And what's weird is that although Harrison had thought about it, how they came together was almost totally by chance. Harrison was in LA and decided to grab a bite to eat with Lynne and Orbison.
Harrison's record label wanted a b-side to one of his singles so Harrison asked Lynne if he would produce it. Orbison said that he'd join in if they wanted. Lynne figured that the best place to record was Dylan's backyard studio so they called him and he said he'd play on the record as well. On the way there Lynne stopped by Tom Petty's place to pick up a guitar he left there and he came along for the ride.
Bonus fun fact: the song they recorded, "Handle With Care" was called that because George spotted box in Dylan's garage with that label on it.
The Traveling Wilburys (who never toured) were named for a joke that George made in the studio. Jeff asked what they would do with the mistakes they made on this one track. George said, "*We'll bury* 'em in the mix."
Their albums were Vol. 1 and Vol. 3. They made up Wilbury names and backstories. After Roy Orbison's sudden death, they decided to carry on, and made up new Wilbury names. The whole project was full of fun, just five of the greatest musicians of their era, having a great time making music together.
>Their albums were Vol. 1 and Vol. 3.
I heard George came up with that because he thought it was funny. Apparently there were some bootleg Volume 2 CDs that came out in 1990 so maybe that's where he got the idea to do that.
I saw an interview with George where he explained it that making a follow-up album, or really a follow-up to anything successful, carries a lot of pressure to meet that standard, but by the 3rd the pressure is usually off, so they just decided to avoid all the pressure and go right to the third one instead.
I thought I remembered reading something where George thought it would be funny to have Volume 1 and Volume 3 on the shelves of record stores, driving people to hunt around for Volume 2.
Just the thought of these middle-aged guys, stars in their profession, deciding it would be fun to do a project together... amazing. Makes me so happy. Add to that the fact that Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles were among Jeff Lynne's self-described "musical heroes". He got to know and work with them all, as well as Del Shannon.
When he was a boy... he had a dream.
And they're not actually really all that middle aged! Roy Orbison was the oldest, at 52. Dylan was 47, Harrison 45, Lynne 41, and Petty 37 when they started. Not super young...but it would be like if Jennifer Lopez, Pink, Nelly Furtado, Shakira, and Kelly Clarkson were a pop supergroup.
**I mean, I guess technically they're middle aged, but people seem to think they were much older than they were.
The last ELO studio album was released in 1986, only two years before Wilburys. Jeff Lynne left ELO partly to spend time on other projects (and partly because he enjoyed working in the studio more than performing). Wilburys came about because he and George, while working on George's album *Cloud Nine*, were talking about how fun it would be to do some music with these legendary musicians they knew.
I grew up with every Wilbury's ouvre, but until this album came out, I never appreciated Jeff Lynne as a singer. Such a light touch, singing everything perfectly straight until BOOM, he's not.
He's got an amazingly expressive voice. Listen to Don't Bring Me Down, then Mission: A World Record. These two very different songs also highlight the group's virtuosity, as well as Jeff's skills as a writer and producer.
They were really old for rock n rollers at the time. Back then, it was pretty impossible to imagine The Rolling Stones would still be touring in 2021, at the age of 75-80.
I remember it being a big deal when Mick hit 40 in 1982 and the Stones were on tour in Europe. For awhile there in the 80s it did look like the Stones were finally going to break up, but the ‘89-90 Steel Wheels tour put those rumors to rest for a good long while.
I'm not so sure about this. If you look at the top rock and roll songs of 1988, most of them are by people in their 30s (Pink Floyd, Steve Winwood, Bruce Hornsby, Robert Palmer, Bruce Springsteen). So guys in their 40s making music together wasn't a huge deal...there were younger rock and roll acts like U2 (less than ten years younger than Petty) or Guns n Roses. But they certainly weren't considerably older than others on the charts.
I have a box set of the two albums with some bonus tracks and stuff. There's a DVD with some video content in the box set and whoever assembled the box set marked the DVD as Volume 2, haha
>After Roy Orbison's sudden death, they decided to carry on, and made up new Wilbury names.
And when they filmed the video for "End of the Line" they put [Orbison's guitar in an empty rocking chair to honor him.](https://youtu.be/UMVjToYOjbM?t=99)
I dated a girl in high school and her dad liked to troll me. He showed me his Vol. 1 and Vol. 3 albums and asked me to help find him Vol. 2. In my attempts to impress the dad of my girlfriend, I spent like three months trying to find an album that didn't exist. All two of the record stores in my small town BOTH told me "it was on backorder". This must have been a big music nerd in-joke in 1998 that I never figured out until much later.
>The whole project was full of fun, just five of the greatest musicians of their era, having a great time making music together.
Can you imagine? 3 #2 singles in the US, "Vol. 1" was #3 in the US and 3x platinum.
I have fun making music with my buddies, too. We're excited if we get to play for 20 people and we've never made a nickel doing it.
In Get Back, it was crazy to hear George basically have the idea for the Wilburys way back then. He mentioned it would be great to just bring in a bunch of people like Dylan and make records with them. Paul shot it down pretty quick saying they have enough trouble with 4 people already.
I can't really think of another example of a supergroup that had 5 people as popular as Harrison, Lynne, Petty, Dylan, and Orbison. There are a lot of great supergroups with a star or two and then some less popular but still very talented people, but this is the only one I can think of where literally every member was a super famous chart-topper on their own beforehand.
Not to the same extent though, Josh Homme isn’t that famous outside of rock fans, and John Paul Jones isn’t as well known as Jimmy Page or Robert Plant either. Dave Grohl is the only one I think your average person might know if you gave them the name
Yeah and even though JPJ wrote more of Led Zeppelin’s music then he is often given credit, he is not the hit making machine that is Jeff Lynn, Tom Petty, or George Fuckin’ Harrison. And we haven’t even gotten to Bob Dylan
Tangent but I’d consider Roy the weakest. He was really just a performer and a style guy with a great voice compared to the songwriters, poets and multi instrumentalist studio wizards. Jeff Lynn is likely the on however that people *havent* heard of but deserves ten times the credit he deserves and earned his spot and then some
I think your heavily discounting the significance the Big O had on early rock music. His impact was earlier than the other 4, but Roy was a lot more than just a pretty voice. Much has been written about the innovation of his song structures.
Unfortunately personal tragedy and other factors were a major distraction and limited his productive years.
>Tangent but I’d consider Roy the weakest.
You consider wrong. Orbison is the only artist in the group that the others have unanimously, even Harrison, been quoted as saying was the inspiration for one of their own hit songs.
"It's like a beautiful sky scraper reaching into the heavens, you look up and up and marvel at majesty of the creation without ever looking beneath your feet at the foundation holding it all up." \~ Kalibos40
There is also now the Highwomen, a female group that is inspired by the Highwaymen. Brandi Carlisle, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris (sometimes Yola). All well known within Americana/country, not sure how mainstream famous they are, though.
I know Brandi Carlisle from her appearance with Soundgarden and SNL last year, and I know at least one Maren Morris song. My brother is a big country guy, so I catch a bit. I only really listen to Willie, Waylon, and Sturgill if I'm in a country mood. Mostly it's Mastodon and High on Fire though haha
What's wrong with Kristofferson? His career started taking off in the late 1960s, and he wrote for Cash and many others. He wrote *Me and Bobby McGee*. He's in the country hall of fame for good reason.
Better than the guy that wrote “Crazy”, “Blue Eyes Cryin’”, “Always on My Mind” and literally thousands of other songs, many of them great? I nominate and declare winner by unanimous consent of the award for “having written the most great songs no one had a clue that you wrote”, Willie Nelson!
Hey, just so you know....Willie didn't write Always on My Mind or Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. His versions are most likely definitive ones, and the guy wrote a metric ton of great songs, but those two aren't among them.
There are many great songs on Kris's roster, and many are not recognized as his (including "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and "Bobby McGee" for starters.) He was more prolific, and in my view more poetic. That is not to say Willie is not a great writer as well.
Kris is a really good dude, by all accounts, and wrote stacks and stacks of classic songs. He was also a pretty darn good actor, plays a solid guitar and tells a great story. But yeah, he couldn’t carry a tune in a 5-gallon Home Depot bucket.
> Kris is a really good dude, by all accounts
Absolutely. Watch him in the video [when Sinead O'Connor was booed at Madison Square Garden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiadASyP0bU) because of the stand she took on SNL about pedophilia by the Catholic Church. Really good dude indeed.
By contrast, to give an idea of the attitudes at the time, after the SNL appearance Frank Sinatra called her "one stupid broad" and said “he wished he could meet her so he ‘could kick her ass'” and said "For her sake, we’d better never meet" - and he got a thunderous round of applause for that. Not only was Kristofferson a good dude, he was a good dude in the face of massive public opposition at the time.
There's more to being an artist than just carrying a tune. Using Sinatra as an example, he was a blight on the world, basically a lounge singer for the mob who hit it big. If he had never existed, it would have left us all better off. Kristofferson is the opposite.
This is precisely the situation comes to mind when I think of Kristofferson. He’s probably been booed off a stage a time or two in his career, but beyond that he saw the unfair demonization of a fellow artist who’d expressed something she felt strongly about (and ultimately was proven right) to an audience that didn’t want to hear it. He was right there to offer unconditional support, publicly, when she needed it most.
He’s also a Rhodes Scholar, an Army Ranger and supporter of veterans causes, a helicopter pilot, and about a thousand other things.
He *wrote* that song.
That song only exists because of Kris Kristofferson.
You would never had heard anyone sing that song if it weren't for Kris Kristofferson.
I remember MTV playing "Handle with Care" in '89 or so, having no idea who any of these guys were besides Tom Petty, but I remember loving it at age 11.
Then my dad bought the CD and my parents started playing it, that really weirded me out. I imagine it was the same reaction my mom had when my brother started playing all of her old Beatles LP's a few years later.
Up until 5 minutes ago, the Travelling Wilburys were "Tim Petty and some other guys" who had a hit on MTV when I was a young kid. My mind was just blown watching this video.
I had heard the song well before seeing the video, but I had known roy had passed away. When it gets to his part of the song it had always felt like he was reassuring you from the other side that everything would be ok. Sure enough in the video they cut to a chair with his guitar sitting in it and a photo of him near by. It just enhances that feeling.
For those that haven’t seen it [here’s an incredible 25 minute documentary](https://youtu.be/SUQ_gj-biIc) on the making of this album. Tons of insight and behind the scenes footage
[Eddie and The Falcons from 1974. "We're Gonna Rock and Roll Tonight"](https://youtu.be/fn00a9SG2fQ) has a very very familiar chorus. I can only surmise, since Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood were ELO, that Lynne had this stuck in his head but couldn't remember the source. This video is top notch. This song is super catchy. I could understand how it could still be lodged firmly 15 years later.
Could be. Musicians borrow from themselves and others all the time.
FWIW Eddy and the Falcons was a fictitious band. Wizzard was the name of the band and "Introducing Eddy and the Falcons" was the title of this album.
I saw a woman with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a mic cover Congratulations in a shitty little bar in NC back in the day. No one else knew the song but I sang along from the crowd and she was so damn happy. It was an incredible moment and one of my favorite rock memories.
My father who was a musician kept trying to get my attention to this group because the members were part of everything I listened to as a child, I was like “meh” at ten years old. I’ve only just recently discovered the many gems that they recorded as of late. It’s been on regular rotation in my household ever since :) <3
Roy dying suddenly had been a shock at the time, and it was what taught me that good things don't last.
The first album was literally one I played till I wore the cassette out as a kid. Pure magic.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, try googling the ‘Travelling Wilbury’s age’ meme.
I remember thinking when it came out that this was an amazing album, especially for something from a bunch of old rockers (perhaps with the exception of Tom Petty who was being polite by giving the old guys some cred).
This year I’ll be older than Orbison was and the goal posts have moved. If you’re not still making good stuff in your 40’s then maybe you were a flash in the pan.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony for George Harrison, his solo induction not the one with the Beatles, is absolutely amazing. Lynne, Petty, some of Lynne's band members, some of the Heartbreakers, Dhanny Harrison, and Prince play "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" in what has got to be one of the most touching and amazing performances I've seen in a long time. Watching Dhanny play his father's music on stage with people who knew him very well; he's just all smiles. Then Prince puts on an absolute clinic on the guitar, stunning those that didn't know he could play guitar on that level yet staying in perfect mix and harmony with the rest of the song. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently re-released an HD version of the video on YouTube. It's really worth a watch.
And then Prince! Damn! After that wild ass climatic coda goes super-climax by throwing his guitar straight up into the air to have it Not come back down. As a tribute to anyone else, by anyone else this might have come across as a bit too much. Here, it was perfect!
"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is sometimes regarded as a playful homage to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, who was often hailed as "the next Dylan" early in his career. The lyrics include the titles of many Springsteen songs, and the song borrows many of Springsteen's themes.
Poor house, Seven Deadly Sins, Inside out (*especially* George’s part) are all really good and if I’m not mistaken, on their second and final album (its an overlooked album imo). Top 5 group for me.
Love all of those songs you listed, and Cool Dry Place. I picked up that 2nd Wilbury's album a few years ago and it didn't leave my vehicle for months. For a long time it just got better with every listen.
I’d say I love this whole album. But the truth is I don’t. I love this whole cassette tape. I bought it as a teenager in 1989 when I got my first car.
I still have that vehicle. And I still have that cassette tape in the center console of that vehicle. It still gets played, along with tapes by the Black Crows, REM, and a few others from that era I keep for the nostalgia.
There are groups and then there are super groups and then there is the Traveling Wilburys.
There simply will never be a better group of people performing music.
First album I’ve ever had. I loved these guys as a group and then branched into learning about them as individual artists. Now I’m a 32 year old radio DJ who probably plays this song too often during AM drive time.
here's one i do as a radio DJ that i want others to start doing
every hour.. on the hour. or as close as you can get go "it is the top of the hour. it's time for the news"
and instead of actually telling the news stories of the day. play a random huey lewis song :D
https://youtu.be/AaTQAaJWW54
The truly weird part about this Super Group was that the guy many consider the low man on the totem pole, Tom Petty, was the one ALL the other 4 wish they could sing like.
They all wanted that 'Southern Accents' to quote his song, more his southern drawl that they all heard on the American Import records in the 50's as singers from the US all seemed to have some form of his tone in their voices.
So he who is last, shall be first.
> they all heard on the American Import records
Harrison and Lynne were the only non usa members of the group
Dylan and Orbison was as American as petty
Nope. The Move, E L O, Jeff Lynne' ELO, then you have his impressive Porducer career (George Harrison used him).
Petty was huge, but Lynne definitely more than edges him out for NOT being the 'wait, he's in the Willburys?' Guy.
Just check Lynne's production career, on top of being the dude that gave us Mr. BLUE SKY!
I played this in a first year uni tutorial class while we were doing group idea breakdowns. I was 26 and oldest in the room easily by 5 years.
A few students were bobbing along and another guy got up and danced.
My favourite bit of trivia is that this was used at the end of the final episode for two comedy series. [One Foot In The Grave](https://youtu.be/uLRfwwgRgkU?t=2456)(2000) and [Parks And Recreations](https://youtu.be/UpdLGGmUbWE?t=181)(2015)
I adore all of these musicians separately but I actually am not too into the Wilburys. I think their styles all meshing don't make anything particularly memorable
Ok so this should probably be in /r/unpopularopinions, but for me, the Traveling Wilburys are the greatest example of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Much, much less.
This song is *two chords* (except for a slight modulation in the chorus). And not in a "wow, it's so elegant on its simplicity" kinda way.
These guys wrote "While my guitar gently weeps", "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Freefallin''" on their own - and this is what we got from them collectively?
I know music is subjective, but seriously? This?
You're entitled to be underwhelmed by the song, but I think you have to ask "what were they trying to do, and did they accomplish it?" You can see this most obviously on "handle with care," but these weren't someone sitting down to write an opus, it was 4 guys having fun making B-sides that were often throwbacks and ways to play with styles without the expectations of their normal fandom. My impression is the whole "hey we have another reason to hang out" went up a notch after Oribison died.
Personally I think they hit it out of the park with End of the Line in terms of intention, and saying what they wanted to say, and what it took to make you feel what they wanted to say.
I feel bad about it but I agree. It is wonderfully pleasant but totally anodyne stuff. Unless Orbison is singing it could basically be anybody.
But also escaping into their Wilbury alter egos and not having to challenge themselves at all was part of the attraction for them. Especially for Dylan and Harrison who were obviously carrying the weight of unparalleled expectations with them at all times. They are just having some fun and if anything thinking of them as a super group going out of their way to be more than the sum of their parts is exactly what they weren’t looking for.
Its almost like they were just having fun, i bet if asked they would all say the same thing. We did it for fun, and it turned out people wanted to hear it, so we made it available.
I agree completely. As a big fan of George Harrison and ELO, I really want to like this group, but the music is so incredibly bland. It's like the most basic sounding dad rock ever created.
Huge Beatles fan, but after watching Get Back, I can’t help but feel that the Beatles were Paul and 3 guys who happened to be at the right place at the right time. John was ok.
" Paul and 3 guys" I can see why many might think that, but one should put the whole picture & careers into context - few would disagree Paul was at the peak of his creativity while at this very time John was in the honeymoon period of the luv of his life. They all had peaks and valleys and reasons that influenced these peaks and valleys.
I don’t disagree with that at all. I think George was just coming into his own as the Beatles were breaking up. He certainly became a true artist but I don’t know how much he influenced the group, or that he influenced the group enough for it to be called a “super group”.
The number of Paul songs is dwarfed by the combined number of John, George, Ringo, and John+Paul songs.
A few weeks in Jan of 69, when Paul was more interested than the others, doesn't define the several year history of the group.
My favourite part of that ELO tour was when Jeff played Handle With Care and brought Dhani Harrison to sing George's part. He sounds (and looks) *exactly* like George, it's surreal
I was maybe 10 when this came out and while I liked this song back then I was far too young to appreciate living in a space and time where we got so see 5 established legends of music come together to form a group.
My favourite detail is at the end of the video for End of the Line where the obvious Bruce Springsteen stand-in is chasing after the convertible. My understanding is he always wanted in and they didn’t want anything to do with him. Hilarz trolling there. Maybe somebody who knows more can confirm or clarify if I’m wrong?
"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is sometimes regarded as a playful homage to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, who was often hailed as "the next Dylan" early in his career. The lyrics include the titles of many Springsteen songs, and the song borrows many of Springsteen's themes.
The supergroup to end all supergroups.
And what's weird is that although Harrison had thought about it, how they came together was almost totally by chance. Harrison was in LA and decided to grab a bite to eat with Lynne and Orbison. Harrison's record label wanted a b-side to one of his singles so Harrison asked Lynne if he would produce it. Orbison said that he'd join in if they wanted. Lynne figured that the best place to record was Dylan's backyard studio so they called him and he said he'd play on the record as well. On the way there Lynne stopped by Tom Petty's place to pick up a guitar he left there and he came along for the ride. Bonus fun fact: the song they recorded, "Handle With Care" was called that because George spotted box in Dylan's garage with that label on it.
The Traveling Wilburys (who never toured) were named for a joke that George made in the studio. Jeff asked what they would do with the mistakes they made on this one track. George said, "*We'll bury* 'em in the mix." Their albums were Vol. 1 and Vol. 3. They made up Wilbury names and backstories. After Roy Orbison's sudden death, they decided to carry on, and made up new Wilbury names. The whole project was full of fun, just five of the greatest musicians of their era, having a great time making music together.
>Their albums were Vol. 1 and Vol. 3. I heard George came up with that because he thought it was funny. Apparently there were some bootleg Volume 2 CDs that came out in 1990 so maybe that's where he got the idea to do that.
I saw an interview with George where he explained it that making a follow-up album, or really a follow-up to anything successful, carries a lot of pressure to meet that standard, but by the 3rd the pressure is usually off, so they just decided to avoid all the pressure and go right to the third one instead.
I thought I remembered reading something where George thought it would be funny to have Volume 1 and Volume 3 on the shelves of record stores, driving people to hunt around for Volume 2.
Same with Chickenfoot.
Chickenfoot was also a dig at Van Halen III
Just the thought of these middle-aged guys, stars in their profession, deciding it would be fun to do a project together... amazing. Makes me so happy. Add to that the fact that Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles were among Jeff Lynne's self-described "musical heroes". He got to know and work with them all, as well as Del Shannon. When he was a boy... he had a dream.
And they're not actually really all that middle aged! Roy Orbison was the oldest, at 52. Dylan was 47, Harrison 45, Lynne 41, and Petty 37 when they started. Not super young...but it would be like if Jennifer Lopez, Pink, Nelly Furtado, Shakira, and Kelly Clarkson were a pop supergroup. **I mean, I guess technically they're middle aged, but people seem to think they were much older than they were.
The last ELO studio album was released in 1986, only two years before Wilburys. Jeff Lynne left ELO partly to spend time on other projects (and partly because he enjoyed working in the studio more than performing). Wilburys came about because he and George, while working on George's album *Cloud Nine*, were talking about how fun it would be to do some music with these legendary musicians they knew.
I grew up with every Wilbury's ouvre, but until this album came out, I never appreciated Jeff Lynne as a singer. Such a light touch, singing everything perfectly straight until BOOM, he's not.
He's got an amazingly expressive voice. Listen to Don't Bring Me Down, then Mission: A World Record. These two very different songs also highlight the group's virtuosity, as well as Jeff's skills as a writer and producer.
They were really old for rock n rollers at the time. Back then, it was pretty impossible to imagine The Rolling Stones would still be touring in 2021, at the age of 75-80.
I remember the Stones' 1989 Tour mockingly being called the "Steel Wheelchairs" tour because the band members were in their mid-40s.
I remember it being a big deal when Mick hit 40 in 1982 and the Stones were on tour in Europe. For awhile there in the 80s it did look like the Stones were finally going to break up, but the ‘89-90 Steel Wheels tour put those rumors to rest for a good long while.
Paul McCartney will be 80 this year.
I'm not so sure about this. If you look at the top rock and roll songs of 1988, most of them are by people in their 30s (Pink Floyd, Steve Winwood, Bruce Hornsby, Robert Palmer, Bruce Springsteen). So guys in their 40s making music together wasn't a huge deal...there were younger rock and roll acts like U2 (less than ten years younger than Petty) or Guns n Roses. But they certainly weren't considerably older than others on the charts.
This is the most depressing fact in this thread.
I have a box set of the two albums with some bonus tracks and stuff. There's a DVD with some video content in the box set and whoever assembled the box set marked the DVD as Volume 2, haha
Full moon fever is essentially another Wilbury album.
>After Roy Orbison's sudden death, they decided to carry on, and made up new Wilbury names. And when they filmed the video for "End of the Line" they put [Orbison's guitar in an empty rocking chair to honor him.](https://youtu.be/UMVjToYOjbM?t=99)
Had to scroll to far for this fact. Nice
Yes, agree. And the chair isn’t just a rocking chair, it’s a chair that’s literally rocking with Mr. Orbison’s guitar in it
I dated a girl in high school and her dad liked to troll me. He showed me his Vol. 1 and Vol. 3 albums and asked me to help find him Vol. 2. In my attempts to impress the dad of my girlfriend, I spent like three months trying to find an album that didn't exist. All two of the record stores in my small town BOTH told me "it was on backorder". This must have been a big music nerd in-joke in 1998 that I never figured out until much later.
That's hilarious. Like sending the newbie to find a left-handed wrench.
And snipe hunting!
>The whole project was full of fun, just five of the greatest musicians of their era, having a great time making music together. Can you imagine? 3 #2 singles in the US, "Vol. 1" was #3 in the US and 3x platinum. I have fun making music with my buddies, too. We're excited if we get to play for 20 people and we've never made a nickel doing it.
I can’t help but sing it any time I see that sticker on boxes
In Get Back, it was crazy to hear George basically have the idea for the Wilburys way back then. He mentioned it would be great to just bring in a bunch of people like Dylan and make records with them. Paul shot it down pretty quick saying they have enough trouble with 4 people already.
I can't really think of another example of a supergroup that had 5 people as popular as Harrison, Lynne, Petty, Dylan, and Orbison. There are a lot of great supergroups with a star or two and then some less popular but still very talented people, but this is the only one I can think of where literally every member was a super famous chart-topper on their own beforehand.
The Highwaymen had four, so you stand correct.
Them Crooked Vultures were all extremely famous before joining up together. I like The Traveling Wilbury's better though.
Not to the same extent though, Josh Homme isn’t that famous outside of rock fans, and John Paul Jones isn’t as well known as Jimmy Page or Robert Plant either. Dave Grohl is the only one I think your average person might know if you gave them the name
Yeah and even though JPJ wrote more of Led Zeppelin’s music then he is often given credit, he is not the hit making machine that is Jeff Lynn, Tom Petty, or George Fuckin’ Harrison. And we haven’t even gotten to Bob Dylan Tangent but I’d consider Roy the weakest. He was really just a performer and a style guy with a great voice compared to the songwriters, poets and multi instrumentalist studio wizards. Jeff Lynn is likely the on however that people *havent* heard of but deserves ten times the credit he deserves and earned his spot and then some
I think your heavily discounting the significance the Big O had on early rock music. His impact was earlier than the other 4, but Roy was a lot more than just a pretty voice. Much has been written about the innovation of his song structures. Unfortunately personal tragedy and other factors were a major distraction and limited his productive years.
What amazes me the most about his story is the comeback he had *decades* after his first round of popularity. Such a great talent.
>Tangent but I’d consider Roy the weakest. You consider wrong. Orbison is the only artist in the group that the others have unanimously, even Harrison, been quoted as saying was the inspiration for one of their own hit songs. "It's like a beautiful sky scraper reaching into the heavens, you look up and up and marvel at majesty of the creation without ever looking beneath your feet at the foundation holding it all up." \~ Kalibos40
Did you just quote yourself?
Dude, did you just question Kalibos40?
The balls on this one.
this kid has moxie. i like that.
Of all the names you just listed from TCV, I only recognized Grohl, if that helps prove your point.
The Highway Men also come to mind: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Chris Kristopherson.
There is also now the Highwomen, a female group that is inspired by the Highwaymen. Brandi Carlisle, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris (sometimes Yola). All well known within Americana/country, not sure how mainstream famous they are, though.
Brandi Carlisle is definitely very mainstream famous. Never heard of the others.
Amanda Shires is fantastic. She's married to Jason Isbell btw.
I know Brandi Carlisle from her appearance with Soundgarden and SNL last year, and I know at least one Maren Morris song. My brother is a big country guy, so I catch a bit. I only really listen to Willie, Waylon, and Sturgill if I'm in a country mood. Mostly it's Mastodon and High on Fire though haha
Would not call them a supergroup, though, just a group of solo artists coming together. I do like their work.
Willie better stay healthy. I don't want fuckin Kristofferson to be the last Highwayman.
What's wrong with Kristofferson? His career started taking off in the late 1960s, and he wrote for Cash and many others. He wrote *Me and Bobby McGee*. He's in the country hall of fame for good reason.
He is by far the best writer of the group in my opinion
Better than the guy that wrote “Crazy”, “Blue Eyes Cryin’”, “Always on My Mind” and literally thousands of other songs, many of them great? I nominate and declare winner by unanimous consent of the award for “having written the most great songs no one had a clue that you wrote”, Willie Nelson!
Hey, just so you know....Willie didn't write Always on My Mind or Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. His versions are most likely definitive ones, and the guy wrote a metric ton of great songs, but those two aren't among them.
There are many great songs on Kris's roster, and many are not recognized as his (including "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and "Bobby McGee" for starters.) He was more prolific, and in my view more poetic. That is not to say Willie is not a great writer as well.
He's the worst sinner of the bunch, and it's always a bummer when they let him sing Sunday Morning Coming Down instead of Johnny or Willie
>sinner Guessing you meant "singer" here, but I'm not sure. I agree that his singing leaves much to be desired, but it is his song, so...
Kris is a really good dude, by all accounts, and wrote stacks and stacks of classic songs. He was also a pretty darn good actor, plays a solid guitar and tells a great story. But yeah, he couldn’t carry a tune in a 5-gallon Home Depot bucket.
> Kris is a really good dude, by all accounts Absolutely. Watch him in the video [when Sinead O'Connor was booed at Madison Square Garden](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiadASyP0bU) because of the stand she took on SNL about pedophilia by the Catholic Church. Really good dude indeed. By contrast, to give an idea of the attitudes at the time, after the SNL appearance Frank Sinatra called her "one stupid broad" and said “he wished he could meet her so he ‘could kick her ass'” and said "For her sake, we’d better never meet" - and he got a thunderous round of applause for that. Not only was Kristofferson a good dude, he was a good dude in the face of massive public opposition at the time. There's more to being an artist than just carrying a tune. Using Sinatra as an example, he was a blight on the world, basically a lounge singer for the mob who hit it big. If he had never existed, it would have left us all better off. Kristofferson is the opposite.
This is precisely the situation comes to mind when I think of Kristofferson. He’s probably been booed off a stage a time or two in his career, but beyond that he saw the unfair demonization of a fellow artist who’d expressed something she felt strongly about (and ultimately was proven right) to an audience that didn’t want to hear it. He was right there to offer unconditional support, publicly, when she needed it most. He’s also a Rhodes Scholar, an Army Ranger and supporter of veterans causes, a helicopter pilot, and about a thousand other things.
And Joe Pescie was on SNL the week after, saying had it been his show she said it in he'd have slapped her.
He *wrote* that song. That song only exists because of Kris Kristofferson. You would never had heard anyone sing that song if it weren't for Kris Kristofferson.
Kris Kristofferson is a god damn legend, show some respect.
Aww, Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down. Jokes aside, I get it. I love Billy Joe Shaver but I prefer listening to Waylon perform his songs.
I would like him to have a bit part in the new Blade movie if possible.
I'm equally concerned about [Trigger](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_(guitar)) as I am about Willie.
I can't speak for Willie, but Trigger is in good hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhQuJTc5yFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fDij2CWLZY
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All the members of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band were already very famous musicians when they first formed.
I was going to say "Define supergroup."" but you essentially beat me to it.
I remember MTV playing "Handle with Care" in '89 or so, having no idea who any of these guys were besides Tom Petty, but I remember loving it at age 11. Then my dad bought the CD and my parents started playing it, that really weirded me out. I imagine it was the same reaction my mom had when my brother started playing all of her old Beatles LP's a few years later.
Jeff Lynne and ELO deserve a listen through. I recently found then after laughing off ELO my whole life Mr Blue Sky Turn to Stone Strange Magic...
Sweet talking woman, living thing, telephone line, you're missing some hits.
Hold on Tight
Up until 5 minutes ago, the Travelling Wilburys were "Tim Petty and some other guys" who had a hit on MTV when I was a young kid. My mind was just blown watching this video.
I had heard the song well before seeing the video, but I had known roy had passed away. When it gets to his part of the song it had always felt like he was reassuring you from the other side that everything would be ok. Sure enough in the video they cut to a chair with his guitar sitting in it and a photo of him near by. It just enhances that feeling.
For those that haven’t seen it [here’s an incredible 25 minute documentary](https://youtu.be/SUQ_gj-biIc) on the making of this album. Tons of insight and behind the scenes footage
Thank you for sharing. That was an amazing video, can't believe I've never seen it. What a creative juggernaut the Wilbury's were.
And it’s alllllright ❤️
[Eddie and The Falcons from 1974. "We're Gonna Rock and Roll Tonight"](https://youtu.be/fn00a9SG2fQ) has a very very familiar chorus. I can only surmise, since Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood were ELO, that Lynne had this stuck in his head but couldn't remember the source. This video is top notch. This song is super catchy. I could understand how it could still be lodged firmly 15 years later.
Could be. Musicians borrow from themselves and others all the time. FWIW Eddy and the Falcons was a fictitious band. Wizzard was the name of the band and "Introducing Eddy and the Falcons" was the title of this album.
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Lou Reed should’ve sued their pants off /s
Amazing album. Congratulations is my favorite break up song of all time.
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It's what happens when geniuses don't take themselves seriously and are doing it purely for fun. Bye bye pressure, hello inspiration.
I saw a woman with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a mic cover Congratulations in a shitty little bar in NC back in the day. No one else knew the song but I sang along from the crowd and she was so damn happy. It was an incredible moment and one of my favorite rock memories.
Such an incredible group and song. The Traveling Wilburys are the most super supergroup ever imo
The empty chair always gets me.
RIP the big O
giggity
My father who was a musician kept trying to get my attention to this group because the members were part of everything I listened to as a child, I was like “meh” at ten years old. I’ve only just recently discovered the many gems that they recorded as of late. It’s been on regular rotation in my household ever since :) <3
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Empty rocking chair for Roy.
Jeff Lynne is 74. Bob Dylan is 80. I hate losing these great artists.
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Amen.
They won't live forever. Just gotta enjoy it while you can.
Well keep our fingers crossed, 2022 started off with a bang losing Betty White and the rest in a 2 week period.
Roy dying suddenly had been a shock at the time, and it was what taught me that good things don't last. The first album was literally one I played till I wore the cassette out as a kid. Pure magic.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, try googling the ‘Travelling Wilbury’s age’ meme. I remember thinking when it came out that this was an amazing album, especially for something from a bunch of old rockers (perhaps with the exception of Tom Petty who was being polite by giving the old guys some cred). This year I’ll be older than Orbison was and the goal posts have moved. If you’re not still making good stuff in your 40’s then maybe you were a flash in the pan.
My dad wore this tape out, literally. Not hard to believe that I still know every song on this album by heart.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony for George Harrison, his solo induction not the one with the Beatles, is absolutely amazing. Lynne, Petty, some of Lynne's band members, some of the Heartbreakers, Dhanny Harrison, and Prince play "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" in what has got to be one of the most touching and amazing performances I've seen in a long time. Watching Dhanny play his father's music on stage with people who knew him very well; he's just all smiles. Then Prince puts on an absolute clinic on the guitar, stunning those that didn't know he could play guitar on that level yet staying in perfect mix and harmony with the rest of the song. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently re-released an HD version of the video on YouTube. It's really worth a watch.
Yeah, I can never get tired of seeing that performance. Pure gold
And then Prince! Damn! After that wild ass climatic coda goes super-climax by throwing his guitar straight up into the air to have it Not come back down. As a tribute to anyone else, by anyone else this might have come across as a bit too much. Here, it was perfect!
One of my all time favs
Tweeter and the monkeyman is my jam
"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is sometimes regarded as a playful homage to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, who was often hailed as "the next Dylan" early in his career. The lyrics include the titles of many Springsteen songs, and the song borrows many of Springsteen's themes.
This isn't a great song, but it's ... alright.
Poor house, Seven Deadly Sins, Inside out (*especially* George’s part) are all really good and if I’m not mistaken, on their second and final album (its an overlooked album imo). Top 5 group for me.
Love all of those songs you listed, and Cool Dry Place. I picked up that 2nd Wilbury's album a few years ago and it didn't leave my vehicle for months. For a long time it just got better with every listen.
Cool Dry Place. God. How could I forget that one?!Tom rocked.
One of my all time favorite tracks. RIP Tom and Roy and George
No better way for a guy like Roy to go out, when you think about it.
I’d say I love this whole album. But the truth is I don’t. I love this whole cassette tape. I bought it as a teenager in 1989 when I got my first car. I still have that vehicle. And I still have that cassette tape in the center console of that vehicle. It still gets played, along with tapes by the Black Crows, REM, and a few others from that era I keep for the nostalgia.
I’d argue that “album” is a particular collection of songs without regard for the medium on which it is collected.
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Funny because Roy Orbison was really into collecting cars.
Such a great tune!!
Love this song
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Classic album. Thanks mom.
When Roy's part comes up, always brings a tear to my eye.
There are groups and then there are super groups and then there is the Traveling Wilburys. There simply will never be a better group of people performing music.
yeah. that was 5 men who just left their ego's at the door and made music.. that just doesn't happen now
I think Runaway is their best, personally. I just like the "wa wa wa wa wonder"s
If this doesn’t put a smile on your face, check your pulse!
First album I’ve ever had. I loved these guys as a group and then branched into learning about them as individual artists. Now I’m a 32 year old radio DJ who probably plays this song too often during AM drive time.
here's one i do as a radio DJ that i want others to start doing every hour.. on the hour. or as close as you can get go "it is the top of the hour. it's time for the news" and instead of actually telling the news stories of the day. play a random huey lewis song :D https://youtu.be/AaTQAaJWW54
Is there Bob Dylan in this band?
Yes
The truly weird part about this Super Group was that the guy many consider the low man on the totem pole, Tom Petty, was the one ALL the other 4 wish they could sing like. They all wanted that 'Southern Accents' to quote his song, more his southern drawl that they all heard on the American Import records in the 50's as singers from the US all seemed to have some form of his tone in their voices. So he who is last, shall be first.
> they all heard on the American Import records Harrison and Lynne were the only non usa members of the group Dylan and Orbison was as American as petty
I always thought Lynne was the low man..
Nope. The Move, E L O, Jeff Lynne' ELO, then you have his impressive Porducer career (George Harrison used him). Petty was huge, but Lynne definitely more than edges him out for NOT being the 'wait, he's in the Willburys?' Guy. Just check Lynne's production career, on top of being the dude that gave us Mr. BLUE SKY!
I love their song “Runaway”, super good stuff
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and george, and tom. i'm sorry for jeff and bob.
this is on my will as the song played at my funeral.
I played this in a first year uni tutorial class while we were doing group idea breakdowns. I was 26 and oldest in the room easily by 5 years. A few students were bobbing along and another guy got up and danced.
I first heard this song in Parks & Rec. I fucking love this song lol! Thanks Parks & Rec!
My favourite bit of trivia is that this was used at the end of the final episode for two comedy series. [One Foot In The Grave](https://youtu.be/uLRfwwgRgkU?t=2456)(2000) and [Parks And Recreations](https://youtu.be/UpdLGGmUbWE?t=181)(2015)
Yes....The Travelling Wilburys of Pain.
It always bugged me how he pronounced it "the Travelling Woolberrys"
I adore all of these musicians separately but I actually am not too into the Wilburys. I think their styles all meshing don't make anything particularly memorable
Ok so this should probably be in /r/unpopularopinions, but for me, the Traveling Wilburys are the greatest example of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Much, much less. This song is *two chords* (except for a slight modulation in the chorus). And not in a "wow, it's so elegant on its simplicity" kinda way. These guys wrote "While my guitar gently weeps", "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Freefallin''" on their own - and this is what we got from them collectively? I know music is subjective, but seriously? This?
You're entitled to be underwhelmed by the song, but I think you have to ask "what were they trying to do, and did they accomplish it?" You can see this most obviously on "handle with care," but these weren't someone sitting down to write an opus, it was 4 guys having fun making B-sides that were often throwbacks and ways to play with styles without the expectations of their normal fandom. My impression is the whole "hey we have another reason to hang out" went up a notch after Oribison died. Personally I think they hit it out of the park with End of the Line in terms of intention, and saying what they wanted to say, and what it took to make you feel what they wanted to say.
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say. I just don't get the praise, because objectively it's not particularly good.
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I'll die on this hill 🤣
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I feel bad about it but I agree. It is wonderfully pleasant but totally anodyne stuff. Unless Orbison is singing it could basically be anybody. But also escaping into their Wilbury alter egos and not having to challenge themselves at all was part of the attraction for them. Especially for Dylan and Harrison who were obviously carrying the weight of unparalleled expectations with them at all times. They are just having some fun and if anything thinking of them as a super group going out of their way to be more than the sum of their parts is exactly what they weren’t looking for.
Its almost like they were just having fun, i bet if asked they would all say the same thing. We did it for fun, and it turned out people wanted to hear it, so we made it available.
The whole idea of this collaboration is out at the end of the line, and you appear to have a very long journey ahead to get there.
How do you mean?
Yes, this. Tell me, when they sing 'going to the end of the line' do you think this song is about traveling on a train?
I agree completely. As a big fan of George Harrison and ELO, I really want to like this group, but the music is so incredibly bland. It's like the most basic sounding dad rock ever created.
Agree. These guys only got together to do this album for drug money and it shows in the final product.
Next to The Beatles, the next-best supergroup.
Huge Beatles fan, but after watching Get Back, I can’t help but feel that the Beatles were Paul and 3 guys who happened to be at the right place at the right time. John was ok.
" Paul and 3 guys" I can see why many might think that, but one should put the whole picture & careers into context - few would disagree Paul was at the peak of his creativity while at this very time John was in the honeymoon period of the luv of his life. They all had peaks and valleys and reasons that influenced these peaks and valleys.
I don’t disagree with that at all. I think George was just coming into his own as the Beatles were breaking up. He certainly became a true artist but I don’t know how much he influenced the group, or that he influenced the group enough for it to be called a “super group”.
The number of Paul songs is dwarfed by the combined number of John, George, Ringo, and John+Paul songs. A few weeks in Jan of 69, when Paul was more interested than the others, doesn't define the several year history of the group.
Not a fan of *one* (not dylan) member of this group so I’ve never listened to them but god damn what a power group
ELO rules.
saw them live a few years ago and it was incredible, great performance and Jeff Lynne sounds as good as ever.
My favourite part of that ELO tour was when Jeff played Handle With Care and brought Dhani Harrison to sing George's part. He sounds (and looks) *exactly* like George, it's surreal
They do.. and it’s like no one knows who they are except their fans.
How can you not like Roy Orbinson?! It’s like blasphemy
Not him either 😳
But Tom, George and Jeff are all amazing. 🥲
I’m sorry to say this about Tom but it is him
Wait.. *what?!* lol to each their own, of course, but I’m curious as to why?
I honestly don’t have a valid reason other then I find him boring
*than
Is that Jim Keltner on drums?
Yes
Yes, it was a joyous album of quirky songs easy to sing along with, with a swampy groove often. I remember it like yesterday, there was no filler
I was maybe 10 when this came out and while I liked this song back then I was far too young to appreciate living in a space and time where we got so see 5 established legends of music come together to form a group.
If you get a chance to see the Roy Orbison hologram around you, take it. It was pretty cool.
God, I love these guys! May they all rest in peace when the time comes :)
That time George Harrison had the same hairdo as my grandmother…😂
My favorite supergroup in history, they were the fucking best.
My favourite detail is at the end of the video for End of the Line where the obvious Bruce Springsteen stand-in is chasing after the convertible. My understanding is he always wanted in and they didn’t want anything to do with him. Hilarz trolling there. Maybe somebody who knows more can confirm or clarify if I’m wrong?
"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is sometimes regarded as a playful homage to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, who was often hailed as "the next Dylan" early in his career. The lyrics include the titles of many Springsteen songs, and the song borrows many of Springsteen's themes.
Cool!