We won't bury 'em, anyway!*

The Traveling Wilburys, 1988. 

L–R: Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne,

Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty.

I may be 20 years a bit too late but as they say, it is better late than never! Thanks to eBay and the professional packing from the seller from Deutschland, I received my crisp untouched and uncluttered CDs (+1DVD) in the mail. Even though their second and last album was out 20 years ago, only now I had the sheer pleasure (and pleasure without of guilt of being spendthrift) of listening to this group which is said to be a congregation of the greatest in rock and roll - 'The Travelling Wilburys'. It is a collection of happy and fun filled melodies of men who have passed their prime but still have something to offer. And offer they did with lots of energy while enjoying it as they did as I can see from the music videos on the DVD.

We all know George Harrison who needs no introduction; Roy Orbison, the toupeed aphakic rocker, is supposed to be a legend but I only know his 'Pretty Woman' song, but his lullaby-like hypnotising sing-song (the pun intended) voice is nice. Bob Dylan, the high school dropout who recently was honoured with an honorary doctorate, who made headlines and was a hit in the flower power era with political statements in his folk song inspired songs like 'The times are a-changing' joined in as well. Dylan, the croaky-voiced hirsute singer (or rather talk-sings) - in the same vein as Johnny Cash and Mark Knoffler, the PhD in History doctorate from the group 'Dire Straits' - joins the spectacle. The blonde baby-faced Tom Petty of the 'Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' is supposed to be a pretty famous rocker. Jef Lynne had worked with Harrison during his solo career and Bangladesh Aid tour. The drummer, Jim Keltner, with an impressive CV to make any drummer go green with envy having played for many musical icons from the 70s onward was roped in.

On a personal note, if a tone-deaf musical illiterate like me may be allowed to comment, is that these guys had a fantastic time writing and playing the songs as they did. In the first album, the vocal chemistry is pretty good with an excellent display of strumming acoustic guitar with thought-provoking profound lyrics to match. 4 of their 13 songs from this album turned out to be classics, I think - 'Handle with care', 'Last night', 'Tweeter and the monkey man', 'End of the line'. It also earned them a Grammy in 1989.Orbinson passed on after the first album.

The second album, intentionally labelled Volume 3 lacked the zest of its predecessor. 'She's my lady', 'Inside out' (Global pollution)and 'Wilbury Twist' (silly comical song) is exciting but sadly after listening to the second album, I came off thinking that they sound like a bunch of over the top men trying to look cute and act cool but failing miserably. How sad! Excellent for easy Sunday evening listening when you are in a pensive mood!

*Travelling Wilburys, the origin; "We'll bury 'em (in the mix)" Jef used to say when there was an error in recording of their songs. This phrase evolved to be Wilbury. They thankfully did not name themselves as 'Trembling Wilburys' as they initially did. The concept of 'Travelling Wilburys' is like a concept of travelling music men or Snake-Oil peddlers who used to entertain small towns in the Wild West!

To sample more of their songs, try this!