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Biography

The Traveling Wilburys (sometimes shortened to the Wilburys) were an English–American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, accompanied by drummer Jim Keltner. The band recorded two albums in 1988 and 1990, though Orbison died before the second was recorded.

History

1988–1990

George Harrison first mentioned the Traveling Wilburys during a radio interview with Bob Coburn on the Rockline radio station in February 1988. When asked what he planned to do as a follow-up for his Cloud Nine album, Harrison replied: "What I'd really like to do next is... to do an album with me and some of my mates... a few tunes, you know. Maybe The Traveling Wilburys... it's this new group I got: it's called the Traveling Wilburys, I'd like to do an album with them and later we can all do our own albums again." "Wilbury" was a slang term first used by Harrison during the recording of Cloud Nine with Jeff Lynne. Referring to recording errors created by some faulty equipment, Harrison jokingly remarked to Lynne, "We'll bury 'em in the mix". Thereafter, they used the term for any small error in performance and the term was used again when the group were together. Harrison suggested "The Trembling Wilburys" as the group's name; instead, Lynne suggested "Traveling", with which the group agreed.

Starting with a meal among Harrison, Lynne and Roy Orbison, the group came together at Bob Dylan's home studio in Malibu, California, to record an additional track as a B-side for the single release of Harrison's "This Is Love". Tom Petty's involvement came by chance, as Harrison had left his guitar at Petty's house and Harrison went to get it and Petty came back with Harrison. The record label, however, decided that the song that resulted, "Handle with Care", was too good to be released as a "single filler". The members enjoyed working together so much that they decided to create a full album together. Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. Written by all five men, it was recorded over a ten-day period in May 1988, and released on October 18. The album was recorded in the house and garden of Eurythmics member Dave Stewart. The "Wilburys" joke was extended further, with the band members credited under various pseudonyms and pretending to be half-brothers – sons of a fictional Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr. The album was a critical and commercial success, spawning several successful singles and eventually reaching triple-platinum sales status in the US. The album was nominated for several awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1989.

Roy Orbison died of a heart attack on December 6, 1988. In tribute to Orbison, the music video for "End of the Line" shows Orbison's guitar rocking in a chair as the rest of the group play, followed by a brief shot focusing on a framed picture of him. Despite Orbison's death, the remaining group members recorded a second and final studio album, which they intentionally misnumbered Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3. It was released on October 30, 1990, and met with less success than the previous one. In the booklet contained in the 2007 box set, the album title is credited to "George being George"; apparently Harrison was making a wry reference to the appearance of a bootleg that served as a sort of Volume 2.

After the Wilburys

Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty collaborated with Del Shannon on his 1991 album Rock On, which spawned rumors that Shannon would fill the late Orbison's position in the group. After his 1991 tour of Japan, George Harrison spoke of a Traveling Wilburys tour:

The Wilburys tour never came about. Tom Petty said about the Wilburys touring:

Lynne continued to work with Harrison occasionally, including acting as producer for the two "new" Beatles singles "Free as a Bird" (1995) and "Real Love" (1996) for The Beatles Anthology. Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001, and Lynne and Dhani Harrison co-produced and finished the elder Harrison's posthumous album Brainwashed (2001).

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the two Traveling Wilburys albums had had limited availability and were out of print in most areas. Harrison, as primary holder of the rights, did not reissue them before his death. In June 2007, the two albums were reissued as The Traveling Wilburys Collection, a box set including both albums on CD (with bonus tracks) and a DVD featuring a twenty-four minute band documentary and a collection of music videos. The box set was released in three editions; the standard edition, with both CDs and DVD in a double Digipak package and a 16-page booklet; a "deluxe" boxed edition with the CDs and DVD and an extensive 40-page booklet, artist postcards, and photographs; or a "deluxe" boxed edition on vinyl. This version omits the DVD, but adds a 12" vinyl disc with rare versions of the songs. The release debuted at #1 in the UK album charts and the Australian album charts. On the US Billboard 200 it reached #9. The collection sold 500,000 copies worldwide during the first three weeks and remained in the UK top 5 for seven weeks after its release.

Other projects

During their time together, the five members of the Traveling Wilburys frequently collaborated on each other's solo records; Lynne and Petty worked on Orbison's final album Mystery Girl (1988), Harrison played on Dylan's Under the Red Sky (1990), and Petty and Harrison worked on Lynne's Armchair Theatre (1990); Lynne produced Petty's solo albums Full Moon Fever (1989) (which involved all the Wilburys, save for Dylan) and Highway Companion (2006), as well as the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album Into the Great Wide Open (1991). Harrison and Petty also appear on Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration album (1992).

The Traveling Wilburys also appeared in a number of projects outside of their two albums; Harrison appeared as Nelson Wilbury on Warner Bros. Records' 1988 "holiday promo album" Winter Warnerland (which also included Paul Reubens as "Pee Wee Wilbury"), as well as "Spike and Nelson Wilbury" on his 1992 live album Live in Japan. The group contributed the title track, "Nobody's Child", to the Romanian Angel Appeal benefit album Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal, released on July 24, 1990. This song was also included on the 2007 collection.

Line-ups

Volume 1

"Nelson Wilbury" – George Harrison
"Otis Wilbury" – Jeff Lynne
"Lefty Wilbury" – Roy Orbison
"Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr" – Tom Petty
"Lucky Wilbury" – Bob Dylan

Volume 3

"Spike Wilbury" – George Harrison
"Clayton Wilbury" – Jeff Lynne
"Muddy Wilbury" – Tom Petty
"Boo Wilbury" – Bob Dylan

Additional Traveling Wilburys named in the 2007 collection:

"Buster Sidebury" – Jim Keltner
"Ayrton Wilbury" – Dhani Harrison

Keltner, the session drummer and percussionist, was not listed as a Wilbury in Volume 1 or Volume 3. However, he is seen in all of the group's music videos; on the DVD released in 2007, he is given the nickname "Buster Sidebury". Overdubs to the bonus tracks "Maxine" and "Like a Ship" credit "Ayrton Wilbury", a pseudonym for Dhani Harrison. The name Ayrton was used in honor of the Harrisons' late family friend Ayrton Senna.

The lead guitar on the Volume 3 song "She's My Baby" was played by rock guitarist Gary Moore.

Discography

Studio albums

Other albums

Singles

Other charted songs

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