Traveling Wilburys CDs reissued with care

aNiMaL

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/11/music.wilburys.reut/index.html

Traveling Wilburys CDs reissued with care
POSTED: 10:21 a.m. EDT, June 11, 2007

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- It was a rock album conceived by accident that no one knew would succeed, even though it was made by Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty.

And it was a rock album that disappeared, along with its successor, for a decade despite the fame it achieved.

Now the two volumes of "The Traveling Wilburys" are being reissued thanks to efforts made by Harrison's widow Olivia, bringing back to public notice what had started as a kind of fantasy camp for rock stars.

Old friends Harrison, Dylan, Orbison, Petty and Lynne bumped into each other in Los Angeles two decades ago, and ended up in a home recording studio where they sat around a microphone singing and playing guitar.

Over late-night beers and joints, they dubbed themselves the Traveling Wilburys and released the fruits of their labors on a 1988 album titled "Traveling Wilburys Volume 1."

It was a worldwide smash, yielding two hit singles, "Handle with Care" and "End of the Line," and a Grammy. The Wilburys had such a blast that they got together -- without Orbison, who died a few weeks after the release of the first album -- for a 1990 follow-up, jokingly titled "Volume 3."

"It was terrific fun," Petty said in a recent interview. "It's just hard to describe how much much fun it was. No laboring over it."

Both discs have been out of print for a decade, a situation that will be remedied next week when they return to shelves through archival label Rhino Records, accompanied by a new DVD documentary, bonus tracks and other goodies.

The reissue program was overseen by Olivia Harrison, whose husband was the chief Wilbury -- more by default than design.

The friends had originally convened to record a B-side for Harrison, and he realized it would be a crime to consign the tune, "Handle with Care," to obscurity. So why not record an album's worth? Harrison took care of all the business and produced the recordings with Lynne.

It was a pleasant contrast to his days in the Beatles, when his contributions were often overshadowed by the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Not that he ever pulled rank on his fellow Wilburys.

Harrison considered that his main job was "to protect their friendship," Olivia Harrison said in a telephone interview from the couple's home in England. "He liked to collaborate," she added. "He had a lot of years solo, and he didn't always enjoy that."

The songwriting was a true partnership, with everyone trading lines and shouting out chords. All the members were credited on each song, although the copyrights on the first album were allocated -- not always correctly -- to the member with the most input.

With all the members often busy with other projects -- Dylan was recording his album "Under the Red Sky" in the mornings and the Wilburys' "Volume 3" in the afternoons -- they never got around to touring. But they enthusiastically hatched some bold plans.

Lynne said Harrison wanted to hire an aircraft carrier and play in various exotic locales. They could paint a different corporate sponsor's name on the side every day and call it the Sponsor Ship.

But then, he recalled, everybody would sober up.

aNiMaL

For all the Wilbury fans here, this is TERRIFIC news!!!!!

aNiMaL

Bump!!!!

Steve Dunne

I see you here Animal - thanks for the update!!! Big fan of those cds...

pjfan020

that's awesome, because i only have some bootleg version of the first album and have always wanted a better quality copy. What a fun band; would've been cool to have seen that act live.

ahitchhikerinmyrvm

I just got the CDs/DVD. Had to decide between the regular version and deluxe (21.99 vs. 34.99). Deluxe version has a nicer case, is numbered and has a 40 page booklet. The regular version has the cds and dvd and a 16 page book. I ended up getting the regular version to save some cash, but I am really interested to see what the 40 page deluxe booklet looks like. If anyone here gets that, please let me know.

I can't wait to go home and listen to this stuff again....awesome!!

rhinomagic

Count me as excited for this!

Thanks for the article.

.

CM1847

I've never heard anything from the band, but I did pick up the normal edition today while getting the new Queens of the Stone Age album. I haven't put it in yet, but I'm pretty excited to hear it, I've heard a lot about them but never gotten the chance to hear any of their stuff. The closest thing I've heard was Jenny Lewis' cover of "Handle With Care"

aNiMaL

CM1847 wrote:

I've never heard anything from the band, but I did pick up the normal edition today while getting the new Queens of the Stone Age album. I haven't put it in yet, but I'm pretty excited to hear it, I've heard a lot about them but never gotten the chance to hear any of their stuff. The closest thing I've heard was Jenny Lewis' cover of "Handle With Care"

You will love it!!

Do give us your feedback after listening to it.

CM1847

Really good stuff. I've only listened to Volume 1 once so far, but it seems to be a very good mix of styles. The Tweeter Monkey Man song sounds a lot like the standard Dylan storytelling song, but other than that most of the stuff here doesn't lean terriblely in any one direction. Very enjoyable album overall, definitely glad I picked it up, I can't wait to hear Volume 3.

intodeep

i have vol 1 i never heard vol 3 i'll be interested in checking it out.

even flow?

I still play the vinyl of all three albums.

Good solid tunes on both of em.

aNiMaL

CM1847 wrote:

Really good stuff. I've only listened to Volume 1 once so far, but it seems to be a very good mix of styles. The Tweeter Monkey Man song sounds a lot like the standard Dylan storytelling song, but other than that most of the stuff here doesn't lean terriblely in any one direction. Very enjoyable album overall, definitely glad I picked it up, I can't wait to hear Volume 3.

Tweeter and the Monkey Man is probably my favorite TW song!! Quintessential Dylan song!!

aNiMaL

intodeep wrote:

i have vol 1 i never heard vol 3 i'll be interested in checking it out.

Volume 3 is as good as Volume 1, imo.

aNiMaL

even flow? wrote:

I still play the vinyl of all three albums.

Good solid tunes on both of em.

If any album is considered TW Vol. 2, it would be Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever.

CM1847

For those who haven't picked it up yet, the standard edition comes with a liner book(somewhere around 15 pages I would guess) with an actual history of the forming of the band and then a few fictional renditions of the story. The actual history is interesting to read. There is a deluxe edition with a nicer case and larger liner notes, did anybody pick that version up?

CM1847

Finishing up my first listen of Volume 3, another really good album. Its impossible to tell which album I prefer after only hearing each once, but they are both very good. I love the cover of "Runaway" which was added to the end of Vol. 3 for the re-issue.

AvocadoLady

Is this out today? I'll have to pick it up on the way home.

My dad still plays these - he's got them on cassette. Maybe for Father's Day I can upgrade him to some CDs

tybird

even flow? wrote:

I still play the vinyl of all three albums.

Good solid tunes on both of em.

That's right.......I remember Canada picked up an extra LP due to the exchange rate at the time.

patrickredeyes

Huge bump for this.

red mos

I am planning on picking those up this week. I have an original of the first disc, and a burned copy of the 2nd one (it was out of print). It will be so nice to have official reissues. "tweeter and the monkeyman is one of my favorite songs, and one of Dylan's best. I was so thrilled to hear Tom petty play "Handle with care" last year at his show, that was awesome.
Does the dvd come with both cds like a 3 disc set? or is the dvd a seperate item all in it's own? I really want to see the dvd!