Before supergoups like Audioslave and Velvet Revolver existed there were five guys representing three generations of rock stars in a little band called The Traveling Wilburys.
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The Traveling Wilburys
|  Entertainment
Art
"Traveling Wilburys Collection"
(Rhino)
Released June 12, 2007
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The Traveling Wilburys started accidentally back in 1988 when George Harrison needed a B-Side for a single. So he did what anyone would do and called up his friends for help. Except he’s a former Beatle and his friends are Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and uber producer Jeff Lynne.
What resulted were two albums of fun high energy rockabilly pop music. It’s a formula that shouldn’t have worked and instead been a clash of egos. However you can hear the mutual respect and overall friendship in every song
Songs off of Vol. 1 like the two singles, “Handle With Care” and “End of The Line,” are great examples of how the Traveling Wilburys were great at sharing lead vocals and harmonizing with results that are a blast. This album set the stage for comebacks and solos albums for many of the member’s careers. In particular, Bob Dylan who had a creative and commercial lull during the 80’s shines on tracks like the tale of two running from the law with “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” and also with the funny “Dirty World.” These were the best tracks Dylan had done in years and his vocals are equally sharp.
Vol. 3, although missing Roy Orbison who died shortly after the release of Vol. 1, still has a lot of great moments that seems to showcase Tom Petty in particular. This may be the fact that between the release of Vol.1 and Vol.3 Petty and Lynne joined forces to record Petty’s first solo album, Full Moon Fever and the Heartbreakers’ Great Wide Open.
Petty opens the album with the fun and silly “Wilbury Twist” and sets the stage for another collection of fun pop tunes by the legends of rock music. It’s interesting to note that when they recorded Vol. 3 they did not invite sat Eric Clapton or someone else to replace Orbison. But in the end it is not needed and still feels like a complete band. Also yes the second album is entitled Vol. 3 and no there isn’t a Vol. 2.
It’s almost been a decade since the release of their first CD and since then we’ve lost Roy Orbison and more recently George Harrison. Up until now these albums have been out of print but thanks to Rhino Entertainment they are being re-released as a 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition that includes their two albums, bonus and unreleased tracks along with a DVD that includes a 24-minute documentary and their five videos.
Listening to them today these albums hold up quite well even though the production at times reeks of the 80’s. Still, if you are a fan of any or all of these guys it’s another Rhino "must have" for your CD collection.
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