The one trait all the Traveling Wilburys needed to succeed: “It was quite funny”
If anyone else had been added to the Traveling Wilburys, it would probably never have worked.
The idea of getting a bunch of rock legends together for a few jam sessions always had the potential of being a trainwreck, but since they were all good friends before they even set foot in the studio, everyone knew to check their ego at the door and play whatever was right for the song. But as time ticked on, George Harrison did have a few ideas of what a Wilbury would have needed to join.
It’s not like they didn’t have a few people tangential to the story, either. Jim Keltner had already been the honorary Wilbury thanks to his drums on every single tune they played, but there was always space for people like Roger McGuinn and Mike Campbell to join the group. But if you look at the kind of people that were in the group, it’s not like there wouldn’t be a few second thoughts about trying to compete with Bob Dylan as a songwriter.
But the quality of the music wasn’t always the main priority when it came to choosing members of the group. Harrison did like to surround himself with people who were outstanding in their field, but judging by the various home movies that have been released during their time together, it was also about finding the right people that you could hang out with after putting the guitars away.
And it’s not like that kind of camaraderie wasn’t palpable on the record, either. ‘Handle With Care’ alone was a good indication of the kind of brotherly relationship they all seemed to have together, but when looking at the other legends around him, Harrison couldn’t help but think that he could have used a few more people in the group.
After all, his Dark Horse tour benefited from having as many people onstage as he could, but it was never about having everyone heard clearly. He wanted to create a band that felt like one big party every single time they got together to play, and while Ravi Shankar might not have fit in all that well with their attitude, Harrison figured that there was always room to get people who he felt saw things their way.
While he knew John Lennon would have definitely joined, Harrison felt that artists from all walks of life deserved a spot right next to them, saying, “What I saw as the Wilburys was an attitude, basically. I see loads of people out there who have what I call The Wilbury Attitude. Somebody wrote in a paper things like, ‘Little Richard is a Wilbury, Madonna wouldn’t be a Wilbury, but Cyndi Lauper would be.’ It was quite funny.”
And while the original rock and roll wild man and the 1980s belter may have been unusual candidates in Harrison’s mind, there’s no telling what they could have brought to the fold. Judging by the way they behaved off the stage, they all seemed to have the same kind of attitude towards playing music. Whereas most people get into the business to make their millions and start selling out their music to whatever genre they want to, every Wilbury was content to make whatever songs popped into their heads and worry about the marketing aspect later.
Because for Harrison, the point of his supergroup wasn’t about trying to compete with his solo career or come anywhere close to what he did with The Beatles. He had done that part of his musical life already, and now that the dust had settled, he knew that it was better for him to have a tight-knit musical family.
