The Traveling Wilburys

[aimeeandbeatles]

This is to discuss that veritable supergroup among supergroups, the Traveling Wilburys, consisting of five famous musicians. Feel free to discuss the musicians individually but I would really appreciate it if you try to keep it in the context of their collaborations with others.

I will post a bit from Wikipedia as I don't want to go real longwinded.

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 between 1988 and 1990, although Roy Orbison died before the second album was recorded.

So anyways interesting? This is meant to be discusssed. There are many wonderful things to discuss, such as What was your favorite Wilburys album? Song? What happened to Volume Two? What are some interesting Wilbury collaborations outside of the Wilburys? Who would make a good Wilbury? And many many others.

Thank you, enjoy the discussion. I may post more about the subject later if the thread does not become derailed. Enjoy!

 

[Atticus]

Oh, it included Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison too? That really is a supergroup.

I have a vague recollection of some group containing Roy Orbison performing around that time, it was the first time I heard of the bloke. I remember them performing a song Everything you got. I wonder if that was Traveling Wilburys?

 

[Boundless]

Funny how Tom Petty is mentioned last on the bill...

 

[EnglishCrusader]

Funny how Tom Petty is mentioned last on the bill...

Exactly what I thought

 

[Atticus]

They seem to be in alphabetical order.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Oh, it included Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison too? That really is a supergroup.

I have a vague recollection of some group containing Roy Orbison performing around that time, it was the first time I heard of the bloke. I remember them performing a song Everything you got. I wonder if that was Traveling Wilburys?

1988, probably was Wilburys. Although he also did an album at the time. And several Wilburys were on it. Also some Heartbreakers. And other famous people.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

They seem to be in alphabetical order.

That was my thought too.

 

[shmily_dana]

1988, probably was Wilburys. Although he also did an album at the time. And several Wilburys were on it. Also some Heartbreakers. And other famous people.

I think they all did solo albums with other Wilburys, except for Dylan. I know Jeff Lynne played and sings and produces on Orbison's "Mystery Girl", Harrison's "Cloud Nine", and Petty's album. Can't remember who did anything on Lynnes' "Armchair Theater".

If I recall correctly, Jeff and George were working on "Cloud Nine" and ran into Petty. I don't remember how Roy and Bob got involved. But It was a jam session that evolved into an album. (Forgive me if I got this all wrong).

I love the two albums and the associated solo projects.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I think they all did solo albums with other Wilburys, except for Dylan. I know Jeff Lynne played and sings and produces on Orbison's "Mystery Girl", Harrison's "Cloud Nine", and Petty's album. Can't remember who did anything on Lynnes' "Armchair Theater".

If I recall correctly, Jeff and George were working on "Cloud Nine" and ran into Petty. I don't remember how Roy and Bob got involved. But It was a jam session that evolved into an album. (Forgive me if I got this all wrong).

I love the two albums and the associated solo projects.

I'll post more.... Tom Petty & Bob Dylan were on tour for most of 1986 and part of 1987. And in October 1987 they ran into George & Jeff there. And then ther was Full Moon Fever, Petty's album, recorded before the Wilburys first album (MCA didn't like it at first so it was put on the back burner), and also Roy's album.

EDIT: I have, in newspapers, early mentions of Full Moon Fever from 1988. However at the time it was Songs from the Garage.
Very early, brief mention without title
A slightly more detailed one with the working title "Songs from the Garage" and wondering if the album will be out in time for Christmas

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I am about to post something interesitng.

Was it while touring with Dylan that you heard an advance tape of George Harrison’s Cloud Nine, produced by Jeff Lynne?
tp: Yeah. And I loved it. We played in Birmingham [England] with Bob and then a few weeks later we played London for a few nights. I think we were there for three or four nights in Wembley. On the first night in Birmingham, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne came to visit. And Bob was not feeling well. He was not really around before the show, and then he didn’t want to hang around afterwards too much.
It was funny—that first night we were in London, when we had that great time, a hurricane hit. In London. Completely unannounced and unpredicted by the weather bureau. I always thought that [hurricane] had something to do with changing my life. This literal hurricane.
The Hindus think that when you meet someone and you feel really close to them immediately, that maybe you knew them in a past life. And that was how it was with George. We met each other and instantly became really close. Instantly we became very close. And I remember him saying to me, ‘You know, I’m not going to let you out of my life now.’ And it wasn’t about The Beatles or anything
like that. We really got along well. And shared a sense of humor. And we became very close friends. And Jeff, too.
So we hung out, and one night we really had a nice time, after the gig we hung out for hours with George, and Ringo was there and Derek Taylor [music journalist, former Beatles publicist, and collaborator on George Harrison’s autobiography, I, Me, Mine]. And all of their wives. And we hung out, and we had a lot of laughs. And then the next night was my birthday. I have a photo.
They brought me a little birthday cake. And there’s a photo of me and George and McGuinn and Bob and Mike, and we’re all backstage laughing. And it looks pretty accurate. Victor Maymudes, who was Bob’s roadie, was there. We had a really good time. And George gave me this cassette, and said, ‘This is the album. Let me know if you like it.’
So I took it home. That was the last gig of the tour, London. And that was when I told Bob, I can’t carry on because I have to go home and rebuild my life. The house had burnt down and all of this, and I’ve kind of got to put my life back together, so I’m going to have to bow out. Which I think he understood, but he was kind of sad about it.
So I came back, and it was Thanksgiving Day. I was at the house in Beverly Hills, and some people were coming over. And I like to have softball games. And so I was going to have a softball game at the house. But I didn’t have enough mitts to play ball. So I was going to drive down to the Sav-On in Beverly Hills and buy a dozen ball mitts so everybody could play ball. Which was the only place open
on Thanksgiving Day. So I’m at the traffic light, and I look over to my left, and there’s Jeff Lynne. Who I’d only just recently seen in England. So I honked my horn, and he turned around, and we pulled over. And I said, ‘Wow, what are you doing here? And I love that album; the album’s great.’
He said, ‘I’m working with Brian Wilson.’ And he said, ‘Where do you live?’
I told him where I lived, and he said, ‘That’s weird. I live really close to there.
So we should get together.’
‘Okay, let’s do—let’s get together.’ Because I really liked Jeff—he’s a great guy. And very warm, and has a really great sense of humor.
So we fast-forward a little bit. And I think Jeff probably came over after that in a day or two. And we hung out a little bit. And fast-forward a little more and it was right before Christmas. And there were a lot of magical things going on in my life. I was with my daughter Adria, and we were out Christmas shopping. We had driven over to Studio City, there was this one restaurant there on Ventura called Le Seur, a French restaurant that was a really good restaurant. It was really good, and it was the kind of place you went to on special evenings. It was kind of our special night restaurant. And I wanted to give Adria a big afternoon
out. And we were shopping and buying gifts. And we were driving past Le Seur and she said, ‘Wouldn’t it be something if you could just eat lunch at Le Seur?’
And I said, ‘Why not, let’s go.’
She said, ‘You’re kidding.’
I pulled in the parking lot and we came in. I sat down in my chair, and the waiter came over and he said, ‘There’s a friend of your’s here and he’d like you to come over to the table.’ And that’s all he said.
I said, ‘Oh,’ and I got up and walked around—there was kind of this private dining room—and as I walk in, there’s George [Harrison]. And he was having lunch with some people from Warner Brothers. And Jeff. And as I walked into the room, Jeff was writing my number down for George. And George said, ‘How strange, I’d just gotten your number and somebody told me you’d walked into the restaurant at the same time.’
I said, ‘Yeah, that’s far out.’
He said, ‘Where are you going?’
I said, ‘Well, I was just gonna eat.’
He said, ‘Where are you going after you eat?’
And I said I was going home, and he said, ‘Can I come with you?’
‘Well, I guess so, why not?’
And he said, ‘Well, I’ve got my car but I’ll follow you to your house.’ He said, ‘I’m staying at the Hotel Bel-Air,’ which wasn’t too far away. He said, ‘We’ll just hang out, okay?’
And I said okay. He followed me to my house, and we hung out that afternoon. And this is kind of strange, because when I talk about George, he’s so famous, and so much of an icon. But he really had the ability to make you forget about that and be a real good friend, and we had a lot of fun. A lot of laughs, a lot of playing the guitars.
The next day, the door rings, and George is back with his family. We spent Christmas Eve together. Actually, we spent several Christmases to come. He would usually be on his way to Hawaii at Christmas, and he would stop in L.A. And our two families became close. Dhani [George’s son] became a close friend of Adria’s, and they’re still good pals.

I will post some extra information.

Temple in Flames Tour (with Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn)

September 5, 1987 Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv, Israel
September 7, 1987 Sultans Pool, Jerusalem, Israel
September 10, 1987 St. Jacobshalle, Basle, Switzerland
September 12, 1987 Autodromo, Moderna, Italy
September 14, 1987 Eisstadion, Mannheim, Germany
September 15, 1987 Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany
September 16, 1987 Frankenhalle, Nurenburg, Germany
September 17, 1987 Waldbuehne, Berlin, Germany
September 19, 1987 Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
September 20, 1987 Sportpark, Hannover, Germany
September 21, 1987 Valby Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
September 23, 1987 Isshallen, Helsinki, Finland
September 25, 1987 Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden
September 26, 1987 Isstadion, Stockholm, Sweden
September 28, 1987 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
September 29, 1987 Martin Schleyerhalle, Stuttgart, Germany
September 30, 1987 Olympichalle, Munich, Germany
October 1, 1987 Arena, Verona, Italy
October 3, 1987 Paleur, Rome, Italy
October 4, 1987 Milan, Italy
October 5, 1987 Piazza Grande, Locarno, Switzerland
October 7, 1987 P.O.P.B. Bercy, Paris, France
October 8, 1987 P.O.P.B. Bercy, Paris, France or Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
October 10, 1987 National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England
October 11, 1987 National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England
October 12, 1987 National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England
October 14, 1987 Wembley Arena, London, England
October 15, 1987 Wembley Arena, London, England
October 16, 1987 Wembley Arena, London, England
October 17, 1987 Wembley Arena, London, England (guest George Harrison)

And I will post some pictures.

 

[sophie]

Yeah...definitely not going to read any of that. But cool! Traveling Wilburys were a great group! Shame Orbison's death came when it did.

Good idea for a thread aimme!

 

[Leifmk]

Listened a lot to their albums back in the day, especially the first one. It is very good stuff.

 

[sophie]

Listened a lot to their albums back in the day, especially the first one. It is very good stuff.

All two of them?

 

[Leifmk]

All two of them?

Um. Might I humbly suggest that you may have suffered a momentary lapse of reading comprehension?

 

[sophie]

Um. Might I humbly suggest that you may have suffered a momentary lapse of reading comprehension?

I don't think I have, unless by "A lot of albums" you mean 2?

 

[SuperJay]

I don't think I have, unless by "A lot of albums" you mean 2?

"Listened a lot TO their albums" not "Listened to a lot of their albums."

Odd construction, but he does mean what he said as it's written.

 

[warpus]

So what was their best song? Youtube me up

 

[sophie]

So what was their best song? Youtube me up

Link to video.


Link to video.

These are my favorite two.


Link to video.

This one is also really good.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Wait...what. I had no idea Tweeter and the Monkey Man was (originally) by the Traveling Wilburys. I've heard the (what I now know is a) cover version by the Canadian band Headstones for years on the radio, so this totally blows my mind.

 

[Leifmk]

"Listened a lot TO their albums" not "Listened to a lot of their albums."

Indeed.

Think I must have worn out the tape I had of the first one. ORIGINAL tape, mind you, this was the age when people would actually buy albums on tape.

Also, I had an onion tied to my belt, as was the fashion at the time.