The Story of The Travelling Wilburys

Even the most star-studded groups tend to have the most innocuous beginnings

Having released only two albums in three years, many consider The Travelling Wilburys to be the greatest group to have never performed live. Made up of George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynn, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison, they were a Supergroup among Supergroups.

While one may expect a line-up of such epic proportions to come with an equally epic backstory, the truth behind the formation of The Travelling Wilburys was an admittedly low-key affair. That being said, it remains quite a compelling tale nonetheless.

Let’s take a look at the story of one of the most underrated Supergroups of all time. This is the story of The Travelling Wilburys.

Beginnings

Following the success of George Harrison’s 1987 Cloud Nine album, the former Beatle publicly spoke about wanting to produce an album with “some of his mates.” Jeff Lynne, who had worked with Harrison on Cloud Nine, was the first person considered for the plan and mentioned how Harrison had the idea in mind for months up to that point.

When it came time to pick other members for their prospective group, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison were the first names to come to their minds. Dylan and Orbison, who were inspirational figures to both Lynne and Harrison, were at a somewhat low point in their respective careers, and it was Harrison’s wish to pay homage to his musical seniors while at the same time hoping to jumpstart their legendary careers.

The last name to be considered was Tom Petty. Petty, who had performed with The Heartbreakers as Bob Dylan’s backing group on a recent tour, also struck up a friendship with Harrison. Petty was also acquainted with Jeff Lynne as they collaborated on his Full-Moon Fever album, and had previously helped Roy Orbison with some songwriting. Having already worked with all the other prospective members of the group, Petty was the perfect man to round off this line-up.

With a line-up in mind, Harrison and Lynne also came up with the group’s name. Initially, they went with “The Trembling Wilburys.” Eventually, it was changed to “The Travelling Wilburys” we know today.

As to what exactly a “Wilbury” is, Harrison mentioned that he came up with the word as a pun on the phrase “we’ll bury em’ in the mix,” a reference to blocking out production errors in the final recording.

With a line-up and name already decided, it was time to start recruiting the prospective members and working on making music.

Early Success

While at dinner one night with Lynne and Orbison, Harrison put his plans into motion by inviting both men to a recording session. Due to the spontaneous nature of the invitation, the trio could not book an actual studio. So, they decided to record in Bob Dylan’s house, which had a studio built into the garage. Harrison invited Petty as he first had to stop by his house to get a guitar he left there.

The five men then jammed together and worked on a single song, initially meant to serve as a B-Side track on Harrison’s Cloud Nine album. The song was titled Handle With Care after a warning on a box in Dylan’s garage. Initially just conceived as a fun and easy B-Side, executives at Warner Bros. Records felt that the song was far too good for a mere B-Side.

This affirmation motivated the five friends to create a full album together and it was there where The Travelling Wilburys were officially formed. Keeping to their free and easy style, the Wilburys once again chose not to record in a studio but instead in a friend’s kitchen. This friend happened to be Dave Stewart of Eurythmics.

The Wilburys would normally spend the day writing their songs and recording their instrumental parts in Stewart’s kitchen. After dinner, they would then go to another room in the house to record their vocals. The approach seemed to work as just ten days later, they had an album ready to go.

The Travelling Wilburys Vol 1 was released with the band adopting pseudonyms as the fictional Wilbury brothers. Drummer Jim Keltner was also credited on the album as Buster Sidebury. The album was released to rave reviews by both fans and critics. Nominated for a Grammy for Album of the Year, it was praised for the group’s star-studded line-up, relaxed and informal nature, and more Country-oriented sound.

The album also coincided with a resurgence in the popularity of both Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison, who soon embarked on extensive solo tours following the album’s success. His collaboration with The Wilburys also re-enforced Tom Petty as a credible artist who could break away from his time as the leader of The Heartbreakers.

Despite each man’s busy schedule, plans were already set for them to continue collaborating again soon. Unfortunately, tragedy was soon to follow.

A Tragic Loss

Although he enjoyed renewed popularity, Roy Orbison did not live to see the full success of his work with The Wilburys. Passing away from a sudden heart attack in December 1988, Orbison’s fellow Wilburys were devastated by the loss.

As a touching tribute to their departed friend, a photo of Orbison and a shot of his guitar sitting in a rocking chair were featured in the music video for End of the Line at the part where Orbison’s voice was featured.

Rumours began to surface that the group was looking for a replacement for Orbison. Popular speculation at the time suggested that Del Shannon was the favourite to take Orbison’s place. However, Shannon would also pass away in early 1990. Although the Wilburys themselves stated that they never had any serious plans to replace Orbison, they released a cover of Del Shannon’s Runaway as a tribute to him.

Thus, The Wilburys chose to push on in the wake of Orbison’s death as a four-piece group, with side member Jim Keltner featuring prominently on credits and in music videos.

Later Projects

Following Orbison’s death, the remaining Wilburys got to work on a second album. Following Dylan’s return from touring, the group released The Travelling Wilburys Vol 3, a humorously mis-numbered album named by Harrison to “confuse the buggers.”

Collaborating once more with “Sidebury” Jim Keltner, the group also featured Gary Moore on one of the album’s tracks. Although the group’s chemistry was somewhat affected by the loss of Orbison, they clicked well nonetheless.

The Travelling Wilburys Vol 3 was noted to have not been as widely acclaimed as their first album but was still a respectable success. The songs She’s My Baby and Inside Out charted highly and enjoyed frequent airplay. Another song, Wilbury Twist, also had a notable music video that featured cameos from many popular celebrities.

Once again, the album was praised for its lighter and more informal tone which emphasised the group having fun with each other instead of slaving away trying to create the next musical masterpiece of the age. Following this, the Wilburys once again went on to focus on their own endeavours.

The End Of The Line

Just as there was little pomp and circumstance surrounding their formation, The Travelling Wilburys ended in characteristically low-key fashion as well. In fact, the group never officially disbanded. The four men remained good friends and collaborated on and off on smaller projects.

While Harrison never ruled out another full-scale Travelling Wilburys project, Bob Dylan became noticeably distant from the group as he focused on his solo commitments. Petty and Lynne publicly lamented The Wilburys’ failure to find the time ever to perform live or go on tour.

George Harrison passed away in November 2001. Although credited equally for all of their work, Harrison was recognizsd by his fellow Wilburys as the group’s leader and primary creative force. Thus, his passing effectively marked the end of The Travelling Wilburys.

Petty and Lynne would work together on a number of occasions to honour Harrison, such as during the Concert For George and Harrison’s solo induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Tom Petty would also pass away in October 2017, thus leaving Jeff Lynne and Bob Dylan as the only living members of The Travelling Wilburys today. The group’s drummer Jim Keltner remains a highly in-demand sessions musician and has continued to work with various iconic artists.

In some ways, the dissolution of The Travelling Wilburys was the perfect end of the group. While we fans recognise them as a Supergroup of five iconic musicians, The Wilburys were, at their very core, just five friends wanting to have a good time making music. While the group could not always work together, the friendships always remained intact, and sometimes, even close friends needed time to work on other things.

While we never saw all five of The Wilburys perform live, we learned a very important lesson; If you enjoy what you do and have a good group of friends, you can achieve great things without trying as hard.

While we came for the star power of the Travelling Wilburys, we stayed to watch George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan having a good time together.