David Wild, Rolling Stone,
issue 540
This is the best record of its kind ever made. Then
again, it's also the only record of its kind ever made. A low-key
masterpiece, Volume One marks the auspicious debut of the Traveling
Wilburys – Lucky Wilbury (a.k.a. Bob Dylan), Nelson Wilbury (George
Harrison), Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison), Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne) and
Charlie T. Jr. (Tom Petty) – one of the few rock supergroups actually
deserving to be called either super or a group.
With tongue placed firmly in cheek, the author of the album's liner notes
(which are credited to Hugh Jampton, E.F. Norti-Bitz Reader in Applied
Jacket, Faculty of Sleeve Notes, University of Krakatoa, East of Java, but
sound suspiciously like Michael Palin, who is thanked elsewhere in the
notes) explains the band's origins thusly: "The original Wilburys were a
stationary people who, realizing that their civilization could not stand
still for ever, began to go for short walks – not the 'traveling' as we
now know it, but certainly as far as the corner and back."
In reality, this record came out of a dinner conversation in Los Angeles
this spring between Petty, Orbison, Lynne and Harrison. (Former ELO leader
Lynne, who was behind the boards for Harrison's comeback album, Cloud
Nine, was producing tracks for upcoming albums by both Orbison and Petty.)
Harrison mentioned that he needed to record a new song for the B side of a
European single and suggested they all pitch in and cut a number together.
Harrison also suggested having Bob Dylan join in, and the next day they
all wrote and recorded "Handle with Care" (now the album's first single).
When Harrison played the track for Warner Bros., both the company and the
group realized it was too good for a throwaway track and decided the
Wilburys should keep recording.
And it's a good thing they did, because for all its off-the-cuff sense of
fun, Volume One is an unexpected treat that leaves one hungry for Volume
Two. Produced by Harrison and Lynne, the album has a wonderfully warm
sound that is both high-tech and rootsy. Recorded at the home studios of
Harrison, Dylan and Wilbury family friend Dave Stewart, Volume One has
little in common with most recorded "supersessions," which tend to be less
than the sum of their parts; rather, it recalls the inspired mix-and-match
musical fellowship found in the best moments of the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame jam sessions.
Coming on the heels of Cloud Nine, Volume One is further proof of
Harrison's complete return to form. Throughout, Harrison not only sounds
great, he also sounds happy, thrilled to be playing once again with a
witty, wonderful band – albeit one with a rather unorthodox lineup: five
lead-singing rhythm guitarists. (The Wilburys' fellow travelers on Volume
One include Jim Keltner on drums, Jim Horn on saxophone, Ray Cooper on
percussion and Ian Wallace on tom-toms.)
But Harrison isn't the only rock great who seems revived on Volume One.
Never one for overdoing things in the studio, Bob Dylan is well matched to
the Wilburys' informal, fast-paced schedule – they wrote and recorded a
song a day. And as on his recent stripped-down tour, Dylan sounds
extraordinary, singing with the expert phrasing and wit of his best work.
(Unsurprisingly, his tracks sound less collaborative than the others.) On
"Dirty World" and "Congratulations," his voice is loose and relaxed, free
of the mannered whining that has marred some of his recent recorded work.
Best of all is "Tweeter and the Monkey Man," a convincing little rocker
that playfully parodies Bruce Springsteen's lyrics. Littered with
references to stolen cars, mansions on the hill, Jersey lines and a
certain Thunder Road, the song comes off as Dylan's wonderfully bitchy way
of asserting who's really the Boss.
Totally boss is the best way to describe two other Wilbury gems, "Not
Alone Any More" and the closing "End of the Line." The former is a
gorgeous pop ballad on which Roy Orbison – assisted by some wonderful
backing vocals from Harrison and Lynne – hurts as good as he ever has. It
proves that Orbison has lost none of his tremendous vocal prowess, and
makes one eager to hear Orbison's upcoming solo album. "End of the Line" –
which features vocal turns by all the Wilburys save Dylan – is a movingly
upbeat ride-off-into-the-sunset song for these middle-aged rock & roll
cowboys: "Maybe somewhere down the road a ways/You'll think of me and
wonder where I am these days/Maybe down the road when somebody
plays/'Purple Haze.'"
Petty acquits himself well on "End of the Line" and "Last Night"; he and
Orbison share lead on the latter song, a shuffling tale of good love gone
bad. Jeff Lynne shines a little of his own electric light on "Rattled," a
romantic, retro-sounding rockabilly number reminiscent of some of the
tracks he produced for Dave Edmunds a few years back.
According to Wilbury legend, all the Traveling Wilburys have different
mothers but the same father. Yet none of the Wilburys knows the current
whereabouts of Charlie T. Wilbury Sr. Chances are, though, that wherever
the big guy is, he's proud.
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