June 1, 2007

Over the years, countless musical gatherings have been referred to as "supergroups." But what do you call a band that not only marked the only extended collaboration between a Beatle and Bob Dylan, but also added a couple of other Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and a mega-platinum producer/songwriter to the mix? For reasons probably best left as an elaborate inside joke, apparently you call it the Traveling Wilburys -- and now the band's complete recordings are back in stores, after being unavailable for over a decade.

It's kind of mind-boggling to think about Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne working side-by-side for an album project. But it's truly unbelievable that they actually did it twice (minus Orbison the second time around -- he passed away soon after the first album's release in 1988).

The creation of the Wilburys seems both entirely accidental and completely fated. Electric Light Orchestra mastermind Lynne produced Harrison's smash 1987 album, "Cloud Nine" -- his first release in five years (and his first U.S. Top 10 in a dozen years). Harrison needed a B-side for a single in Europe, and he asked Lynne to help. At the time, Lynne was working with Orbison on "Mystery Girl," his majestic comeback project. After Orbison volunteered to lend his voice to the new song, Harrison had to swing by Petty's house to pick up his guitar -- and, of course, Petty was eager to join in the fun. By the time the group went in to record, Dylan had gotten wind of the project and signed on to help.

The connections between these superstars ran deep. Harrison and Dylan's friendship dated back to the '60s; Harrison had recently contributed to Petty's Lynne-produced single "I Won't Back Down." Petty had spent the mid-'80s touring with Dylan. And one thing they all shared was a love of Orbison's incomparable voice.

The song they came up with together was an irresistible hard-luck lament called "Handle With Care," and when Harrison played it for his label heads, legendary record men Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker, they immediately urged him to turn this into something more than an international B-side. Harrison took the initiative and somehow convinced everyone to see where this whole band idea might lead. The songs they created together ranged from the classic Orbison drama of "Not Alone Anymore" to Dylan delivering what seemed to be a spoof of Bruce Springsteen's Jersey-based epics on "Tweeter and the Monkey Man." The resultant album -- "The Traveling Wilburys, Volume 1" -- sold five million copies worldwide, reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts and won a Grammy.

Though the album's title seemed to be a joke about the impossibility of ever pulling off this all-star team again, in fact Harrison was talking about touring and keeping the Wilburys as an ongoing project. Orbison passed away just two months after the album's release, though, throwing those plans into disarray. But two years later, the four surviving Wilburys reconvened and, against all odds, made another album. Given Harrison's Monty Python-esque sense of humor, the title was probably inevitable -- "The Traveling Wilburys, Volume 3."

The record didn't sell as well as its predecessor, peaking at No. 11, but truth be told, it's actually an improvement, more spontaneous and fun and harder rocking. Again, there was talk of live performances and more collaborating. But Harrison's failing health through the '90s and, ultimately, his death in 2001, made any further Wilbury adventures impossible.

With the release of both albums as "The Traveling Wilburys Collection" -- complete with a handful of bonus tracks and a DVD collecting their music videos with a documentary of unseen footage -- Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne recently got together to discuss one of the most historic side projects rock and roll has ever seen. "It was an amazing cast of characters," says Petty. "Great friendships were made there. There was a lot of love in that band."

MSN MUSIC: To start with a mundane business question, why have these albums been out of print for so long?

Lynne: That's a very good question. I have no idea why. People are always asking me, why isn't that Wilburys stuff available?

Petty: I think our record deal ran out, and I guess we never got it together to renew it.

Read more of this exclusive interview on page 2 >>>

Discuss | Send us an e-mail | More features