The instrument George Harrison wanted to leave behind: “Crap”
Being a member of the Traveling Wilburys meant having a certain code of conduct when making records.
Every single one of them could have taken charge and made the kind of record that he would have wanted to make, but if that happened, all we would have been left with was one star and the most overqualified backing band of all time, and that’s not what George Harrison wanted. He wanted the group to be a democracy in lots of ways, but he did have a certain idea for what the band should stay away from whenever they made a new record.
Because looking through both of their records, Harrison wanted the chance to make tunes that called back to the old-school rock and roll that he loved as a kid. Every band member had the potential to be a star in their own right, but the lion’s share of their best work often came from them strumming away on acoustic guitars and not caring about whatever else was popular at the time.
Then again, there were more than a few honorary Wilburys from the new school that Harrison took a liking to as well. While he was always adamant about the fact that John Lennon could have joined the band and no one would have been the wiser had he lived, Dave Stewart was making amateur inroads to being a member of the band, down to the fact that they recorded half of their debut record in his house.
And considering what the MTV generation was like at the time, Stewart’s brand of songwriting fit right in with the synth bands from the same time. He was ready to take on the world with Annie Lennox singing all of their tunes, and while Harrison did have a healthy respect for that kind of music, the concept of a drum machine was going to be way too alien for him whenever they made a Wilburys record.
For one thing, they already had Jim Keltner, who had been known for years as one of the greatest rock and roll drummers in the business. He could play virtually anything and sound great, so when the drum machines started becoming one of the greatest inventions to have on one of your albums, Harrison felt that the music was being robbed of its natural quality whenever someone put them on.
And when the band got underway on their second record, Harrison was still adamant about having a record that was devoid of any drum machines, saying, “Anybody who can use those pathetic drum machines to the extent they do and not notice how crap they sound.”
Adding, “You listen to ‘New Blue Moon’, which was played live with four acoustic guitars and a drummer who played everything that’s on there – except for the back beat, because he had four maracas in his hands and he was playing all these different bits on the tom-toms and a tambourine on the side tom – it sounds good!”
And he even had the same mentality when working on one of his last albums as well. Brainwashed was already a breath of fresh air from Harrison after losing his battle with cancer, but even from beyond the grave, Harrison made it a point to make the most natural-sounding record he could, whether it was dominating every song with acoustic guitars or throwing in the right drum sound to suit what he needed.
Because throughout his entire career, all Harrison wanted to focus on was something that would matter, and that was all the Traveling Wilburys were about. They could have tricked out their entire studio with drum machines to make it all sound perfect, but if they weren’t going to be able to make anything with it, it was all going to be for nought.
