Wikipedia calls them a “rock supergroup”. Well, I guess they were but funny – I never thought of them that way. I mean, they definitely were all that but to me they were just a bunch of guys – friends, actually – who got together for a very short period of time, recorded some terrific songs and made it all look incredibly easy and fun.
I bet you think you know who I’m talking about and I wouldn’t blame you but you’d only be one-fifth correct … not very good odds so don’t put all your money on “THAT” supergroup from Liverpool because you’d lose.
No, the group I’m talking about was the American/British combo of (in alphabetical order) Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynn, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, otherwise known as The Traveling Wilburys. Getting a group together was something George Harrison wanted to do for a long time; the idea finally started to gel when George and Jeff Lynne were chatting it up one night. Some of the best ideas come from two good friends having a nice sit down.
Now, I’m only partially serious when I ask this but I’ve learned never to discount any possibility. If you haven’t heard of The Traveling Wilburys, is there a chance you’ve been in a coma since 1988? Maybe you hadn’t been born yet. Well, the age defense doesn’t really hold water, now does it? We’d have very little going on it our noggins if that were true. No matter our age, something we can all do is broaden our horizons by embracing the new along with the old.
But I digress.
So, if these five guys formed what’s being called a “rock supergroup”, what happened to it after just three short years? The answer is simple: life. And, of course, death. After Roy Orbison died in December 1988, the Wilburys continued as a quartet and released a second album in 1990 which won the Grammy for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group”.
Due to the guys busy solo careers, the group began taking a different direction. The remaining foursome stayed friends and performed on/contributed to each other’s albums until George Harrison’s death in 2001. Today there are only two of the original five still with us – Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynn.
Now that you know about The Traveling Wilburys, allow me to tell you about the song I’ve chosen for today. “End of the Line” was the final track on their October ’88 debut album; a video followed in December ’88 and a second single was issued in January ’89. Set in a moving passenger car pulled by a steam locomotive, the video features all five members of the group as well as a session musician playing the brushes. Since Roy Orbison died after recording his vocals – but before the video was shot– an image of his guitar sitting in a rocking chair and a photo of him are shown when his vocals are heard (a rather nice touch and a first class act by George Harrison).
Here now, possibly for the first time for a couple of you, are The Traveling Wilburys performing their hit song, “End of the Line”. I sincerely hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
How’d you like the song? Not a bad little group, eh?
Thanks for being with me today. I’ve got a train to catch.
See you on the flip side.
I’m The Sicilian Storyteller
NAR © 2023
