The life of Tom Petty in a 452-track playlist
Read More
Credit: Wikimedia
The haunting remark George Harrison made to Tom Petty after Roy Orbison’s death
When Tom Petty recieved a call from George Harrison to join The Travelling Wilburys, he felt as though he was dreaming. He went from hero-worshipping The Beatles to suddenly being in a band with one alongside Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison.
Each member of the group was involved in the project for leisure purposes and chose not to take it too seriously. They’d all previously enjoyed endless success in their previous endeavours, and for them, The Wilburys was about rediscovering their childlike joy of making music for the sake of making music.
Harrison had become jaded by the music industry following a long, drawn-out court case which made him lose his passion for creating records. He also longed for the simple joy of being in a band and the camaraderie that comes along with it.
After deciding he wanted to be in a group again, Harrison was then tasked with assembling a line-up, and he had little trouble recruiting star-studded colleagues.
Heartbreakingly, shortly after the release of their debut album, Vol. 1, in 1988, the band’s future was thrown into doubt when Orbison suddenly passed away after suffering a heart attack. Despite speculation, they decided against replacing him and valiantly went on as a four-piece.
Orbison’s death shocked everybody who knew him, and Petty remembered Harrison’s reaction in the documentary, George Harrison: Living in the Material World.
Petty recalled how he was awoken by a call from his management informing him about Orbison’s death. Understandably, the singer-songwriter was heartbroken, and shortly after he found out the devastating news, Petty received a call from Harrison.
“The next call was George, and I don’t even know if I should say what he said to me, but I will anyway,” Petty laughed. “When I came to the phone, he said, ‘Aren’t you glad it’s not you?’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah I am’, and he said, ‘It’ll be OK, it’ll be OK, he’s still around. Just listen. That was all he had to say about it.”
Harrison was no stranger to grief following the death of John Lennon, and his relaxed blasé response to the death of Orbison was his coping mechanism.
Although The Travelling Wilburys were only together for three years, Petty said Harrison viewed the group as “his baby”. While The Beatles will always be the first thing that comes to mind when anybody thinks about the guitarist, Harrison wasn’t a founding member, and his opinion didn’t carry the same weight as it did with the Wilburys.
After Orbison’s passing, the Wilburys kept his legacy alive. Although they only worked with him in a professional capacity for a short time — his role in creating Vol. 1 was crucial. Although he didn’t live to see the project through, his contribution was vital.
