Traveling Wilburys

Traveling Wilburys were a 1980s supergroup consisting of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. The band recorded two albums during the two years they were together.

"Wilburys" was a slang term coined by Harrison and Lynne during the recording of Cloud Nine as a pet name for various types of equipment in the recording studio; Harrison, referring to errors caused by malfunctioning equipment, jokingly remarked to Lynne: "We'll bury 'em in the mix." The term was used again when the entire group was together. Harrison suggested "The Trembling Wilburys" as the group's name; instead, Lynne suggested "Traveling," which was agreed on by the group.

1988–1990

Starting at a meal between Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne, 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. The band, 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 under various pseudonyms, all sons of a fictional Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr. and half brothers. Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, written by all the members, was recorded over a ten-day period as Dylan was scheduled to leave on a tour in May 1988. It was released on October 18. It was ranked #70 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s and nominated for Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1990. Despite the death of Roy Orbison on December 6, 1988, preventing further full collaborations, the remaining members did continue to make a follow up album to the highly successful Volume 1. In tribute to Orbison, during the video for "End of the Line", when Orbison sings, his photo is shown followed by a shot of his guitar in a rocking chair.

The Traveling Wilburys 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. The final studio album by the Wilburys, intentionally misnumbered Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, was released on October 30, 1990, but with less success than the previous one. In the booklet contained in the 2007 box set, the album name is credited to 'George being George'. Fans sometimes refer to Tom Petty's album Full Moon Fever as Traveling Wilburys Vol. 2 because the songs were written, performed, and produced by Petty and Jeff Lynne, the similarity of its sound to the Wilburys's songs, and due to its release after Wilbury's Vol. 1 but before Vol. 3, making it a kind of honorary Wilburys album.

2007

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the two Traveling Wilburys albums 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 2001. 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" with rare versions of the songs.

The release surprised many when it 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.

Members

The Traveling Wilburys of Volume 1 were:

* Nelson Wilbury - George Harrison
* Otis Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
* Lefty Wilbury - Roy Orbison
* Charlie T. Jr. - Tom Petty
* Lucky Wilbury - Bob Dylan

The Traveling Wilburys of Volume 3 were:

* Spike Wilbury - George Harrison
* Clayton Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
* Muddy Wilbury - Tom Petty
* Boo Wilbury - Bob Dylan

Additional named Traveling Wilburys on the 2007 Collection were:

* Buster Sidebury - Jim Keltner
* Ayrton Wilbury - Dhani Harrison

Keltner, the session drummer and percussionist, was not listed as a Wilbury in Volume 1 or 3; however he is in some of the music videos. In the DVD released in 2007, he is given the Wilbury nickname 'Buster Sidebury'. Furthermore, overdubs to the unreleased tracks "Maxine" and "Like a Ship" credit Ayrton Wilbury, a pseudonym for Dhani Harrison.

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

Common bootlegs

* Traveling Wilburys Vol. 2 (1989 demos and extended songs from Vol. 1) Note that Full Moon Fever is often erroneously but understandably described or advertised as Vol. 2.
* Traveling Wilburys Vol. 4 (1990 out-takes from Vol. 3)
* Rare Studio Sessions

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