Five albums the Traveling Wilburys should have made
It’s still a massive shame that all of us never got to hear what the Traveling Wilburys could have become for decades to come.
All of them were among the best in their field at nearly anything they touched, but with the loss of Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and George Harrison, their catalogue remains an interesting piece of rock history rather than a full band half the time. But what if the best albums the band ever released were actually hiding in plain sight?
Because while the individual members had fantastic records on their own, there were more than enough solo albums in their catalogue that could have counted towards being Wilburys projects. Whether it’s having half the members on the record to being worked on around the same time that they formed, each of them had a certain spice that could have been transformed into supergroup material if they were only given that extra bit of polish.
But not all honourary Wilburys albums need to have every single person playing on them, either. Even if they are released solely by one member, there are easily a few that fit a certain vibe or aesthetic that the band had during their prime. They might not have the same sweeping harmonies, but there’s a certain magic there that not even the proper supergroup managed to capture on a handful of their deep cuts.
So while no one can change the past, this is definitely the next best place for people to go who were getting used to the Wilburys sound and were aching for more. There were so many opportunities for the band to branch out, but even if these albums were all just wishful thinking, that didn’t stop them from having a few faint whiffs of that band that excited fans for those magical few years at the end of the 1980s.
Five albums that could have been Traveling Wilburys albums
<em>The Concert For George</em>
The entire Wilburys world was already shocked when Roy Orbison abruptly passed away. Any chance of the band carrying on for too long ended at that moment, and even on their final record, it’s hard to feel them working at full capacity without Orbison in the fold with that golden voice of his. But if there was anything that could bring that Wilburys spirit back out again, it was for everyone getting together to honour their musical friend.
Harrison was already in ill health by the time he made his final record, but The Concert for George feels like a Wilburys reunion if it were on the level of Live Aid. The Concert for Bangladesh was a distant memory, but outside of Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne joining in the fun with some Wilburys tunes, hearing everyone from Billy Preston to Eric Clapton to Joe Brown to Paul McCartney pay tribute to Harrison is enough to make Harrison-head tear up. It’s not a Wilburys release at all, but for that night, it felt like everyone on that stage became an honorary member.
<em>Mystery Girl – </em>Roy Orbison
It took a lot to get all the members of the Wilburys in one spot. They could have easily had busy schedules and not come together at all, but since the stars aligned that fateful week when they made their masterpiece, it felt like even the universe wanted them to succeed to some degree. But if their debut is technically the first album they ever made, Mystery Girl is album number zero in many respects.
Because while Orbison was plotting his comeback with tunes like ‘You Got It’, the personnel involved with the record was already halfway to the Wilburys. Lynne had been working on Cloud Nine around the same time he worked with Orbison, and since the ELO mastermind co-wrote the breakout tune from the record with Petty in the studio, all they needed was a tasty Harrison solo to get it closer to the supergroup. It might not be recognised as a proper Wilburys song, but it did at least let Orbison leave the music world on a high.
<em>Brainwashed – </em>George Harrison
Until the day he died, George Harrison always considered himself a Wilbury. He had always referred to the group as his “other band”, and even though the four-headed Fab monster took over most of the conversations he had, he never felt the pressure of playing in a band with the Wilburys like he did in The Beatles. But looking through his final record, a good half of the record feels like it was made from Wilburys leftovers.
Although it does have a lot more of that Harrison spirituality in the mix as well, tunes like ‘Any Road’ and ‘Stuck Inside A Cloud’ has the same mix of cosmic rock and roll that he had been working on when making tunes like ‘Heading For the Light’. Lynne might have been there to help steer the album to the finish line once Harrison passed away, but it’s telling that Harrison included Wilburys songs like ‘If You Belonged To Me’ along with ‘Any Road’ during one of his final public appearances.
<em>Full Moon Fever – </em>Tom Petty
When looking at every member of the Wilburys, Tom Petty was always the adoptive younger brother of the group. He wasn’t from the same generation by any stretch, but he seemed to have all of the traits that they were looking for in one of their own when he showed up to the first rehearsals. He had a firsthand education on how every member of the group worked, but he was clearly saving some of his best material for another record that he had a little further down the road.
Since he was having so much fun with Lynne, Full Moon Fever was the labour of love that was made for a goof in between sessions for the Wilburys. It may have pissed off the rest of the Heartbreakers knowing they weren’t involved, but ‘Free Fallin’ and ‘I Won’t Back Down’ have all of the songwriting power of the Wilburys with a more lighthearted feel to it. The aggressive side of the record makes it fit somewhere in between both Wilburys projects, but given Lynne’s involvement, Orbison’s backing vocals on a track, and Harrison appearing in the video for ‘I Won’t Back Down’, everyone seemed proud to see their little brother doing well.
<em>Armchair Theatre – </em>Jeff Lynne
In the grand tale of the Wilburys, Lynne really was the puppeteer behind everything. It’s widely accepted that Harrison was the leader of the group that first came up with the idea, but Lynne was always the glue that connected every one of their solo ventures together as well. So if he was able to work that same kind of magic for every one of his friends, what was he going to sound like when he was left to his own devices?
Well, compared to the epics that he made with ELO, Armchair Theatre is the closest thing to a solo Wilburys album that anyone was going to get. While there are a few token appearances from his friends, it’s Lynne’s songcrafting that puts this record over the edge, as if reminding everyone why he was able to work his magic on tracks like ‘Not Alone Any More’ or ‘New Blue Moon’. Lynne often is one of the most neglected members of the Wilburys in many respects, but for any songwriting enthusiasts, this is a masterclass in how to write classic melodies.
