Getting the Band Back Together – “The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1”

Rock songs can often be categorised into specific types: the I’ve-met-the-girl-of-my-dreams-song, the classic heartbreak song, the upbeat let-me-tell-you-a-story-song, the she’s-a-nice-girl-but-will-never-notice-me-song, … the list goes on and on, usually circling around either the concept of love, lost or found or the urgent desire of telling a story; stories of unbelievable nights or stories of runaways and misfits, dancing in the night.

When Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne teamed up in 1988 as The Traveling Wilburys, every music critic must have lost their mind. The concept of the musical super group was not new, originating in the 1960s with Cream being its most prominent example (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker). The danger with the supergroup is the clashing of egos and styles – three to five hugely talented and stylistically distinct musicians, usually male, facing the challenge of not only making a coherent album, but of playing together as a band, as a team. Whereas this might be the breaking point for other combinations, it is exactly this creation of a collaborative effort that makes The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 such a great record.

Reason number 1: it has all those different categories of rock songs – the heartbreak, the falling in love, the ‘let me tell you a crazy story’, the unrequited love, the ballad of misfits and outlaws – any good rock record needs; it’s all there. Reason number 2: there is a perfect blend of the artists’ individual styles and a real collaborative coherence, mixing recognisable timbres and voices with an overall consistent tone and colour. Reason number 3: they are playing together. Not just as soloists with a backup chorus, but as a group switching parts and supporting each other, bringing the strengths of each individual member to the front (Orbison’s vocals on the unrequited love ballad, Dylan’s harmonica moments, Harrison on the more upbeat, almost pop like rock singles).

The first track, Handle with Care, perfectly captures this blend – highlighting the strengths of the individual performers in the way that supports the creation of a group. Just listen to the distribution of the lyrics, the verses mostly carried by Harrison, his voice perfectly melting into the folk rock inspired flair, beautifully smooth and charismatic. Putting Orbison in charge of that one bridge melody (I’m so tired of being lonely / I still have some love to give / won’t you show me / that you really care), is a match made in heaven – no better voice to put in charge of the song’s emotional centre as his velvety vocals elevate the simplicity of the lyrics into heartfelt honesty. And then Dylan, already musically introduced by the addition of a harmonica, finishes the narrative of the song, taking the lead in the more country heavy chorus section.

Multiple rock flavours come together on one record, like a spectrum of the classic musical toolbox, a palette that reaches from country to pop, from rock ‘n roll to trop rock. Rattled, a Lynne-led country rock tune, is the first instalment of an upbeat dance invitation, reminiscent of the rock ‘n roll era with its emphasis on drum shuffles and distinct separation of voice and guitar lines, a constant back and forth between the two. So when the following track, Last Night, drops the drum shuffle for congas and blaring saxophone solos, the group’s greatest asset could not be more obviously revealed: it’s a song bursting with such joy and energy, an ode to the jam session and the pleasure of making music collaboratively and collectively. A song about the romantic pleasures of last night that could equally well describe the elation of making music just for the fun of it.

But this record is more than simply fun. What is audible on The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 is a passion and love for music – not just for one’s own, but for that of the other group members. How must it have been for the rest of the group to listen to Roy Orbison record Not Alone Any More, one of the most tender and beautifully sad ballads ever crafted. Lyrics of a lost chance, comforting someone in the hope of a romantic future, a future that slips through the singer’s fingers. I’ll see you trough the rain / Through the heartache and the pain / It hurts like never before / You’re not alone anymore. Simple and sweet in lyrical terms but masterful when performed by a voice such as Orbison’s. Breathing life into the classic melody, heightening the background sha-la-las of the others to new emotional power, and reaching the climax with such a painful and heartbreaking vibrato.

Heading for the Light proves Harrison’s status as a master songwriter on the cusp between rock and pop, carrying the entire track forward towards the sun, its rays breaking through the thick layer of heartbreak and pain installed by the two previous songs (Not Alone Any More and Congratulations). The full brassiness of Jim Horn’s saxophone paired with the relentlessly driving drum set of Ray Cooper and the ever-building intensity of the background vocals: it feels like a true George Harrison tune, but never out of place on this record. And at last, after all the love-centred rock singles, the explorations of heartbreak and falling head-over-heels for the girl of your dreams, the Traveling Wilburys tackle the blues ballad with Tweeter and the Monkey Man. Americana style instrumentation carries the story about two drug dealers, their nemesis, the undercover cop, and his sister Jan. Not only is it a song magnificently obsessed with its storytelling, its a song that gives absolute precedence to the lyrics and Dylan’s voice finds the words it was made to sing. A musical and lyrical perfection that is matched only by the full-bodied chorus sections, the cascading of the piano mirroring sonically as the walls came down / all the way to hell.

I have saved The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 to my personal music library. It is a sublime example of musical collaboration, a project that not only exudes musical talent and craft but more so captures the joy and playfulness of collaborative creation. It is an album that takes all its members’ best assets and makes them heighten each other, forming the true definition of a musical supergroup. When they all sing together on End of the Line, well, it’s all right / even if you’re old and grey / well, it’s all right / you still got something to say, you can’t help but to imagine these five wonderful musicians together in a studio, unable to believe their luck of making music together. That is what you hear, that is what stays.

Recently, I’ve been obsessed with Roy Orbison anyways, so here’s some more: The Essential Roy Orbison – Roy Orbison