- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Presented as though they were a musical family, Traveling Wilburys includes George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison.
Traveling Wilburys – Vol. 3 (1990): Traveling Wilburys is a latter-day supergroup that is mostly ex-Beatle George Harrison’s idea. He and fellow Wilbury Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra were recording his hit album Cloud Nine (1987) that features “Got My Mind Set on You”, George Harrison’s first #1 single since “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” (1973), as well as the Beatles tribute “When We Was Fab” that features Ringo Starr on drums and backing vocals. “Got My Mind Set on You” is also known for its animatronics-laden music video. While George Harrison and Jeff Lynne were working on Cloud Nine, Harrison came up with the slang term “wilbury” for a minor recording error when he told Lynne: “We’ll bury ’em in the mix!” In the same time period, Bob Dylan was touring with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as his backing band; and George Harrison and Jeff Lynne became friends with Petty.
Lynne began working with Tom Petty on what became his debut solo album, Full Moon Fever (1989); and he also wrote songs with his musical hero, rock and roll pioneer Roy Orbison for the latter’s comeback album Mystery Girl that was posthumously released in early 1989. The five musicians also bonded over their shared love of the surreal British comedy troupe Monty Python. Presented as though they were a musical family, in addition to George Harrison and Jeff Lynne, Traveling Wilburys includes Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. Each bandmember got a new name, all with the last name “Wilbury”. I would describe the music on the two Traveling Wilburys albums as a modern take on 1950’s and 1960’s rock and roll. Their debut album Vol. 1 (1988) includes three hit songs: “Handle with Care” and “End of the Line”, both reaching #2 on the Billboard singles chart, plus the #7 single “Heading for the Light”. Cloud Nine reinvigorated George Harrison’s musical career; and the success of Vol. 1 did the same for Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. Roy Orbison’s death by heart attack in December 1988 was a major blow to Traveling Wilburys, and to rock music as a whole; the group never attempted to replace him. Whereas the music video for “Handle with Care” features all five bandmembers, the “End of the Line” video shows a rocking chair with a framed photograph of Roy Orbison. A couple of years later, Traveling Wilburys’ second album Vol. 3 was released, with new names for the four bandmembers; the album title was suggested by George Harrison: “Let’s confuse the buggers.”. Vol. 3 is dedicated to Lefty Wilbury, Roy Orbison’s name on Vol. 1, with “Lefty” being an actual nickname used by Orbison in honor of Lefty Frizzell. Vol. 3 includes another #2 single, “She’s My Baby”. Traveling Wilburys never toured in support of either album, since George Harrison was resistant to the idea; and his death in 2001 means that there would never be any additional music by Traveling Wilburys. My favorite songs on Vol. 3 are “She’s My Baby”, “Inside Out”, “The Devil’s Been Busy”, “Poor House”, “Where Were You Last Night?”, “Cool Dry Place”, and “Wilbury Twist”; but the whole album is great and comes off as being made by a tight rock band, not individual rock superstars.