CD Review: THE TRAVELING WILBURYS COLLECTION

The '80s supergroup of George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy
Orbison and Jeff Lynne gets a second chance on CD/DVD
Grade: A-
Artist(s): The Traveling Wilbury's
Label: Wilbury Records/Rhino Records
Suggested Retail Price: $29.98

By CARL CORTEZ, Contributing Editor
Published 6/25/2007

When George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison
got together to create the super group The Traveling Wilbury's in 1988,
it was all about having fun <>  and creating a back story of mythic
proportions (they're listed in the liner notes under psedonyms).
While the band looked, sounded and had the combined synergy of each
individual performer, they purposely took a backseat to their legacies
in exchange for anonymity in a band unit as a Wilbury.
It was a grand experiment that ran the course of two albums (the second
sans Orbison who passed away shortly after the release of VOL. 1) and
with the two CDs long-out-of-print, collectors have been clamoring for
years to get this amazing material back in circulation.
As always, Rhino Records was the right choice to bring the Wilbury's
twist on rock and roll <>  back in the limelight (and a Top 10 debut on
the Billboard record charts last week proved there were a lot more fans
other than collector's interested in hearing these tracks once again).
Both the self-titled debut and VOL. 3 are represented (to keep the
silliness of their endeavor going, there was never a VOL. 2), while a
third disc is a DVD featuring an incredible behind-the-scenes
documentary of the making of the first album, as all as all five Wilbury
music <>  videos.
When the first Wilbury disc came out in 1988, it was a year shy of
Petty's own now classic album FULL MOON FEVER which he co-produced with
ELO frontman Jeff Lynne who was one of the guiding forces behind the
Wilbury discs (plus Orbison, Harrison and Lynne appear on the album).
There's certainly a strong connection between both works - not only in
the sense of play and musicianship. And these guys were friends and as
the documentary proves, there was really little ego involved in crafting
the ten tracks on the release (two bonus tracks have been added to each
disc in this edition). They wrote together, they sang together and while
each member had the opportunity to shine with solo vocals on occasion,
this was still, very much a band endeavor.
"Handle with Care" kick starts the Disc 1 - a great, piece of classic
rock while the lovely ballad "End of the Line" bookends the release with
it's strumming acoustic chords and Beatles-esque attention to melodica.
In between, Dylan shines on the track "Tweeter and the Monkey Man,"
George Harrison <>  gets giddy with the perfect pop confection of
"Heading For the Light," Petty croons about "Last Night," and Orbison
with yet another great solo moment in the spotlight with the
heart-wrenching "Not Alone Any More."
While their debut was about combining the best of each individual
members strengths into a cohesive whole, 1990's VOL. 3 feels far more
conceptual and retro in its attempt to update the sound of the '50s with
modern conventions. After Orbison's passing, the Wilbury's decided to
bring "Runaway" singer Del Shannon into the mix, but he also passed away
shortly before recording began on the album, with a cover version of
"Runaway" (included here as a bonus track) the only remnant of their
attempt at bringing a new addition into the group.
Still, the spirit of Del Shannon's '50s styled rock percolates on tracks
such as "7 Deadly Sins," "Where Were You Last Night?," "New Blue Moon,"
and "Wilbury Twist." Meanwhile, the "Handle With Care" from this album
is the stand-out track "Inside Out," another rocker likely hammered out
in precision time.
While VOL. 3 lacked the freshness of its predecessor, it's still
nonetheless a fascinating and entertaining piece of work that caps off
the two-disc legacy of a group of rock and roll legends getting together
to jam and have some fun.
To not confuse consumers unaware of the cheeky numbering system of the
albums, Disc 2 of this Collection is actually the DVD and it is
definitely worth watching with "The True History of the Traveling
Wilburys" showing how effortless it was for them to write and record all
the songs at Bob Dylan's <>  house in a little less than two weeks. When
you hear so much pre-programmed garbage passing off as music today, it's
incredible to watch masters as good as these guys at work - especially
on what is effectively an album of fluffy pop music used to fill the gap
in between their own albums.
Sadly, the documentary mentions nothing about the making of VOL. 3,
which would have been nice - especially to see how the members coped
with the passing of Roy Orbison (he is mentioned briefly at the end of
the documentary however).
The music videos are fun exercises, keeping in line with the videos of
the era, but the one of the most touching moments probably in any video
then and since is for "End of the Line." With Orbison passing away
before getting a chance to do the music video, they found a clever way
to represent him. The song has the group playing and performing on a
moving train, so when Orbison's vocals pop up, everything cuts to a wide
shot of a chair rocking back and forth, with Orbison's guitar sitting in
it, eventually cutting away to a photograph of Orbison himself. It's
simple, yet very touching and truly shows how much love and respect
these five men had for each other.
While it's a shame no other Wilbury albums were created (although the
five members worked together in various forms throughout the years),
their mythic legacy is finally available to the masses once again in a
remastered form, with bonus songs and a bonus DVD. It's doubtful there's
any remaining archival material left, but it you can always hope one day
some "lost tracks" are discovered and the Wilbury's will ride once
again.


From:
http://www.ifmagazine.com/
(C) 2007 Wilbury Records/Rhino RecordsTHE TRAVELING WILBURY'S COLLECTION