The Traveling Wilburys - The Traveling Wilburys Volume One

The Traveling Wilburys Volume One is the debut studio album by British-American supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, originally released in October 1988 via Wilbury Records and Warner Bros. Records.

“Super Groups” were commonplace during the seventies and eighties, often causing much hype which was rarely surpassed by the music itself. But in the case of the Traveling Wilburys, by far the most “super” of any super group, the resulting music was downright brilliant.

The Traveling Wilburys are:

• Nelson Wilbury (George Harrison) - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, backing vocals
• Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne) - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
• Charlie T. Wilbury Jr (Tom Petty) - vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison) - vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica on "Handle With Care", backing vocals (except on "Tweeter And The Monkey Man")
• Lucky Wilbury (Bob Dylan) - vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, backing vocals

Their debut Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 displays an incredible array of three decades of pop and rock elements wrapped in concise tunes penned and performed by some of the biggest legends in the business.

The group and album were not initially planned and came together through a serendipitous series of coincidences they were a group of friends that fell together easily, almost effortlessly, to record a B-side for a single for George Harrison, then had such a good time they stuck around to record a full album, which became a hit upon its 1988 release.

The album was proudly not a major statement, it's loose and funny, even goofy. It's clearly a lark, which makes the offhanded, casual virtuosity of some of the songs all the more affecting, particularly the two big hits, which are sunny and warm, partially because they wryly acknowledge the mileage on these rock & roll veterans.

"Handle With Care" and "End Of The Line" are the two masterworks here. Roy Orbison's showcase, "Not Alone Anymore" comes close in the stature, but its stylised melodrama is a ringer here: it, along with Dylan's offhand heartbreak tune "Congratulations", is the only slow thing here, and the rest of the album just overspills with good vibes, whether it's Tom Petty's lite reggae of "Last Night", Jeff Lynne's excellent Jerry Lee Lewis update "Rattled", or Dylan's very funny "Dirty World", which is only slightly overshadowed by his very, very funny Springsteen swipe "Tweeter And The Monkey Man".

These high times keep The Traveling Wilburys fresh and fun years later.

This album is a 2022 repress on 180 gram black vinyl with a printed inner sleeve, pressed in Europe via Wibury Records.