The Traveling Wilburys-Traveling Wilburys Vol.1 (1988)

 

A bizarre series of coincidences led five of the greatest rock artists in the world to come together and join forces to found the band The Traveling Wilburys and release several albums between the late 1980s and early 1990s. It all began when George Harrison (The Beatles) and Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra) finished composing and producing a song for the former Beatle's eleventh album, "Cloud Nine". Lynne also happened to be working at the same recording studios in Malibu, California, owned by Bob Dylan, producing Roy Orbison's album "Mystery Girl," so both ended up getting involved in Harrison's songwriting. Shortly after, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan also joined the project and collaborated on the recording. This amazing gathering of "friends" resulted in enough material to complete an independent album, which would be titled "Vol. 1" and released under the name The Traveling Wilburys. Released in October 1988, this debut album, comprised of ten high-quality tracks, was a fusion of the band members' styles, including country, folk, and rock, featuring the addictive songs "Handle With Care," "Dirty World," "Tweeter and the Monkey Man," and "End of the Line". Its reception was tremendously successful, selling over two million copies in the first few months after its release. However, The Traveling Wilburys' career was short-lived. Two months after the release of this first album, in December 1988, Roy Orbison died of a heart attack at the age of 52. Two years later, the four remaining musicians released a new and ultimately final album, "Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3," which they dedicated to Roy Orbison. Finally, after years of speculation about a reunion, The Traveling Wilburys would end up disappearing in 2001, with the death of George Harrison from lung cancer.