Record Roundup...Traveling Wilburys
By Andrew Mathis
The Villanovan - November 18, 1988
Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 | Traveling Wilburys | Wilbury Records | ★★★ ½
To most people, the Traveling Wilburys are not going to sound very familiar. However, upon closer inspection, particularly to their voices and pictures on the album cover, listeners will find that they are all too familiar with them.
In actuality, the Traveling Wilburys are Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne (formerly of ELO), Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and ex-Beatle George Harrison, practicing under the aliases of Charlie T. Jr., Otis, Lucky, Lefty and Nelson Wilbury, respectively.
The Wilburys' first collaboration is loaded with good stuff. The music is a very pleasant combination of acoustic and electric guitar playing, backed by Jim Keltner (drums), Jim Horn (saxophone) and Ray Cooper (percussion). The style is typically rhythm and blues and predominantly upbeat.
True genius shines through
By Theodore Chan
The Straits Times - November 20, 1988
True genius is recognisable under any name or form.
Despite the disguise -- dark eyeshades, pseudonyms and even more pseudo album sleeve notes -- the brilliance of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison and Roy Orbison shine through with legendary dazzle in their combined first effort Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (Wilbury Records 1988). It is a masterpiece collection of pure-trade early rock 'n roll styled tunes (rock-a-billy to some) distilled through some 25 years of experience of these legendary greats. This is the stuff that made rock music what it is today.
All of the 10 tracks exhibit simple genius -- music that is easily savoured with just one listening and grows o n you. It is great fun trying to analyse the individual influences present -- a Lynne-Petty melody would be rendered with Orbison-Dylan vocals accompanied by Harrison guitars, as in the hit single Handle With Care.
Treat yourself also to moments when each legend takes the limelight while the rest provide subtle but potent backgrounds. Not Alone Anymore is outstandingly Orbison and Tweeter and The Monkey Man is delightfully Dylan.
Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 is a landmark commitment to the propagation of rock 'n roll. One can almost sense the need for the inclusion of Carl Perkins and Eric Clapton should there be a Vol. 2. Then we would see a constellation of stars like never before.
The Sound Page: Have Wilbury, will travel
By Saw Tek Meng
New Straits Times - Sunday, November 27, 1988
THE TRAVELING WILBURYS -- Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 (WB): Though this is their debut reordings, the Wilburys have been responsible for some of the most vital albums of the past 25 years either singly or with others. Who are they?
To any self-respecting rock fan, the cover is a dead giveaway. Though the credits list their names as Lucky, Otis, Charlie T. Jnr, Lefty, and Nelson, their faces reveal them to be Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and George Harrison.
Some supergroups have failed to live up to the promise of the talents involved but this is happily not the case with the Wilburys. The album is truly enjoyable, with the keynote being fun.
Reviews: Volume One - Traveling Wilburys
Review by Tim Smith
Canton Observer - Monday, November 28, 1988
The legendary members of this band have never exactly been known for making music for the sheer fun of it. But that's what the Wilbury brothers - Otis, Nelson, Lucky, Lefty and Charlie T. Jr - have done on this 10-song set.
Otherwise known as Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, these guys shed their heavy-hearted images to come together for some well-crafted, happy-go-lucky music on "Volume One."
About the only disappointment is that the distinctly different superstar musicians did not exactly bang out some hard-driving material. Instead, they opted for harmonies, acoustic guitars and devil-may-care lyrics.
That doesn't mean "Volume One" isn't a ball.
"Oooh, babe, the pleasure'd be all mine, if you'll let me drive your pickup truck, and park it where the sun don't shine," sings Dylan, er ... Lucky, on tongue-in-cheek "Dirty World."
On "Margarita," Petty (Charlie T. Jr.) croons that "it was in Pittsburgh, late one night/lost my head, got into a fight/rolled and tumbled, 'til I saw the light/went to the Big Apple -- took a bite."
"Nelson" Harrison is featured vocally on the hit single, "Handle With Care," and "Heading For The Light," two tasty mid-tempo songs that could have been leftovers from his "Cloud Nine" sessions. By the way, Harrison and (Otis) Lynne co-produced both that LP and the Wilbury collaboration.
Sundate: Geezers At Play
By John Rockwell
New Straits Times - Sunday, December 4, 1988
Old rock and rollers don't die, they just make comebacks. And that's what Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (remember 'em?) have done. Then there's a team-up of equally ancient, supposedly anonymous all-stars called The Traveling Wilburys. John Rockwell checks out their albums.
The two records under consideration here might be lumped together under the title Geezers At Play, except that one (the far better one) sounds like playful geezers and the other like geezers hard at work to recapture something long lost.
In other words, the first studio album in 18 years by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, American Dream, and a set by a newly assembled, loose confederation of five equally ancient, supposedly anonymous all-stars called The Traveling Wilburys are both examples of veteran rock stars uniting or reuniting.
But while American Dream is not the embarrassment that the group's detractors gleefully anticipated, it's nowhere near as good as the Wilburys effort. Which, in turn, suggests that relaxed spontaneity is a better source of high-spirited vernacular music than guarded reconciliation, especially if the reconciliation is tinged with commercial calculation.
The 1960s saw the advent of the so-called supergroup, of which first Crosby, Stills, and Nash and then, with the addition of Neil Young, this foursome was a prime example.
Traveling Wilburys emergence clouded by Roy Orbison's death
By Rich Drees
The Keystone - December 9, 1988
The fictitious rock group has been a recurrent phenomena ever since the Beatles first pioneered the idea with the "Sgt. Pepper" album. More recent examples include The Blues Brothers, Spinal Tap, and Bruce Willis' forgettable Bruno Ratlinni. Now we have another group to add to the list: the Traveling Wilburys.
Who are the Traveling Wilburys you ask. Well, according to the liner notes to their album, the Wilburys are a part of "a remarkable, sophisticated musical culture." They are all brother; Charlie T. Jr., Otis, Lucky, Lefty, and Nelson.
In reality, the group consists of musical heavyweights George Harrison (Nelson), Bob Dylan (Lucky), Jeff Lynne (Otis), Tom Petty (Charlie T. Jr.) and Roy Orbison (Lefty.)
The group got started last spring when both Roy Orbison and Tom Petty were over at Jeff Lynne's house in LA. They were both working on albums which Lynne was producing. George Harrison, a mutual friend, dropped by for dinner one night and happened to mention he needed an additional track for a European EP he was working on. The others agreed to help out. George Harrison then suggested that they go over to Bob's house the next day to work on it.
"I didn't know who Bob was," says Roy Orbison. "It turned out to be Bob Dylan."
Wilburys are one happy accident
By David Bauder
Lawrence Journal-World - December 11, 1988
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The true legend of the Traveling Wilburys began when George Har...,er, Nelson Wilbury needed to record an extra song at short notice and invited two of his dinner companions to lend their voices.
Nine days and 10 songs later, the result was one of those happy accidents that proves there's more to the music business than accountants and estates.
You won't find the names George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne on "Volume One," the debut album by the oddly-named Traveling Wilburys. But the dark glasses and pseudonyms can't hide those familiar talents. In an unfortunate turn, Orbison died at the age of 52 on Tuesday of a heart attack.
'Tremendous fan' Petty recalls Orbison's talent
Spokane Chronicle - December 14, 1988
Rock superstar Tom Petty confesses he felt like just another weak-kneed fan when he met music legend Roy Orbison a year ago.
"I was always a tremendous fan of his," Petty said of Orbison, who died of a heart attack at age 52 last week in Hendersonville, Tenn. "You're always nervous when you meet someone like that."
The singer and guitarist, known for songs such as "Refugee" and "Don't Come Around Here No More," was among those who attended a memorial gathering Tuesday night in Los Angeles planned by Orbison's widow, Barbara.
Petty and Orbison, with Bob Dylan, ex-Beatle George Harrison and Electric Light Orchestra alumni Jeff Lynne, made up the Traveling Wilburys, whose album of the same name was in the top 10 when Orbison died.
"It was just a thrill. We were all in awe of Roy, and we told him so every 10 minutes," Petty said. "That's the one thing I feel great about, that we loved him and hugged him all the time."
Triple Play: The Traveling Wilburys
Review by PJV
Wilton Bulletin - December 14, 1988
Volume One | The Traveling Wilburys | ★★★★
When Roy Orbison died last week, he went out in style.
On this album by the spontaneous supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, Roy Orbison showed his voice was as powerful as ever. When the album's focus turns to Roy, he evokes his typical despair over heartache and loneliness. As he sings on Not Alone Any More, "It hurts like never before." This is vintage Orbison and it's something more. Here, more than on their solo recordings, Orbison and his cohorts show their audience a homey warmth, in a relaxed, off-the-cuff style of humor.
And what a group of cohorts this is: Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne (the former leader of the orchestral-pop band ELO). It's an unorthodox supergroup -- live lead guitarists -- but it works. They share the burden of the billing and the songwriting so well and evenly, they are relaxed enough to have fun and get rootsy.
Not that Roy Orbison needs to find his roots. He was one of rock 'n' roll's pioneers and a fine balladeer -- perhaps rock's greatest. He scored early on with rockers like Ooby Dooby and Rock House, then hit his stride with ballads including Only the Lonely and Cryin'. The range of his quavering-yet-clear tenor was amazing.