Part II, Chapter I: "Handle With Care"
“George and I had this wild idea of making a rock group out of us and a few mates. Bob and Roy were obvious picks, but it was really just sheer luck that we got Tom on board with it. We started as a bunch of guys jamming, and ended up with a really successful group.”
- Jeff Lynne on the foundation of “The Traveling Wilburys”.
Beginning as an idea from George Harrison during the production of his album
Cloud Nine, the Traveling Wilburys were a supergroup comprised of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.
In contrast to many of the supergroups that preceded them, there was little ego in the supergroup, as the five were friends before the project. According to Petty, the criteria for inclusion in the group was being someone “who you could hang out with”.
The group first convened to record a B-side for the single “This Is Love” from his album
Cloud Nine, which was produced by Lynne. To be titled “Handle With Care” after a label on a box in Harrison’s garage, the track was deemed to be too good for a B-side. This proved to be the catalyst for formalising the group and producing a full album.
The first Traveling Wilburys album,
The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 was released on 18 October 1988. A critical and commercial success, the album would inspire a short skiffle renaissance in the music industry, and would revitalise the careers of Dylan, Orbison and Petty. Another side effect would be a renewed interest in the works of Lynne’s earlier group, the Electric Light Orchestra. While none of their singles would chart from this success, it would lead to later projects.
Shortly after the release of the album, Orbison would suffer a heart attack, which would result in the delay in the release of second single “End of the Line” until he was in a state to record the music video. [1]
Following on from their successes, the Wilburys would begin work on another album, and would begin many other collaborative projects.
[1] This is the only change from OTL in this update. Orbison's December '88 heart attack doesn't kill him, meaning that we get to see more of him. We haven't seen the last of the Wilburys. I wanted to make the first update a shorter one. Next update will cover the production of Season 22 of Doctor Who.