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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 Traveling Wilburys came to terms with death on “End Of The Line”

In Hear This , The A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: Songs about endings.

Traveling Wilburys, “End Of The Line” (1989)

I discovered the Travelling Wilburys when I was 10 or something, having stumbled across the group’s debut album on a tape my parents had tucked away in the back of their stereo cabinet. I don’t know where they got it—my parents are more library people than purchasing people—but I really liked the tunes. They were poppy and catchy in equal parts, and right up my pre-teen alley.

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It wasn’t until years later that I actually figured out who the Wilburys were. When I was 10, I just thought they were guys with funny hats or something, never having bothered to read the tiny cassette liner notes. I knew who George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty were at the time, but I knew them as individual artists or as members of larger acts like The Beatles. Learning, when I was 18, that those guys all banded together with ELO’s Jeff Lynne to form a supergroup was pretty confounding. Even now, the concept of the Wilburys still seems pretty ridiculous. A bunch of mega-stars who just happen to be friends get together and make a couple of records— and those records aren’t terrible . In fact, they’re pretty good. It’s shocking.

While my favorite Wilburys track is the group’s first single, “ Handle With Care ,” there’s a lot to love about the gang’s second single, “End Of The Line,” as well. An extended metaphor that smashes together a bunch of freight-train references and thoughts about living your best life, “End Of The Line” is full of lines extolling the virtues of “[living] the life you please” and how “the best you can do is forgive.” The Wilburys weren’t old guys when their first record was released in 1988—Tom Petty was 38, for instance, while Harrison was 45—but the song sounds like the group was making peace with the end of their respective lives. Together, they’d all lived hard and long, and were apparently feeling pretty zen about the whole death thing.

All that end-of-life musing is particularly poignant when you consider the music video for the track was filmed right after Orbison’s untimely death from a heart attack at 52. Orbison’s vocals are still on the track—he’d recorded them long before the video shoot—but he’s conspicuously absent from the clip, represented by just a rocking chair and a guitar. Though Orbison’s death was somewhat of a surprise—he’d complained to Johnny Cash that he’d been having chest pains, but still no one thought he’d end up having a heart attack—it was as if, with this song and alongside his pals in the Wilburys, he’d learned to come to terms with not only all the tragedy he’d faced in his life, but with the possibility of his own demise. Unfortunately, that death came much too soon.

The Traveling Wilburys – The Complete Collection (1988-1990)

The Traveling Wilburys “The Complete Collection” (Studio Recordings 1988-1990) Wilbury Record TW001/TW002

Download FLAC: Amazon Drive

Featuring: Charlie T. Wilbury Jnr. (Tom Petty) Lucky Wilbury (Bob Dylan) Nelson Wilbury (George Harrison) Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison) Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne)

CD1: Demo Tracks For Volume 1 (sound quality B) 1. Handle With Care 2. Dirty World 3. Rattled 4. Last Night 5. Congratulations 6. Heading For The Light 7. End Of The Line

Extended Versions (sound quality A+) 8. Every Little Thing 9. End Of The Line 10. Handle With Care

Del Shannon Session (sound quality A) 11. Walk Away

(After Roy Orbison’s death, singer Del Shannon was rumored to take Roy’s place amongst the Wilburys. Unfortunately, Del passed away before anything could be recorded as an official Wilbury song.)

Roy Orbison Session (sound quality A+) 12. Crying 13. Don’t Treat Me Like A Stranger 14. The Trembler

Roy Orbison Single Tracks With T. Wilburys (sound quality A+) 15. Heartbreak Radio 16. In Dreams 17. You Got It 18. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream?)

Nobody’s Child Session (sound quality A+) 19. Under The Red Sky

CD 2: Nobody’s Child Session (sound quality A+) 1. New Blue Moon 2. Nobody’s Child 3. Theme From Something Really Important

Del Shannon Session (sound quality A-) 4. Runaway 5. Maxine 6. Like A Ship 7. Runaway

Outtakes From Volume 3 (sound quality A) 8. I’m Gone 9. Bone In The Time 10. Border Line 11. Silence

Rough Mix of Volume 3 (sound quality A-) 12. She’s My Baby 13. Inside Out 14. If You Belonged To Me 15. The Devil’s Been Busy 16. 7 Deadly Sins 17. Poor House 18. Where Were You Last Night 19. Cool Dry Place 20. New Blue Moon 21. You Took My Breath Away 22. Wilbury Twist

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15 thoughts on “ the traveling wilburys – the complete collection (1988-1990) ”.

I wanted to say if anybody out there who has got all the offical Traveling Wilburys albums, would you be so kind to record the B-studio demo version of their 1988 hit Handle with Care on YouTube if you can, I haven’t heard it what it sounded like and I couldn’t afford it because of fondly love this song, the 2007 remaster sucked.

Yes, I defintely agree with you I wanted this demo version of my favourite Traveling Wilburys song Handle with Care right now on YouTube, it’s so good I fondly love that song from my childhood.

I’m not going to be happy anymore until the demo version of my favourite Traveling Wilburys song Handle with Care is on YouTube right now or else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come on everybody please posted the demo version of the Wilburys’ Handle with Care right, just for there’s any Wilburys bootleg albums you had then if you do find one, put those on YouTube you do if you will, then I’ll be happy to see that happen to hear what I never heard of it before, give it a try for my sake.

There is no demo of “Handle with Care” (there are some demo-fakes made ruining the equalisation of the final song) because this track don´t belong to the same sessions as the rest of the “TW Vol.1 Album”. Originally was planned to be the B-Side of the “(Got My nMind) Set on You” single by George Harrison, but the record company realised the potential of the track, there were very good relationship between those great musiciaans and the rest is history…

This looks like a collection worth having. Any chance of a re-upload?

I’ve been saying no to just about all requests lately, but since you’ve been a friend to the site for a long while now I’ll do this. Do ge patient though its gonna be awhile before I can get to it

Keep being patient. For you I will get this up eventually. Someday. Maybe soon. My wife will be home for the summer starting next week so maybe after then.

Mat, While you are going to re-post this for another, I wanted to let you know how much it will be appreciated! I’m disabled, and great music like this is what helps me to keep going!! Music helps me cope with the constant pain!!! Thanks, Daniel

Comments from a deleted repost:

theproperwines says: August 8, 2018 at 4:07 pm Edit

ty for sharing! I dont think I have this version. Oh what could have been if the Wilburys would have ever made it out on the road. -TPW Reply 44 says: August 9, 2018 at 3:07 am Edit

Nice!! Thanks for the reup Reply David says: August 10, 2018 at 1:58 am Edit

Awesome! Welcome listening here. Thank you very much. Reply Mauro says: August 17, 2018 at 11:06 pm Edit

Thanks Mat. Great to listen to those guys again.

Is dit wat? Waarschijnlijk heb jij alles al, ik heb alleen de twee albums. Dus ik pak ‘m sowieso.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone

I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Google translate did not help.

Wow Mat! Cheers.

Superb. Thank you Matt

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The Truth About How The Highwaymen Got Together

Marvel Team-up teaches us lots of lessons about teamwork and cooperation and grudging admiration of another person's abilities. It also teaches us that if one awe-inspiring individual is, well, awe-inspiring, wouldn't it be cooler if there was more than one? That's absolutely the music world's reaction to supergroups like 1988's The Traveling Wilburys: George Harrison (awesome), Bob Dylan (more awesome), Jeff Lyne (awesomer), Tom Petty (awesome to the nth exponential degree) and Roy Orbison (everyone's head explodes). That's rock-and-roll heaven right there. Country music got the jump on them, though, with Highwayman, the debut album of The Highwaymen in 1985.

The band worked together for 10 years, comprised of some of the most influential and popular singer-songwriters in country history: Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson. Rolling Stone Magazine quoted Emmy Lou Harris, no slouch herself: "They need to be up there on the big rock with the presidents."

It was a supergroup founded on friendship

John Carter Cash , Johnny's son who personally witnessed the band coming together, believes that at its foundation, The Highwaymen was a supergroup "founded by friendship. And it's the honesty and the purity of that friendship that made the Highwaymen stand out." Shooter Jennings, son of Waylon, echoes that sentiment. "Those guys really loved each other," he said. "That's where the magic was."

It's said that the idea was birthed via Johnny Cash, who was filming a TV Christmas special in Montreux, Switzerland, and invited the other three to take part. They'd known each other for years — Rosanne Cash says that her father and Waylon "were roommates in the Sixties, hiding their drugs from each other" — and even after a long day's filming, would still get together at the hotel at the end of the day and simply play music together. That led to an album, including a title track (and band name) written by Jimmy Webb, "Highwayman." Eventually the group would record two other studio albums together, Highwayman II and The Road Goes On Forever . A 2016 CD box set and DVD release include concert footage of the group.

Besides the pure joy of recording and performing together, the four of them appeared together in the 1986 remake of John Ford's classic film Stagecoach . The team really was a marvel.

Traveling Wilburys: Tom Petty on the cosmic genesis of an extraordinary supergroup

“I was never afraid of Bob Dylan, he was always nice to me" - in 2010 the late Tom Petty told us how the Traveling Wilburys came into being

When people complain about overuse of the word 'Supergroup', it's not the Traveling Wilburys they're talking about. For this was a band so super that Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne were the junior partners. 

The rest? Bob Dylan . Roy Orbison. Oh yeah, and one of The Beatles . 

The Traveling Wilburys only managed to record one album with the original line-up before the death of Orbison, but a second arrived almost exactly two years later. And since then, two more of the Wilbury family have departed (Beatle George Harrison in 2001 and Petty in 2017).

In 2010, Tom Petty told Classic Rock about the band's cosmic origins, a serendipitous tale involving hurricanes, traffic lights and Christmas shopping. 

“My Wilbury nickname was Charlie T. Near the end of the [Heartbreakers] tour in 1987, we were in London. While we were there, George [Harrison] and Jeff [Lynne] would come to see us every night and usually come backstage afterwards. I remember we were having such a good time after one of the shows we stayed back there for hours. It was one of those, ‘You’ve got to leave, we are shutting the building down’ nights. I felt really inspired by it all. I remember thinking, ‘My God, this is great. I love these guys.’ 

“We went back to the hotel and a hurricane hit the middle of London the same night. They didn’t even predict it, but it ripped huge oaks out of the ground. I got up the next day and thought, ‘Holy cow, this is something.’ I always thought that hurricane had something to do with something. My life was different after that."

“I was back in America and it was a holiday. I think it was Thanksgiving, and I went to buy baseball gloves for a game. I pulled up to a red light and there was Jeff in the car next to me. I had seen him a few weeks before in England, but it seemed strange that he was at the red light and I waved at him. He was shocked too. We pulled over and he said, ‘Where are you going? Want to go to a session?’ I said, ‘No, I have got a thing going on at home.’ But I gave him my number and he called me the next day. 

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“We are very similar people in that we live the same kind of life. So it was great, he would come over and I would have a friend to hang around with. Then one day a week or two later, I was out Christmas shopping with my oldest daughter and there was this really nice French restaurant that we used to go to for special occasions. So we stopped. The waiter came up to us and said that there was a friend of mine in a private room and he would like to see me. 

"It turned out to be George [Harrison]. When I got there, he said, ‘This is so strange. I was writing your number down from Jeff and they told me you were in the next room.’ I agreed it was strange. Cosmic, even."

“Then he asked me where I was going. I told him I was going home and he asked if he could come with me. Without even thinking about it I said, ‘Yeah.’ So he came home with me and he spent the holiday and we became good friends. “Jeff kept telling me that he had been talking with Roy Orbison about coming out to California, and I said, ‘Wow, that is pretty supernatural.’ 

"Jeff said that he’d talked to him about recording and thought he’d be up for it. I said that I’d love to see that if he comes out. I didn’t hear any more about it for a while, but Jeff phoned me one afternoon and said, ‘Hey man, Roy Orbison is over here and we are going to write a song. Roy asked if you would come over and help us with it.’ I said, ‘Hey man, I am there, baby!’. 

“I was never afraid of Bob [Dylan], he was always nice to me. I have never been in awe of anyone and I think it’s worked in my favour. Dylan comes from folk music where if you wanted to play an extra bar you could, so he might play five bars instead of four and think nothing of it. There is an air of spontaneity about him; if things get too well rehearsed he doesn’t seem to like it. Although he never said it to me, I think he likes to keep things a little bit edgy. 

“A lot of people think that the Traveling Wilburys were united because it was a good idea, but really we were pals and hanging out long before the Wilburys.”

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.  

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Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 by Traveling Wilburys

Album Reviews 1988 Albums , 2013 Reviews , Album Reviews by Ric Albano , American Artists , Bob Dylan , British Artists , Florida Artists , George Harrison , Jeff Lynne , Jim Keltner , Midwest Artists , Roy Orbinson , Tennessee Artists , Tom Petty 5

Buy Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

It all started in Los Angeles in Spring 1988 when George Harrison was looking to record B-side material for a vinyl 12-inch European single. Jeff Lynne , who co-produced Harrison’s most recent album Cloud Nine was also in Los Angeles at the time. Lynne was producing some music for Roy Orbison as well as the debut solo album, Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty . Lynne was able to enlist both artists to help out Harrison, who was in a huge hurry to record his material. The final piece of the Traveling Wilbury puzzle was Bob Dylan , who had built a home studio in nearby Malibu and agreed to let the makeshift group record the very next day. On that day, the legendary musicians wrote and recorded the song “Handle with Care” in about five hours. The experience was so positive that all five agreed to form a group and reconvened a month later to record the other nine tracks on what would become Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 . Here the magic continued as the group wrote and recorded on acoustic guitars. With a limited amount of time before Dylan headed out on a scheduled tour, the five singers in the group often took turns at songs until Harrison (as group arbiter) selected the best “lead” voice for each part. The final phase was Harrison and Lynne returning to England for final overdubs and production. Here Harrison added some electric and lead guitars, Lynne added keyboards and bass, Jim Keltner was brought in on drums.

Although it is generally agreed that Harrison was the group’s leader, they did work hard to maintain a collective image and even set up fictional names for each member masquerading as the “Wilbury” brothers – Nelson (Harrison), Otis (Lynne), Lucky (Dylan), Lefty (Orbison), and Charlie T. Jr. (Petty) with Keltner given the humorous “outsider” name “Buster Sidebury”. All group members also got songwriting credits on the album, although the publishing credits were disbursed according to the actual songwriter. The Wilbury name originated from Harrison and Lynne previously working together as a pseudonym for slight recording errors (“we’ll bury ’em in the mix”).

The ringing guitars of “Handle with Care”, the original Wilbury song, starts things off. Harrison, the primary composer, delivers deliberate vocalizing during the verses which gives way to Orbison’s smooth crooning during the choruses. Dylan and Petty deliver a chanting post-chorus and two instances of Harrison’s classic guitar along with a short Dylan harmonica lead make the song a true classic in just about every way. Within its brief three and a half minutes the song is dotted with decades of rock history, making this the perfect track to introduce the album. While not every song on the album wraps itself so well as “Handle with Care”, there is not a truly weak moment on the album.

On “Dirty World” Dylan’s rough lead vocals are complimented by smooth backing vocals and a bright acoustic arrangement. The song also contains some horns and an interesting arrangement all around. This song was a particularly enjoyable one for the band to record as each member took a turn singing in the “round” during the extended outro. Jeff Lynne’s “Rattled” is pure rockabilly led by Orbinson on vocals, almost like a lost early Elvis song. Lynne’s bass and Harrison’s lead guitar shine musically and the actual “rattle” in the song is drummer Keltner tapping the refrigerator grill with his drum sticks.

“Last Night” contains Caribbean elements with some percussion and horns and Petty singing during verse and Orbinson during the bridges. The whimsical, storytelling song has a great aura and feel throughout. Petty did the core composing with each group member contributing to the songwriting approach. The verses has an upbeat folk/Latin feel with the bridge being a bit more dramatic. The first side completes with “Not Alone Any More”, a vocal centerpiece for Orbison. His vocals smoothly lead a modern version of early sixties rock and Lynne’s keyboards add more decoration than any other song on the first side. If “Not Alone Anymore” is in the clouds, the second side opener “Congratulations” is right down at ground level. This tavern style ballad with Dylan on lead vocals sounds much like his late 70s / early 80s era material, with blues-like reverences to broken relationships, and includes a very short but great lead guitar by Harrison right at the end.

The up-tempo “Heading for the Light” is a quintessential Harrison/Lynne production, with the former Beatle composing and singing and the former ELO front man providing the lush production and orchestration. The song contains great picked guitar fills as well as a saxophone solo by Jim Horn . “Margarita” may be the oddest song on the album but is still a great sonic pleasure. It begins with a programmed eighties synth line then the long intro slowly works its way into a Latin acoustic section topped by horns, lead guitar, and rich vocal harmonies. It is not until a minute and a half in that Petty’s lead vocals come in for a single verse then the song works its ways through various short sections towards an encapsulated synth ending. This spontaneous composition with free-association lyrics showed with a group of this talent could do on the spot.

“Tweeter and the Monkey Man” is Bob Dylan channeling Bruce Springsteen and coming out with what may have been one of the best Springsteen songs ever (even though he had nothing to do with it). This extended song with the traditional Dylan style of oodles of verses and a theatrical chorus includes several references to Springsteen songs throughout and is in Springsteen’s home state of New Jersey. It may have been Dylan’s delayed response to the press repeatedly coining Bruce “the next Dylan”. No matter what the case, the result is an excellent tune with lyrics rich enough to base a book or movie.

The most perfect album closer to any album – ever, “End of the Line” contains a Johnny Cash-like train rhythm beneathe deeply philosophical lyrics, delivered in a light and upbeat fashion. Harrison, Lynne, Orbinson, and Harrison again provide the lead vocals during the chorus hooks while Petty does the intervening verses. The song revisits the classic music themes of survival and return with the universal message that, in the big picture, it all ends someday. The feeling of band unity is also strongest here with the folksy pop/rock chords and great harmonies. The music video for “End of the Line” was filmed after Roy Orbison’s death in December 1988, mere weeks after the album’s release, and paid tasteful respect with a shot of a guitar sitting in a rocking chair during the verse which Orbison sang.

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 sold over two million copies within its first six months, a figure which made this album a higher seller than any of Bob Dylan’s albums to that date. The album was critically favored and won a Grammy award in 1990. The surviving members of the group reconvened for a second album, which fell far short of capturing the magic of this debut and a long-planned tour by the group never materialized, although members continued to collaborate on each other’s albums for years to come. The incredible magic that came together in 1988 is yet to repeated anywhere in the rock universe.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1988 albums and our album of the year.

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The 10 Best Traveling Wilburys Songs of All-Time - ONAIR2 May 25, 2022 @ 12:27 am

[…] 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 humour, it’s a delight, particularly in respect of how genuinely joyful the band seems to be in each other’s company. […]

The 10 Best Traveling Wilburys Songs of All-Time – Gabriel Culiat April 4, 2023 @ 6:12 am

[…] 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. […]

The 10 Best Traveling Wilburys Songs of All-Time April 4, 2023 @ 6:30 am

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Who are the five members of the Traveling Wilburys?

The official home of The Traveling Wilburys: George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison .

Also Was Eric Clapton in the Traveling Wilburys? Clapton and Harrison remained friends until George’s death. They worked together on several songs, albums and projects. Clapton wasn’t part of the Wilburys because the project came together quickly and he wasn’t in California… where they put it together.

Likewise Was Ringo Starr in the Traveling Wilburys? Originally Answered: Why was Ringo Starr not a part of The Traveling Wilburys? The Traveling Wilburys were not a Beatles reunion. Paul had nothing to do with the project so it is no surprise that Ringo wasn’t in it either .

Was Willie Nelson in the Traveling Wilburys? This show comprises each individual artist that were in the Traveling Wilburys and the Highwaymen they are as follows: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Jeff Lynn, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan.

Was Johnny Cash in the Traveling Wilburys?

This show comprises each individual artist that were in the Traveling Wilburys and the Highwaymen they are as follows: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Jeff Lynn, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan.

Did Ringo play drums for Tom Petty? The video for Tom Petty’s new single, ‘I Won’t Back Down,’ features half of the Beatles. Then someone thought of Ringo Starr, who will be seen drumming in the video even though he doesn’t really play on the song. … The single is off ‘Full Moon Fever,’ Petty’s first solo album.

Was Roy Orbison in the highwaymen? These men comprised of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson—also known as The Highwaymen. … These famous gatherings often comprised of greats like Roy Orbison, Graham Nash, Bob Dylan, Mickey Newbury, Joni Mitchell and Shel Silverstein as well as Willie, Kris and Waylon.

Who formed the Travelling Wilburys? This is how George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison formed the Travelling Wilburys. It’s astounding to think that The Travelling Wilburys were a real entity and not just one that a music lover has concocted in their wildest imagination.

Who wrote the songs for the Traveling Wilburys?

All tracks are written by Traveling Wilburys. No. 1. 2. … Track listing.

How old was Tom Petty? Petty died on Oct. 2, 2017, of an accidental drug overdose. An autopsy found a mixture of Fentanyl, oxycodone, Xanax and other medications in his system. He was 66 years old , and had just completed a tour with his band, the Heartbreakers, with three sold-out shows at the Hollywood Bowl.

Who owns the rights to the song I won’t back down?

I Won’t Back Down

Did Johnny Cash sing I won’t back down? Among the many who covered Petty’s song was the illustrious Johnny Cash. Cash’s cover of ‘I Won’t Back Down’ featured on his album American III: Solitary Man, released in 2000. … Tom Petty contributed his vocals and the guitar to Cash’s version of the song.

Why did Tom Petty Fire drummer?

Departure from the Heartbreakers. Lynch left the group in 1994. His last gig with the Heartbreakers was on October 2, 1994, at the Bridge School Benefit Concert in Mountain View, California. It was immediately following this gig that Lynch left the band due to musical and personal differences with Petty .

Are Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson still friends?

Talking about the pillars of country music, good friends Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson are still strong, alive and kicking .

Was Willie and Waylon friends? Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings were the best of friends , and they collaborated on hits more than once. One of the pair’s biggest hits was “Good Hearted Woman,” and they finished it in an unlikely setting — in the middle of one of Nelson’s infamous private poker games.

What did the Highwaymen do? Highwaymen were robbers on horseback and they usually worked alone or in small groups. They attacked travellers in carriages or on horseback. Highwaymen increased in number in the early 18th century. They targeted stagecoaches, carriages, farmers returning from market and the mail coaches.

How old is Jeff Lynne Worth?

Jeff Lynne Net Worth

Who is Jeff Lynne married to? Lynne has been married two times: first to Rosemary (née McGrady, b. 1952) from 1972 to 1977, and then to Sandi Kapelson since 1979, with whom he has two daughters.

Are you a Wilbury?

Did Tom Petty have kids? Aside from his legendary career in rock ‘n’ roll, Tom was the loving dad of his three children, Adria Petty, Annakim Petty and Dylan Petty . The “I Won’t Back Down” artist became a father during his marriage with his first wife, Jane Benyo.

How old is Bruce Springsteen?

The Boss is turning 72 and he’s still rocking! Born Sept. 23, 1949, Bruce Springsteen grew up in New Jersey and created rock ‘n’ roll music that has touched millions of people around the world.

Is Benmont Tench married? In 1991, Tench married Canadian model Courtney Taylor. They divorced in late 1999. In 2015, Tench married his second wife, author Alice Carbone Tench .

What happened to Tom Pettys band?

While the heartland rock movement waned in the 1990s, the band remained active and popular, touring regularly until Petty’s death in 2017 , after which the Heartbreakers disbanded. Their final studio album, Hypnotic Eye, was released in 2014. …

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TRAVELING WILBURY AND HIGHWAYMEN SHOW

This show comprises each individual artist that were in the Traveling Wilburys and the Highwaymen they are as follows:

Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Jeff Lynn, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan.

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The Grammy-winning 1988 album has its 30th anniversary marked with a limited edition release.

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Craft Recordings have announced that a limited edition 12” picture disc of the unforgettable 1988 album The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 will be released on 2 November to mark its 30 th anniversary.

The new disc arrives just over a year after the passing of the second member of the unique, all-star group, but the absence of Tom Petty and Roy Orbison only enhances the legacy of a never-to-be-repeated debut record they created with their friends Bob Dylan and co-producers George Harrison and Jeff Lynne.

The project began when Harrison and Lynne were asked to cut a b-side for a single from George’s hugely successful Cloud Nine album. Needing to record quickly, they borrowed their friend Dylan’s studio and the result was the spontaneous emergence of ‘Handle With Care,’ which featured Petty, Orbison and, ultimately, Dylan himself. The song was clearly too good to be hidden as a b-side and went on to be the lead track from an extraordinary superstar collaboration.

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“I liked the song,” Harrison said later, “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.”

So the five friends did just that, working swiftly and informally but as a full-fledged band, sharing lead vocals and songwriting duties. The group name of the Traveling Wilburys was chosen and alternative identities as a “family” group were established, with Dylan as Lucky Wilbury, Harrison as Nelson Wilbury, Orbison as Lefty Wilbury, Lynne as Otis Wilbury and Petty as Charlie T. Wilbury Jr.

The album went on to spectacular success, with triple platinum certification in the US for three million shipments; it went six-times platinum in Canada, platinum in the UK and gold in several other countries. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

Tragically, Orbison died just six weeks after the album’s release, but the rest of the group reconvened in his honour for the 1990 sequel, humorously titled The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3. The new picture disc edition of the original album is a timely reminder of one of the most spur-of-the-moment and joyous happenings in music history.

The limited edition 12” picture disc of The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 is released on 2 November, and can be bought here .

October 10, 2018 at 1:00 am

You mention the passing of the second member of the Wilburys, Tom Petty. The second member to pass away was actually George Harrison. Three of them are now gone but their music lives on.

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