Traveling Wilburys “Vol. 1″ released 30 years ago, 1988, probably last week on Oct. 17th or 18th (my usual reliable source for such things kinda dropped the ball and listed its release date as today, Oct. 25th which is most likely incorrect. Oh well). One of the most charming super-groups ever formed, the Traveling Wilburys evolved with a visit by George Harrison to Los Angeles – Jeff Lynne was around, working on albums for Roy Orbison and Tom Petty and they asked Bob Dylan if they could use his home studio. One thing led to another and after Dylan threw some BBQ on the grill, “Handle with Care” emerged and then the rest of the album, which made it to #3 on the US album charts and won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. (I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Dylan’s inspiration for the lyrics/title of “Handle with Care” was some USPS packaging.)

Traveling Wilburys was one of my secret guilty pleasures in ‘88. I listened almost exclusively to punk and new wave back then but grew up on a steady diet of 60′s-era rock (my parents are huge Bob Dylan fans and listened to a lot of Beatles as well) so the guitar-folk-pop blend of Vol. I was familiar and beautiful. The guitar and vocal harmonies are amazing. My favorite tracks include the hit “Handle With Care” which went to #45 on the US Hot 100 chart (#2 on the Album Rock Tracks chart) and to #21 in the UK, the Tom Petty-forward “Last Night,” the Beatles-esque “Heading for the Light” (not surprisingly written by George Harrison, along with Jeff Lynne), the Petty guitar twang of “Margarita” and “End of the Line,” which always made me sad as the video for the single was filmed just after Roy Orbison’s death in December ‘88 and shows an empty rocking chair holding a guitar during his vocals. Even though Dylan usually drives me a bit nuts, I really do like “Rattled” on which he’s heavily featured, though it was written by Lynne, Petty, Harrison and Orbison.