The Traveling Wilburys Artistfacts

The Traveling Wilburys song list

The Traveling Wilburys Artistfacts

1988-1991
Bob Dylan1988-1991
Tom Petty1988-1991
George Harrison1988-1991
Jeff Lynne1988-1991
Roy Orbison1988
Based on the accomplishments of their members, Traveling Wilburys were the most super of supergroups. The lineup was Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of ELO, all future members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Harrison was the leader of the group. It came together when he needed a B-side for a single. He got his friend Jeff Lynne to work on it with him and Bob Dylan offered use of his garage studio. Tom Petty and Roy Orbison came along, so the five superstars found themselves together writing and recording the song on the spot: "Handle With Care." They had such a good time making it and were so impressed with the results, they decided to form a band and include the song on a full album, which they recorded a month later.
They were named after a slang term George Harrison and Jeff Lynne gave to studio equipment. The pair referred to equalizers and limiters as "wilburys," as in "we'll bury that mistake in the mix."
Like the Ramones, each member took a moniker with the band name in it, although they changed their names for each album. Harrison was "Nelson Wilbury" for the first album and "Spike Wilbury" for the second.
With the exception of "Handle With Care," the songs on their first album were all written and recorded in a two-week span at the house of Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. Stewart is British, but fell in love with Los Angeles when he came there in 1983. He befriended Tom Petty and co-wrote three songs for Petty's 1985 Southern Accents album, including the hit "Don't Come Around Here No More." Stewart bought a place in the Encino area of Los Angeles and built a small studio on the grounds. His home became a gathering spot for the future Wilburys, and when they decided to make their album, Stewart gave them the keys. In a Songfacts interview with Stewart, he explained why he wasn't a Wilbury. "I would have loved to and I would have easily been an accepted Wilbury, but it was right at the period of Eurythmics making We Too Are One and touring it."
Roy Orbison died in December 1988 just two months after their first album was released. The remaining Wilburys decided to make another album without him, which they released in 1990.
They needed a drummer, so they brought in one of their favorite session players, Jim Keltner, to fill that role. He was credited as "Buster Sidebury," as he was a "sideman."
The never performed live, in part because Harrison hated touring.

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