The Traveling Wilburys album Bob Dylan loved the most
It’s hard to really pick favourites when working with a band like the Traveling Wilburys.
None of them were making music with the intent of it being subpar, and even if a tune didn’t have the same energy as one of their individual classics, it was better to see all of them joking around and having fun than worrying about if anyone played one of their tunes exactly right. It’s hard to find too much wrong with any of their output, but Bob Dylan wasn’t shy about having a few favourites of his own along the way.
But of all the members of the Wilburys, Dylan was always the least likely person to be into the idea. As much as everyone bowed at the altar of Roy Orbison whenever he began singing, it’s not like he was ever going to say no to jamming with friends. Dylan was forever a loner throughout his career, and even if he had The Band to work off of, it’s not like he was always a team player behind the scenes.
And yet, when looking at every one of his tunes for the band, he seems to feel right at home. That husky voice may have been a change of pace for a band that had George Harrison and Orbison in the mix, but when working on many of their hits, Dylan knew his role better than anyone. Everyone comes to Dylan for the lyrics, and even if he didn’t have the most impressive set of pipes, he knew that every one of his songs needed to count.
Which probably explains why a tune like ‘Tweeter and the Monkey Man’ ended up sounding so verbose. When looking at the initial sessions, Dylan was going through countless verses trying to find the right words to use for the song, but while the whole thing was only intended to be a harmless little dig at Bruce Springsteen’s songwriting mannerisms, it’s easy to look at Dylan’s writing as a Southern Gothic fairy tale.
Even though Dylan liked the idea of getting together, it was always going to be a bit uneasy for him to make the first record. The whole thing had a sense of spontaneity to it, and while that worked fairly well for the success of the record, Dylan knew that they had something better in them when they first started working on the follow-up.
Despite the other members like Jeff Lynne not loving the final version of their sophomore album, Dylan felt that it was just what he wanted out of The Wilburys, saying, “Last time it was a pretty rushed affair. A lot of stuff was just scraped up from jam tapes. This time, there was a whole lot left over. The songs are more developed. If people liked the first one, they’ll love this one.”
And really think about that for a second. Dylan was never the kind of person that would do casual press for a record, so the idea of him actually hyping up a Wilburys project was almost unheard of. Then again, it was easy to look at the kind of songs he was bringing to the table as a good reason why he was enthusiastic, especially since he took lead on pieces of the lead singles ‘She’s My Baby’ and ‘Inside Out’.
It’s possible that Dylan did actually have a legitimate high coming off of working on the record, but since this was the last album that they made together, it may have also been his way of coping with everything. Orbison had passed away, and although the members were still friends and keen to work together for a project, there was no reason for them to keep going if the magic was gone.
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