It’s amazing what can happen! What started out as a B-side record turned into an album which went platinum worldwide. According to the story, George Harrison told Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne over dinner that he needed a track recording for his new album and asked Jeff and Roy to help out, to which they agreed. On the way, George stopped at Tom Petty’s house to pick up a guitar he had left there and ended up having Tom come along. He also asked Bob Dylan if they could use his garage to record in. Originally, Bob was just going to be a host but he joined and contributed songs as well and thus the Traveling Wilburys was born.
It was agreed that they would all use the surname and make up first names for their own personas. (See below.) The first song which came out of the collaboration was “Handle With Care,” which was a huge hit. At least everywhere but the USA, where it only got to #45. “Handle With Care” sets the tone for the rest of the album. Light, melodic folk rock songs which definitely puts the easy into easy listening. While there is a similarity in all of the songs, you can hear each Wilbury’s unique stamp in the them. “Dirty World” is definitely Bob Dylan while there is no mistaking Tom Petty on “Last Night” and you get classic Roy Orbison on “Not Alone Anymore.” However, each of the others back one another up with backing or accompanying vocals. The result is fantastic.
One question I asked at the time and I’m sure many others did was how could all of these rock giants make an album together without the clash of egos? I’m sure there might have been disagreements during the song writing and recording, after all, friends have them all of the time. But there is no sound of any of that when the music starts playing. Like I said earlier, they all seem to compliment each other on the songs.
Now for standout tracks. Of course you get the big singles, “Handle With Care” and the closer, “End of the Line,” which was also a single and George led. While I can’t say there’s a filler track on the album, I did pick out a hidden gem, which happens to be “Tweeter and the Monkey Man.” It’s exclusively sung by Bob and from what I glean for the lyrics, it’s about two drug dealers on the run. It’s a dark song and the heavy guitar adds to the darkness. So does the chorus as the rest of the Wilburys sing “And the walls came down all the way to hell.” It’s brilliantly done.
Track Listing:
- Handle With Care
- Dirty World
- Rattled
- Last Night
- Not Alone Anymore
- Congratulations
- Heading for the Light
- Margarita
- Tweeter and the Monkey Man
- End of the Line
Nelson Wilbury (George Harrison)- lead and backing vocals, guitars, slide guitar
Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne)- lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass, drums and cowbell on “Handle With Care”
Charlie T. Wilbury Jr. (Tom Petty)- lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison)- lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Lucky Wilbury (Bob Dylan)- lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Additional Musicians:
Buster Sidebury (Jim Keltner)- drums, percussion
Jim Horn- saxophone
Ray Cooper- percussion
Ian Wallace- tom toms
Two months after the album’s release, tragedy struck when Roy passed away from a sudden heart attack. However, the album would go onto win many awards and achieve great things. As one critic put it: The Traveling Wilburys was the greatest commercial coup of the decade. It turns out the elders of rock could teach the younger upstarts a thing or two.
Next post: One Hit Wonders of 1988
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