Wilburys set to travel, again.

I had missed out on a good time back in the 1988.  I don’t hink I was old enough to get it when the Wilburys first hit the stage.  I mean, come on, I was only 11 years old.  Prior to today my opportunites to hear the music have been hit and miss, with their albums not being readily available.  Oh, maybe you haven’t heard?  The definitive Traveling Wilburys’ CD/LP/DVD sets come out today.The reviews we’ve read on this baby are nothing short of brilliant.  If you are a Wilbury fan, and what Beatle fans wouldn’t enjoy the music, for the sake of music feel of the starr-studded side project that almost everyone loved, especially George Harrison.  If you are hesitating at the thought of purchasing this set please go get your head examined this morning, take a pill, and then run to your local music store and pick this hot little number up today, because the Wilburys should be traveling out of your stereo right now.  Go out and pick it up man.

Be careful though, and pay attention to which edition you are picking up.  The Wilbury set comes in several different configurations, so make sure that you get the one that you want. 

The Traveling Wilburys collectible packages will be available in four configurations. Each configuration is a remarkable commemoration of this unique group.

• Standard Package – Features 2 CDs (Volumes 1 and 3) with bonus tracks, bonus DVD of content and a 16-page collectible book.
• Deluxe Edition Set – Linen-bound deluxe edition features 2 CDs (Volumes 1 and 3) with bonus tracks, bonus DVD, and a 40-page collectible book with photos, original liner notes, new liner notes and a uniquely numbered certificate of authenticity.
• Vinyl Edition – Features 2 vinyl releases of Volumes 1 and 3 with an additional 12-inch featuring bonus tracks, a collectible album-sized book, plus additional postcards/posters.
• Digital Edition Bundle – Features downloadable editions of both CDs (Volumes 1 and 3) with bonus tracks, video content and an interactive booklet.  

Here’s what we’ve read.

Nelson, Otis, Charlie T. Jr., Lefty and Lucky were never household names on the order of, say, John, Paul, George and Ringo. But in 1988, the alter egos of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne (ELO), Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan were lighting up airwaves and sales charts as the Traveling Wilburys.

The supergroup’s double-platinum-selling debut album, Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1, reached No. 3 on the Billboard album charts and spawned two hit singles, Handle With Care and End of the Line. Then came the playfully titled Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3 two years later. (“That was George’s idea,” says Lynne, who co-produced both albums with the former Beatle, who died in 2001. “He said, ‘Let’s confuse the buggers.’ “)

The two much-treasured albums, complete with four bonus tracks and a DVD of home movies from the sessions, are being reissued Tuesday by Rhino as The Traveling Wilburys Collection, after more than 10 years’ absence.

Maxine and Like a Ship, featuring Harrison and Dylan, respectively, on lead vocals, are previously unreleased outtakes from Vol. 3. “They were completed, except for some harmonies, so I asked George’s son, Dhani, to do his father’s parts, which was nice,” Lynne says.

The third bonus track, Nobody’s Child, was recorded for Nobody’s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal, a charity album Harrison’s wife, Olivia, put together to help Romanian orphans. The fourth song, Runaway, was a B-side to a British single (She’s My Baby).

The DVD features the original music videos, along with a 24-minute documentary told in the group’s own voices. Fans will savor home videos shot during the recording of both albums, showing everything from writing sessions to vocal tracking to fun with the guys.

“George loved the Wilburys,” Petty says. “He treasured it, really. He missed having a band.” Adds Olivia Harrison: “He was happy to play music with anyone — Dhani’s school friends, me. He just wanted to play.”

Harrison floated the idea of putting together a band of “over-40s,” possibly called The Tremblers, while recording his hit solo album Cloud Nine with producer Lynne, recalls engineer Richard Dodd. The name eventually evolved.

“He and Jeff used to call gadgets in the studio ‘wilburys,’ like, ‘Let’s give that sound a trembling wilbury,’ ” Olivia says. “One night, they said, ‘Oh, if you had a band, you could call it the Traveling Wilburys.’ “

The opportunity came to create that band in April 1988, when Harrison needed to record a B-side for his single This Is Love. While in Los Angeles, he popped in on Lynne, who was working on Orbison’s Mystery Girl album, to ask for help.

“Jeff told him, ‘I can’t do it right now, I’m with Roy,’ ” recalls Orbison’s wife, Barbara. “But George was very smooth. He asked Roy, ‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ and Roy said, ‘Whatever Jeff is doing,’ and George said, ‘Well, I need Jeff’s help.’ “

After a quick phone call to Dylan, Harrison secured a studio — Bob’s garage — for the following day.

Petty had co-written Orbison’s You Got It and was pals with Harrison. “By the time we got to Bob’s, the band was falling into line,” Petty says. “It just wasn’t official.”

The reluctant Dylan was brought into the fold after Harrison, who had the tune but no lyrics, played him the song. When Dylan asked its name, “George looked around and spotted some words on a touring case in the garage: Handle with care,” Lynne says.

“We wrote the words over dinner,” Petty says. “Bob grilled us some chicken, and we wrote the words together in the garden.”

The song was recorded that night and presented to Warner Bros. Records chief Mo Ostin, who insisted that Harrison not waste it but continue recording an entire album.

With only 10 days to record before Dylan went on the road, Harrison, Lynne and Petty convened in Orbison’s dressing room at a show in Anaheim, Calif., to ask the singing legend to formally join the group. When he said yes, “we were so excited, we were like kids, jumping up and down and shouting and screaming,” Lynne says.

The album was recorded in Los Angeles at the home studio of The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and released five months later to universal acclaim.

The project was bittersweet — Orbison died just two months later, before the recording of the second disc — but the experience had been extraordinary for all involved. “It was a nice vacation from the spotlight,” Petty says. “We were sharing the load together.”

Harrison was happy to have the camaraderie, his widow says. “They had such great skill and brought out the best in you, and they were people you wanted to do your best for. That’s really what it was about for him, and probably for all of them.”

Source: USA Today