The Traveling Wilburys

• Genre: Adult Contemporary

About

With George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne from Electric Light Orchestra (and the Move), the Traveling Wilburys were a super group that comprised three generations of seminal singer/songwriters. They came together by mistake. Initially, they joined as friends to record a B-side for Harrison, but they had so much fun that a full-length album was soon birthed, and pitching the project to a major label was a no-brainer. Sharing lead singing duties (and their endearingly contrasting vocal harmonies) landed them an immediate single with the folk-rocking "Handle With Care" from their 1988 debut The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 (check out the killer cover version of that song by Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley). A week after their first album yielded a second single with "End of the Line," Roy Orbison passed on to that great sunglass shop in the sky. The remaining quartet regrouped in 1990 for a second album that was flippantly titled The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3. And although it yielded some catchy songs, such as "She's My Baby" and "Poor House," the group just didn't pack the same punch that they had with Orbison in the mix.

- Eric Shea