Listen Up: Traveling Wilburys on the road again
Review by Forrest White
Charleston News and Courier - November 25, 1990
TRAVELING WILBURYS, "Traveling Wilburys, Vol 3," Warner Brothers. ★★ ½
It isn't hard to imagine sedentary Traveling Wilburys when you listen to their music.
Just close your eyes and you can almost see Spike (George Harrison), Muddy (Tom Petty), Clayton (Jeff Lynne) and Boo (Bob Dylan) decked out in overalls, tapping their feet and having a rockabilly good time while jamming on the front porch of a shack somewhere.
Faced with following up their spirited debut minus Lefty -- the late Roy Orbison -- the Wilburys put together Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (Lord knows what happened to Vol. 2), a solid 11-song collection, albeit one that doesn't match the first.
Should that surprise us? No.
Gone are Orbison's tenor tremblings. They are missed. And that surprise element of having five superstars come together so freely for such a roaring good time naturally fades the second time around.
But Lefty Wilbury would be proud of the boys he left behind. Listen to songs like "Poor House," "She's My Baby," "7 Deadly Sins" and "Inside Out" and you'll be tapping right along. You may even find yourself doing the "Wilbury Twist." (Instructions are enclosed.)
The Wilburys changed their names between Vol. 1 and Vol. 3. Fortunately for their fans, the sound remains the same.