When Jeff Lynne broke into the studio to completely change a Traveling Wilburys classic
The phrase ‘lightning in a bottle’ is often used in music contexts, but nothing matches how perfectly it describes the formation of the Traveling Wilburys. Supergroups often generate excitement by bringing together artists with legendary reputations, but the collaboration between Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison stands out as the epitome of musical brilliance.
For Lynne, especially, whose emergence in the industry spawned from a love of music like The Beatles, the first mention of forming a group with one of its former members must have seemed barely believable. Harrison was just two months into working on his album with Lynne when he casually floated the idea. “We should have a group, me and you,” Harrison told Lynne at the time, a prophecy that would soon bring together five of the biggest names in the business.
During the recording sessions, the group collaborated and performed together in a way you might not expect of legacy stars of their calibre. Aside from the frequent ‘pinch me’ moments emitted from the others about working alongside Orbison, there didn’t seem to be one sprinkling of egotistical energy in the room, not even from Dylan, whose demeanour usually dominated any circle he finds himself in.
According to Harrison, their main appeal was their rawness—especially when it came to their use of guitars and sounds created by various objects around them. Instead of future gazing, they each adhered to the unspoken rule that they would pay homage to traditional rock and roll, simultaneously pandering to the appeal of nostalgia and breathing life into the sounds that had defined their roots.
This attitude and approach also bled into their sessions. Lynne, in particular, consistently brought passion and enthusiasm to the studio, which proved his immense love for the craft and appreciation for being allowed to work with such world-class figures. In his mind, the wheels were always turning, which meant that he consistently contributed his ideas, eager to make the best possible music they could.
This enthusiasm caused him to break into the studio late one night with the desire to try out an alternative chord pattern for ‘Not Alone Any More’. With ideas floating around in his mind, he couldn’t rest until he tried it out, so he went into the studio to change the song. “I put this Telecaster on and pulled out all the other stuff,” he recalled. “Then everybody else arrived and heard it with the same tune but different chords.”
Thankfully, his decision to venture out and act alone didn’t irk any other members, and they instead found his changes to enhance the track significantly. “They all loved it,” Lynne later said, which isn’t too difficult to believe considering how his changes gave the song a heftier amount of weight without making it feel too dissimilar to the original recording.
This attitude made Lynne a major driving force in the Traveling Wilburys and a refreshing, energetic force among the other veterans. While each player brought distinctive qualities to the project, Lynne urged them to acknowledge innovative subtleties, ensuring that even their more traditional approaches felt as new as the day they first emitted from the airwaves.
