George Harrison Almost Spoiled the Surprise of The Traveling Wilburys Months Before They Recorded Their Debut
George Harrison almost spoiled the surprise of The Traveling Wilburys months before the supergroup recorded their debut album. The former Beatle, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison hadn’t even recorded their most famous tune, “Handle With Care.”
George Harrison formed The Traveling Wilburys by accident
The Traveling Wilburys happened by complete accident.
In 1987, George entered the recording studio to record Cloud Nine, his first album in five years. He asked ELO frontman, Jeff Lynne, to co-produce the album. In November 1987, it hit shelves. However, in April 1988, George discovered that the record company wanted one more song for a European 12-inch single. George had to record one quickly.
The former Beatle asked Lynne to help him write it, and Dylan allowed them to use his recording studio. Roy Orbison and Tom Petty tagged along to watch. George and Lynne wrote the song that became “Handle With Care.”
However, it seemed strange to George to have four of the best singers/songwriters in the studio and not work on it with him. So, he invited all four rock stars to record “Handle With Care.”
It came out so beautifully that the record company didn’t want it. It was too good for a European 12-inch. So, George held on to it until he could get the rest of the guys back together to record an entire album. The Traveling Wilburys were born.
However, before the five artists coincidentally ended up in the same recording studio to work on “Handle With Care,” George spoiled the supergroup’s existence.
George almost spoiled the surprise of The Traveling Wilburys months before they recorded their debut
In February 1988, George revealed the existence of The Traveling Wilburys during an interview with Bob Coburn at Rockline (per the supergroup’s website). Then, in March 1988, George hinted at the supergroup during an interview with MuchMusic.
The interviewer asked about George’s future plans. George replied, “I don’t think to wait five years. I’m waiting to see, possibly to do something, it’s-I mean, I shouldn’t really say this because they don’t know about it, but I’d like to do something, not just a solo album for myself, I’d like to try and get involved with maybe Jeff Lynne and maybe Eric Clapton and do something together new like that, just a one-off.
“Or maybe just Jeff and I; if not, I’ll do one on my own again.”
The interviewer asked, “A new band in the making here?” George replied, “The Traveling Wilburys.” The interviewer laughed, but he had no idea that the supergroup was about to become real. “Don’t tell anybody,” George added.
During both interviews, George didn’t know he’d need an extra song for a European 12-inch yet. The soon-to-be supergroup hadn’t even recorded “Handle With Care.”
So, maybe George always knew he wanted to be in a supergroup called The Traveling Wilburys. Judging by his MuchMusic interview, he did. The Traveling Wilburys recorded “Handle With Care” in April, and George got the four others back into the recording studio to record The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 in May.
The supergroup used pseudonyms on their debut album
George told Count Down in 1990 that the whole point of the Traveling Wilburys was for five friends to jam and not get too hung up on everything, especially themselves as solo artists and as a supergroup. They just wanted to see what happened and to have fun.
So, they decided to use pseudonyms instead of their real names to give that element of mystery. They didn’t want fans to buy their debut record just because of who performed on it. Printed on all the albums, contracts, and anything else that identified them as a band were the names Nelson Wilbury (George), Otis Wilbury (Lynne), Charlie T. Wilbury Jr (Petty), Lefty Wilbury (Orbison), and Lucky Wilbury (Dylan).
“I just thought it would be-I mean there was always those groups in the 70s that made these superstar groups, and we hated that,” George said. “The idea of these famous people all trying to make a record, most of the records weren’t that good-doesn’t mean it’s going to be good if you just get these famous people together.
“I wanted to avoid that totally. If you look at the record, it doesn’t have anybody’s name on it.” However, George had already partially spoiled the surprise of The Traveling Wilburys twice before they even formed. He mentioned he wanted to work with Lynne, but at least none of the other members were mentioned.
The Traveling Wilburys were a surprise regardless of George’s loose tongue. It was a miracle that five of the biggest rock stars came together at all.
