Tom Petty Was Glad He Didn’t Make an ‘A**’ of Himself in The Traveling Wilburys
In the 1980s, Tom Petty had the chance to work with some of his idols as a member of The Traveling Wilburys. Alongside Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Roy Orbison, Petty recorded two albums. For both Petty and Lynne, recording with musical icons like Dylan, Harrison, and Orbison was a dream come true. Petty was grateful for the opportunity to perform with them and also for not humiliating himself in front of his idols.
Tom Petty could hardly believe he was invited to join The Traveling Wilburys
Harrison wanted help on his album and, as a result, inadvertently created The Traveling Wilburys. He had to pick up his guitar from Petty’s house, and when he mentioned what he was doing, Petty wanted in. He could hardly believe his good luck at being included.
“It was all great,” he told Mass Live. “It’s hard to think of a best thing. You’re in the best band you’ve seen, with all your heroes who are also your friends. It’s still hard to conceive, just a fabulous thing.”
He said that the experience of being in a band with such big names was so astonishing that he could hardly even tell people about it.
“When you ran into somebody and they asked you what you were doing, you’d start to tell them and then you’d just go, ‘Aw, nothing.’ (laughs),” he said. “Because who was going to believe you?”
He was glad he didn’t embarrass himself too badly
Petty said it was embarrassing to talk about his friendship with his bandmates.
“I got to know them past what we’ve done. I got to know them really well as people and became really good friends with them,” he said in 1999, per The Petty Archives. “So it’s embarrassing. I never mention my friends to people because they think I’m bragging. But it is kind of cool.”
For the most part, though, he was happy he didn’t humiliate himself around his bandmates.
“I’m glad I didn’t make an a** of myself doing it,” he told Rolling Stone in 2009, per The Petty Archives. “I never saw another band where I went, ‘Wow, I wish I could be in that band. I always thought I was in the best band. And I still feel that way.”
Tom Petty wished that The Traveling Wilburys had toured
Petty’s only regret from his time with The Traveling Wilburys was that they hadn’t toured.
“It was considered often,” he said. “We talked about it many nights and then never really did it. We might have some beers and plan it all night and then in the morning we’d be like, “Well, no.” (laughs). Especially when we became successful, there were all kinds of people trying to get us to do tours.”
He explained that Harrison had always talked about touring and that he regretted that they didn’t do it while he was still alive.
“He talked for the rest of his life about doing it again or maybe taking it on the road,” he said. “It is one of my great regrets that I wasn’t a little more aggressive about getting that done. I always thought we’d have all the time in the world to do it.”
