The “greatest” memory Jeff Lynne had with the Traveling Wilburys
The whole idea of the Traveling Wilburys felt like some sort of strange miracle half the time.
Here were five of the greatest artists in the world, and yet when listening to them play together, you would have sworn that they had been performing alongside each other for years based on how well they got along. Despite their solo careers, they felt like a band of brothers, and none of that magic was lost on Jeff Lynne when he got the ball rolling.
Because if you think about it, Lynne and George Harrison were the entire reason why the band existed in the first place. The former Beatle always liked the idea of being in another group that wasn’t tied to the Fab Four, and while he seemed to retire from music altogether after albums like Gone Troppo, Lynne was the one who helped him rediscover how fun it was to create music after years away from it.
After all, Lynne had already been studying from Harrison’s playbook for years. ELO was practically the unintended sequel to The Beatles during the 1970s, and even if the band wasn’t as big as their idols, Lynne’s musicianship was enough to put him on par with John Lennon half the time. So when Harrison suggested that Lynne start a band with him, let’s just say that Lynne didn’t need to have his arm twisted.
He had enjoyed spending more time behind the board away from ELO, but when working with a new group, he couldn’t have imagined who would have said yes. Tom Petty had that old soul that fit perfectly with them, but the idea of getting Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison would always be a gamble. Roy Orbison was already a living legend, and Dylan was never the kind who played well with others, but listening to the debut Wilburys project, both of them sound perfect playing off the rest of the guys.
But even with everyone’s star status, no one could hold a candle to Orbison. He had already been one of the biggest stars in the world before The Beatles had even begun touring, and when they finally started opening for Orbison out on the road, it felt like they were meeting one of their idols every time they got to hang out with him.
Lynne had already worked with Orbison on several tracks on his last album, Mystery Girl, but even between jamming with the Wilburys, he would always go back to hear Orbison’s voice one more time, saying, “I was knocking these tracks out between the Wilburys sessions. If there were a few hours left in the day from the end of a Wilburys session, I’d go back to work on the Roy Orbison songs. I got the privilege of recording his voice, which to me has always been the greatest thing ever.”
And the magic wasn’t lost on the rest of the band, either. Petty was always going to be the younger brother looking on at his fellow legends, but even for all the star power Harrison had, he admitted to being absolutely starstruck whenever Orbison entered the room, even giving Orbison the few lines in the song ‘Handle With Care’ because he loved how well his voice fit into the mix.
Although the magic would soon be gone when Orbison passed away from a heart attack, that doesn’t take anything away from the magic the Wilburys created together. Sure, they could still make music on Vol III, but even if ‘Wilbury Twist’ is a bit of a fun goof, it was always going to be melancholic now that the golden voice had fallen silent.
