The original Traveling Wilburys (L to R) : Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, George Harrison. (Wilbury Records)
Jeff Lynne was born on December 30, 1947. He is a singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and producer. Lynne got his start in the band Idle Race, later joined The Move, and finally found his biggest success in the Electric Light Orchestra. He was also a member of the Traveling Wilburys, which featured Bob Dylan.
The Traveling Wilburys couldn't have happened without Jeff Lynne's involvement. He had co-produced George Harrison's 1987 "comeback" album, Cloud Nine. Soon after, Lynne went on to co-produce Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever, and Roy Orbison's Mystery Girl. During this period, Harrison needed a new track for his single "This Is Love," from the Cloud Nine album, to give extra value to his fans. While the story has been told a number of ways, it seems that Lynne, Harrison, Orbison, and Petty were all hanging out, and recording, around this time. Harrison recruited Lynne and Orbison for the new track. Harrison had left a guitar at Petty's house, so he eagerly joined the gang when the ex-Beatle's instrument was retrieved.
(Dark Horse Records)
Since there was some difficulty finding a place to record, they went to Bob Dylan's home studio in Malibu, California. The five musicians, joined by session drummer Jim Keltner, recorded the song, "Handle With Care." It was deemed too valuable for a b-side, so plans were made to record nine more tracks. The resulting album, Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1, sold more than five million copies. Unfortunately, Roy Orbison died less than two months after Vol. 1 was released. The remaining four Wilburys reunited in 1990 for the album Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3.
Jeff Lynne, as Otis Wilbury (Vol. 1) and Clayton Wilbury (Vol. 3), co-produced both albums with George Harrison. Lynne, alone, produced three of the bonus tracks on the 2007 reissue, the Traveling Wilburys Collection. The video of "Inside Out," included on the included DVD disc, featured a slightly different edit.
For the original release of Vol. 1, Harrison went out of his way to create a system for all five Wilburys to share credit equally. On the 2007 reissue, the songs were attributed to different publishers, possibly in reaction to issues with some of Roy Orbison's former publishers.
Rehearsals and interviews for the 2002 'Concert For George.' Includes Jeff Lynne singing "Handle With Care."
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