Maps of Music

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988)

Where the lyrics of Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 take you, and where it was really made.

The album began as a B-side. Harrison needed a B-side for a single, and the song was considered too good for that role, so a full album followed.

Key places

Harrison's home studio (1988)

Recording site F.P.S.H.O.T. — Overdubs and mixing for the album were carried out at Harrison's home studio, FPSHOT, in Henley-on-Thames, England. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Lucky Studios, Malibu (1988)

Recording site Bob Dylan's garage studio (Malibu) — Discogs lists Lucky Studios among the studios where the album was recorded. The point is placed at Malibu city centre, not at the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1: debut studio album by the English-American supergroup Traveling Wilburys
• Members: George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty
• Released October 1988 to commercial success and critical acclaim
• The project came about through happenstance, not as a planned band
• The only Wilburys album to feature Roy Orbison
• Orbison died suddenly of a heart attack less than two months after release
• The group continued as a four-piece after his death

Background

• Early April 1988: Harrison was in Los Angeles and needed a B-side for a European 12-inch single
• Lynne was in Los Angeles producing tracks for Orbison's Mystery Girl and Petty's Full Moon Fever
• Over dinner with Lynne and Orbison, Harrison asked for help; Orbison offered his hand as well
• Harrison picked up a guitar at Petty's house and invited Petty along
• Dylan agreed to lend his garage studio, and the group gathered at his Malibu home
• The song "Handle with Care" was too good for a B-side, so Harrison decided to form a band and record nine more songs
• Harrison had a history of alternate identities, including pseudonyms as a session musician

Recording

• The group got together for nine days in May 1988 to record basic tracks and vocals at Dave Stewart's home studio in Los Angeles
• Overdubs and mixing were carried out in England at Harrison's home studio, FPSHOT, in Henley-on-Thames
• Lynne and Harrison produced the album under the names Otis and Nelson Wilbury
• Members used Wilbury brothers aliases, and their real names appear nowhere on the album, liner notes, or songwriting credits

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles in 1988 as a British-American supergroup of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.
• Came together in April 1988 when Harrison recorded the bonus track "Handle with Care" for a European single.
• The label deemed the track too good for a B-side, so the group agreed to record a full album.
• The name "Wilbury" originated in the Cloud Nine sessions as a joke about recording errors.

Members

• Each member used a pseudonym as a half-brother from the fictional Wilbury family of travelling musicians.
• Vol. 1 credits: Nelson (Harrison), Otis (Lynne), Lefty (Orbison), Charlie T. Jr. (Petty), Lucky (Dylan).
• Vol. 3 credits: Spike (Harrison), Clayton (Lynne), Muddy (Petty), Boo (Dylan).
• Session drummer Jim Keltner was nicknamed "Buster Sidebury".

Career

• Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 was released in October 1988 and was a critical and commercial success.
• The album won the 1990 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.
• Orbison died in December 1988; the group continued as a quartet.
• Vol. 3 was released in October 1990 and met with less success.
• The group became dormant after 1991 and never officially reunited.
• The Traveling Wilburys Collection box set was reissued in 2007.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released in the US in October 1988, it became a surprise commercial success
• Most critics said the group's modest ambitions were fresh and relaxing
• The album helped revitalise the careers of Dylan and Petty
• As one critic put it, it was "one of the great commercial coups of the decade"
• Colin Larkin's The Encyclopedia of Popular Music calls the Traveling Wilburys "the last of the great supergroups"

Reappraisal

• During 1989 and 1990 the album won many accolades
• It received a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group
• It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1990 Grammy Awards, which was won by Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time
• Larkin calls the record the marvellous swan song for Roy Orbison

Records

• US: released 18 October 1988, reached number 3 and sold 2 million copies within six months
• UK: reached number 16
• Over 50 weeks on the US charts
• Certified triple platinum by the RIAA
• The single "Handle with Care" peaked at number 21 in the UK and number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100
• The box set The Traveling Wilburys Collection debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart in 2007

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The original plan was a B-side, but "Handle with Care" was too good for that, so the band made a full album.
• The participants' real names do not appear anywhere on the album, liner notes, or the songwriting credits.
• During the Beatles' first tour of Scotland in 1960, Harrison used the pseudonym "Carl Harrison", a nod to Carl Perkins.
• Lynne and Harrison credited themselves as the producers Otis Wilbury and Nelson Wilbury.
• Releases are linked to Harrison's Warner Bros. deal, which later ended in 1995 and returned the catalogue to Harrison.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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