particularly in respect of how genuinely joyful the band seems to be in each other’s company.

4. Dirty World

The second Dylan-led track from the band’s debut is Dirty World, a loose, buoyant rocker about lasting love. Sung with a lusty relish by Dylan, it’s a gleeful, toe-tapping delight, with a propulsive melody and enough energetic blasts of horn to keep you bopping the whole way through. The final round featuring all four members of the band adds to the freewheeling appeal.

3. Tweeter and the Monkey Man

According to Wikipedia , Tweeter and the Monkey Man is thought to have been written as a playful homage to Bruce Springsteen, someone who at the time was constantly being referred to as the next in a very long line of Bob Dylans.

Considering the number of Springsteen song titles scattered throughout the lyrics, not to mention the seedy, Springsteen-esque story filled with desperate characters and dark goings-on, it could well be. Either way, it’s a delicious slice of rock, with a dark, folky melody and elaborate arrangments that perfectly echo the cinematic quality of the lyrics.

Since its release, it’s been covered by numerous artists, including Canadian rock band Headstone, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and P. Paul Fenech of The Meteors.

2. End of the Line

End of the Line, the closing track from The Traveling Wilburys’ multi-platinum selling 1989 debut, finds the band on familiar territory, singing about spiritual strength and survival with the same sense of warm camaraderie that undercuts the entire album.

Each of the band’s members takes a turn at the mic, creating what All Music describes as a fun, almost hootenanny style. Released in January 1989 as the band’s second single, the song peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and at No. 2 on the Album Rock Tracks chart.

1. Handle with Care

George Harrison and Jeff Lynne had originally intended Handle with Care to serve as a bonus track to one of Harrison’s European singles, but Harrison’s record label recognized its strength and suggested they find a bigger outlet for it… a request that subsequently led to them forming the Wilburys.

Fittingly, the band issued the song as their debut single, with Harrison taking care of the verses, and Orbison and Dylan managing the bridges. With its joyous camaraderie and theme of survival, it was a superb introduction to the group, and remains their most enduringly popular record to this day.

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No, do not confuse this Thomas Newman with the composer. But I'm still a music lover nonetheless. You'll catch me mostly writing articles about the artists and bands I love. Maybe some theory. Maybe some analysis. Whatever lands in the world of music is something I'm likely interested in. In particular I'm a huge fan of classic rock and the oldies. Zeppelin are among my favorites and Foghat's "Slowride" is one of my favorite tracks.

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Heading for the Light should be #3, if not higher.

One of many I love ❤️ to dance to. Get rhythm and 💓 💓 beats.

Mindbogglingly good. It does not and can not get better than this.

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The Traveling Wilburys Collection

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS COLLECTION

Track Listing:

Disc One – Vol.1:

• Handle With Care (3.20)
• Dirty World (3.30)
• Rattled (3.00)
• Last Night (3.48)
• Not Alone Anymore (3.24)
• Congratulations (3.30)
• Heading For The Light (3.37)
• Margarita (3.15)
• Tweeter And The Monkey Man (5.30)
• End Of The Line (3.30)
• Maxine (2.49)
• Like a Ship (3:30)

Disc Two – DVD:

• The True History of the Traveling Wilburys documentary (24 minutes)
• Handle With Care (video)
• End of the Line (video)
• She's My Baby (video)
• Inside Out (video)
• Wilbury Twist (video)

Disc Three – vol.3:

• She's My Baby (3.14)
• Inside Out (3.36)
• If You Belonged To Me (3.13)
• Devil's Been Busy (3.18)
• 7 Deadly Sins (3.18)
• Poor House (3.17)
• Cool Dry Place (3.37)
• New Blue Moon (3.21)
• You Took My Breath Away (3.18)
• Wilbury Twist (2.56)
• Nobody's Child (3.28)
• Runaway (2.30)

Album Info: 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 – George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan – as the iconic band The Traveling Wilburys.

Both CDs are combined on this 2-CD/1-DVD release and feature bonus tracks of rare and newly mixed unreleased music. The all-region DVD contains historic footage documenting the first chord to the final mix, and their five video clips. Digipack also includes a 16-page booklet.

Vol. 1 Musicians: Acoustic Guitar, Lead & Backing Vocals: Lucky Wilbury Keyboards, Guitars, Lead & Backing Vocals: Otis Wilbury Acoustic Guitar, Lead & Backing Vocals: Charlie T. Jnr. Acoustic Guitar, Lead & Backing Vocals: Lefty Wilbury Guitars, Lead & Backing Vocals: Nelson Wilbury Drums: Jim Keltner Saxophones: Jim Horn Percussion: Ray Cooper Tom Toms on “Handle With Care”: Ian Wallace Guitar Solo & Backing Vocals on “Maxine”: Ayrton Wilbury Guitar Solo on “Like A Ship”: Otis Wilbury Additional Backing Vocals on “Like A Ship”: Otis and Ayrton Wilbury

Vol. 3 Musicians: Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Mandolins, Sitar, Lead & Backing Vocals: Spike Wilbury Acoustic Guitar, Lead & Backing Vocals: Muddy Wilbury Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Leading & Backing Vocals: Clayton Wilbury Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Lead & Backing Vocals: Boo Wilbury Drums & Percussion: Jim Keltner Percussion: Ray Cooper Saxophones: Jim Horn Lead Guitar on “She’s My Baby”: Gary Moore Clavioline Solo on “Runaway”: Clayton Wilbury

Collection Produced by: Otis Wilbury / Clayton Wilbury

Collection Artwork/Photo credits: Vol. 1: Original Art Direction by David Costa for Wherefore Art? Vol. 1: Sleeve Photgraphy by Neal Preston, Gered Mankowitz & Chris Smith Vol. 3: Original Art Direction and Design by David Costa and Nicky Hames for Wherefore Art? Vol. 3: Sleeve Photography by Caroline Greyshock Vol. 3: Wilbury Twist Photography by Julian Hawkins Collection Design by Drew Lorimer and Olivia Harrison

Ranking the 5 Best Songs on the Late-Period Tom Petty Album ‘Highway Companion’

I n 2006, Tom Petty popped up after a four-year recording hiatus with his third solo album. Highway Companion reunited him with producer (and former Traveling Wilbury buddy) Jeff Lynne, who had helmed Petty’s first solo record Full Moon Fever nearly 20 years before.

Highway Companion features Petty as loose and assured as any time in his career, as he, Lynne, and guitarist/singer Mike Campbell locked into an easygoing recording groove that put the focus on some outstanding songs. Speaking of those songs, here are the five from that wonderful record that we believe are the best.

5. “Ankle Deep”

Petty always rose above the competition in the story-song department because of how he would leave out big chunks of the narrative, but include the key moments that told you all you needed to know. Think of songs like “Something Big” and “Swingin’.” And “Ankle Deep” stands proudly in that line. For as much as we can tell, it’s about a girl who steals a prize horse from her family. But what sticks with you are the killer one-liners that make you chuckle, but also say so much, such as when the girl utters, Daddy, you been a mother to me .

4. “Down South”

Petty envisioned this song as someone returning to his old Southern haunts after a long period away. And, in many ways, it was apropos for him, as he hadn’t written about the region in such expansive fashion since his troubled yet still brilliant 1985 album Southern Accents . On “Down South,” which breezes along with on a wave of good-natured nostalgia, the narrator deals with old mentors, heroes, and ghosts, encounters mistresses and mosquitoes, and does his own Mark Twain impression. Petty ties it all together with a promise to an old lover: I’ll give you all I have and a little more .

3. “Square One”

While Petty is in prime storytelling, character-sketch mode throughout Highway Companion , he occasionally seems to be revealing more of himself along the way. “Square One” finds him singing in exquisitely gentle fashion about leaving the past behind and starting fresh. To do that, the narrator needs to acknowledge misdeeds and wrong turns, almost as if he has to make a penance before he can begin again. In the bridge, he finally gets to a redemptive spot: It took a world of trouble, it took a world of tears / It took a long time to get back here .

2. “Saving Grace”

For the most part, Highway Companion stays on the gentle side musically. Petty explained he wanted to get the feel of a small combo, and he even played the drums himself. On “Saving Grace,” however, this trio rocks with such conviction that you’d swear that all the Heartbreakers showed up to give their input. Framed by a riff that owes more than a little to ZZ Top, “Saving Grace” finds Petty singing in the second person, which gives the lyrics the feel of hard-earned advice. The song suggests you have to keep moving and keep looking for that grace, because the alternative is unthinkable.

1. “Damaged by Love”

For the most part, Jeff Lynne’s production steers on this album steer clear of some of his trademark moves (the super-modulated acoustic guitars and snapping drums, the backing vocals that sound like human wah-wah guitars, and the like). Highway Companion is much more restrained in that respect than Full Moon Fever . But “Damaged by Love” goes into a lusher mode, featuring some Orbison-like traits (the timpani in particular) and Lynne doing Phil Everly-style high harmonies. Petty even gives a shimmering tremolo guitar solo, and it all works wonderfully in service of one of the most heart-rending ballads of his career.

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The post Ranking the 5 Best Songs on the Late-Period Tom Petty Album ‘Highway Companion’ appeared first on American Songwriter .

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