How big of a deal was it when the Traveling Wilburys formed?

Hello esteemed forum,

When the Wilburys got together, what was the public’s reaction? Was it a big deal with lots of anticipation? Or just something that was cool and quaint, nothing more?

Secondly, was there a big demand for them to tour? I recall reading an interview with George Harrison where he wondered what a Wilburys tour would be like, but that’s about it.

Thanks for playing.

 

It wasn't a big deal. More of a surprise. Most people heard about it from MTV. You know the MTV with Martha Quinn, the one that actually played music videos.

I don't recall any talks about a tour. Mind you Roy died shortly after the release of the first album. That for the most part ended any discussion.

 

I just thought it was cool and quaint, and frankly kind of a big snore, but the album was popular and did get a lot of airplay, and a few people I knew got turned on to Roy Orbison which can't be a bad thing.

 

i thought it was interesting. I liked the songs i heard well enough, but never bought the album. if i remember rightly after the album was so popular and Roy Orbison (r.i.p.) died, there was talk of Del Shannon joining for a new album or tour or something ... I don't know if it ever happened

 

A friend of mine told me about it originally. It didn't strike me as a huge deal but it was fun and the first album had a lot of good stuff on it. I still listen to a few cuts on it once in a while but rarely all the way through.

 

I don't remember any hype.

 

Me neither.
Picked up the cassette after hearing End of The Line on local radio.

 

Seemed to just kind of appear, I don't remember a big buildup. It did get a lot of attention when it was released.

 

It wasn’t a big deal initially. But the album became very popular with heavy rotation on MTV over several months.

 

Being a very big fan of Dylan and Harrison, I was very excited to hear about the collaboration. Expectations were met, and then some (and the first album still holds up magnificently, IMO). I think among the "classic rock" crowd it was a very big deal. I can't speak for the musical mainstream, as I'd already abdicated my membership by 1988.

Tour-wise, I never even thought it was even a remote possibility. "Volume 1" happened to be released the day before Dylan wrapped up 71 dates of "Interstate '88", after touring the world in 1986 and doing two (albeit smaller) tours in 1987. I was convinced Dylan was going to take 1989 off (who knew Dylan would never take another year off?) A Beatle had not done a concert in the United States since 1976, and I didn't see George ever wanting to tour the USA again for a number of reasons - critical response to Tour '74 and the violent death of his bandmate being reasons 1 and 2.

 

They had a great attitude about it, obviously doing it as a lark, and not as The Next Big Thing. Performing under jokey names sent the proper message to critics and helped defuse whatever unreasonable expectations might have come. I’ve thought of it as the concept the Sgt. Pepper started out to be.

 

“Cool and quaint”, definitely. And I say that as a big Harrison/Dylan fan.

Remember that Dylan might have never been at a lower point in “coolness” than 1988. ELO was a thing of the (recent) past, but their hits had dried up a few years prior, and I think Petty’s most recent disc was Let Me Up (considered a low point by many). Orbison hadn’t done anything notable in years (decades?) and although George’s recent disc was a moderate hit, that was seen as a bit of a fluke.

In the wake of Wilburys 1, Petty roared back with Full Moon Fever (his biggest ever?), Dylan resurrected himself (briefly) with Oh Mercy, and Orbison recorded his excellent swan song Mystery Girl. But they were almost all at pretty low points in the public eye when they recorded the first lp...

 

I think you're selling "Cloud Nine" short. A top 10, platinum album with a #1 single on it. That's a "moderate hit" for an ex-Beatle in 1970. That's a smash for an ex-Beatle in 1987.

EDIT: I will add that after "Down in the Groove", "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" made me feel Dylan the genius songwriter was still in there.

 

It was a very brief big deal mostly among Classic Rock fans. Personally, I didn't find the music all that incredible but the appeal was heightened simply by knowing all these guys were playing on it together. It didn't take long for most people to just see it for what it was: some very famous friends having a good time together, creating some nice (albeit nothing earth shattering)music. The first album was a moderate success, the second less so. My biggest question-and that of many-is, why wasn't Ringo a part of this...?? In hindsight I'm thinking maybe because he wanted to prove himself as a major classic artist unto himself (hence the touring with the "All Stars")...but drummer of The Wilburys would have been a perfect fit if ever there was one.

 

del would have been a perfect choice

 

I can't remember any hype, just thought interesting, bought it, enjoyed it and played it a fair amount.

Also bought Oh Mercy, Mystery Girl and Full Moon Fever and played all of them, particularly Full Moon Fever and to a lesser extent Mystery Girl even more.

Four good albums which got a lot of exposure in the Hi-Fi shop I was managing. New albums tended to get repeat listens for a couple of days, think they all still stack up.

 

For what it's worth though, it was absolutely massive on MTV, which for many people at the time was the way they got exposed to new music. The videos for Handle With Care and End Of The Line both got the coveted heavy rotation MTV exclusive slot and it seemed like for a while there they were regularly popping up in coverage on MTV News. It certainly helped that Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever (released earlier that year) also got heavy MTV support and Roy Orbison's passing kept the album in the news for quite a while afterwards.

 

It seemed like kind of a natural extension/crossover with the solo careers of the participants because most of them were riding high around that time with their own releases (within a year or two) which sounded like the Wilburys anyway, all having been produced by Jeff Lynne.

Orbison had "Mystery Girl" with "You Got It" a big hit from the album (written by Petty and Lynn, produced by Lynne). Harrison had "Cloud 9" (some songs co-written with Lynne, produced by Lynne), Petty with "Full Moon Fever" (same)!

 

The original get together was just to record a George b-side, I think they had so much fun they decided to do an album.

 

The instant communication to all hadn't happened yet...I was surprised as well. I really like vol. 1 and like some of vol. 3. Videos Handle With Care and End of the Line received lots of airtime. As someone said before...when music was actually part of MTV. (Early VH1 was actually really great).

Bern

 

Full Moon Fever came out several months after the Wilburys, not before.

 

I remember it seemed to come out of nowhere. All of sudden they were on MTV playing "Handle With Care" then I recall a little writeup in Rolling Stone. I bought the album on the strength of that and was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. It got major airplay in my car and at parties we had back then. Then Roy died and the magic went with him. Vol 3 is ok but really missing something.

 

Going by memory here - but I seem to recall the Rolling Stone review was surprised that it was as good as it was, given that albums by supergroups were usually a let down.

 

I say that because the #1 single wasn’t an original, sounded very “ELO” to most of my friends, and was roundly criticized for being too repetitive. As George might have said, it was a great “record”, but not a great “song”. That recording would have been a huge hit for anybody, but it doesn’t have a lot of “George” in it, to me. The follow up single, which I love, was also seen as something of a “novelty”/parody song by folks I knew (note: as a lifelong Beatles fan, I’ve known very few fellow fans in person, so I always heard the harshest critiques of their music). Worth noting the more traditional Harrisingle This Is Love failed to crack the top 100 stateside.

Yes, I love the album, and it was a hit, but the previous one (Troppo) didn’t manage a top 40 hit and failed to crack the top 100 albums, and the first post-Cloud Nine single (Cheer Down) didn’t hit the top 100 either nor did the compilation crack the top 100. So to me, Cloud Nine was a (very pleasant) “fluke” of a hit in the grand scheme of things...

 

As far as I remember it was pretty big ecspecially the participance of Dylan and Harrison. I still think their first album is very good-Handle with care is pure magic