Rediscovering the Traveling Wilburys

For Christmas, I did one slightly selfish thing: I bought Marty The Traveling Wilburys Collection, the Rhino reissue of The Traveling Wilburys' Volume I and Volume III albums (originally released on October 18, 1988, and in October 1990 respectively.) The reissue package also includes a DVD with Wilburys videos and a documentary about the group (which I never got to view.) I knew that Marty wouldn't mind if I uploaded the tracks of both albums (including two bonus tracks on each) on my i-Tunes. I have been enjoying them ever since, and even transferred them to my i-Pod, so that I can listen to them during my exercise sessions.

As most of my faithful readers must know, The Traveling Wilburys was a supergroup of sorts - and probably the best one in the history of rock & roll - whose inception was the brainchild of George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne - who were all three part of the group. Bob Dylan and Tom Petty also joined the Traveling Wilburys. The band originally got together to record a B-side for George Harrison's "This Is Love," a single from his Cloud Nine album. When Warner Brothers executives heard the resulting tune, "Handle With Care," they felt that it was too good to be released as just a B-side, and the band recorded a full-blown album.

The name "Traveling Wilburys" was derived from the name "wilburys" that Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra fame, but mostly a producer by the late 1980's) and George Harrison had coined to designate various pieces of studio equipment. Harrison first named the group "The Trembling Wilburys," but Lynne suggested "The Traveling Wilburys" instead. Each member of the band took on a pseudonym, "all sons of a fictional Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr. and half brothers" (source: Wikipedia): On the Volume I album, George Harrison was Nelson Wilbury, Jeff Lynne was Otis Wilbury, Roy Orbison was Lefty Wilbury, Tom Petty was Charlie T. Jr., and Bob Dylan was Lucky Wilbury. On the Volume II album, the names had, somehow, changed: George Harrison was now Spike Wilbury, Jeff Lynne was Clayton Wilbury, Tom Petty had become Muddy Wilbury, and Bob Dylan was Boo Wilbury (Orbison had, unfortunately passed away on December 6, 1988 - Volume III was dedicated to him, Lefty Wilbury.)

Recorded in just ten days, Traveling Wilburys Volume I is one of the most infectiously exhilarating albums ever. Just imagine the talent gathered on every single of its tracks (although all songs are credited as having been written by "The Traveling Wilburys," each one bears its own "main" composer's signature): Harrison, the ex-Beatle, whose career had continued to thrive; Dylan, a legend in his own right; Tom Petty, whose career was well-established by 1988, and a musician whose own work had been influenced by Dylan and Harrison; Roy Orbison, who, although no longer hugely successful commercially, was a revered patriarch; and Jeff Lynne, who was a highly sought after music producer. This was a group made up of giants, none of whom came into the recording studio with a big ego. Those five guys were great friends, and truly collaborated equally on the album - everybody played, sang, composed, and produced.

As a result, there is not a single bad song on Traveling Wilburys Volume I - each tune is exceptionally good, a true gem. My favorites still remain its bookends: "Handle With Care" and "End of the Line," but I am growing very fond of the Dylan songs, especially "Dirty World" and "Congratulations." "Margarita" is also a great song - for one, it mentions Pittsburgh, and it can also claim the best lyrics on the entire album: "She wrote a long letter on a short piece of paper" (I have to admit that I also love the line "You don't need no wax job, you're smooth enough for me," from "Dirty World.")

This may not be the number one album of all time, but it's a damn good collective effort, which, it is obvious, five great friends had one hell of a good time recording.

Although quite good, Volume III (no Volume II was ever released, Harrison supposedly came up with the idea of releasing a Volume III instead, to "confuse the buggers") is not quite as strong as Volume I. I never owned this album, so I am still getting acquainted with the songs that are on it, and I think that I will get to appreciate them immensely, but I doubt that they will ever bring a grin on my face as huge as the songs of Volume I do. I also feel, but this may be just my own personal opinion, that this album is somewhat overwhelmed by Jeff Lynne's production, which tends to be overwrought at times (sounds to much like ELO in spots.) I do love "Poor House," as well as the Dylan tune "Seven Sins."

I am usually not one to dwell on musical nostalgia, but rediscovering the tracks of Traveling Wilburys Volume I, and discovering those of Volume III is a very pleasurable experience.

One last note: George Harrison was always my favorite Beatle - "Here Comes the Sun" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" are two of my very favorite Beatles songs. I just loved his songs, I liked the guy, he was quiet, dignified, fun, modest and maybe a bit shy. And cute too. And I adored his voice. In fact, when I hear it on Traveling Wilburys Volume I, I feel sad that it was silenced way too prematurely. This is not, on my part, taking anything away from the other three Beatles. Lennon was a genius, but too arrogant for my taste. Paul is an amazing composer who penned some of the greatest songs of our time, and he was very handsome (not anymore), but lacked something that I felt that George had. Ringo was just fun, but not someone whom I would admire or revere.

And, my dear faithful readers, for your listening pleasure, I am leaving you with "The End of the Line," which, as I mentioned it above, is one of my favorite songs on Traveling Wilburys Volume I. Recently (well, about two to three months ago), someone retired at the organization for which Marty works, and he played that song as a "goodbye" song. Marty said that he was really floored, because the guy did not exactly fit the image of a rock & roll afficionado:

	Traveling Wilburys - End Of The Line.mp3
	Found at skreemr.com