Artist: Traveling Wilburys
Album: Volume 1
Released: 1988
Label: Warner Bros. (original) / Rhino (reissue)
Genre: Rock / Folk / Americana
Purchase Date: 26 Oct 2010
Format: CD (used)
Source: Friends of the Library Book Sale
I suppose it's a bit of a stretch to call the Traveling Wilburys' first album a "classic," but the mature musicians comprising this late-'80s supergroup were certainly classics in and of themselves. Comprised of Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra), the group put out an album of music that was a whole lot of fun and helped re-launch Orbison's career.
The album came out during my first semester in college. I couldn't afford a CD player at the time (they were in the $250 price range, if I recall correctly), and I didn't bring my turntable out to college with me, so I bought it on cassette. I was heavily in my prog rock phase at the time, so this album of folk-rock, country-tinged Americana, and off-kilter humor was a real breath of fresh air during my Jethro Tull - Yes - Rush - Pink Floyd marathons. For a year or so, I played this tape pretty frequently, although eventually it started to gather dust in my tape rack.
I haven't had a working cassette deck in more than a decade, so my old tape isn't doing me much good any more. I heard the odd track from on the radio every once in a while. At one point I tried to pick up the CD, but I found that it went out of print in the mid '90s, and used copies were trading well over $40, so I never acquired it. (Fortunately, Rhino Records re-issued it in 2007.)
So, when I found this CD on the rack for $3, I had to snap it up. Listening to it now, I think it still stands up. The opener "Handle With Care" and the closing "End of the Line" are the strongest tracks. It's a period piece, but a fun one, and a wonderful showcase for the voices of Orbison and Harrison, both of whom are no longer with us.
Rating: A
(Note: includes a whole bunch of nostalgia points...)
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