What if: a Traveling Wilburys Tour

It's no secret that George hated touring. Even as far back as Let It Be, when the others were talking about doing a live show somewhere as part of the film, he was against it. So, as much as I'd love to see what a live Wilburys show would be like, it's hard for me to imagine George having fun onstage with them when in reality he was such a curmudgeon about pretty much everything.

Fortunately, Eric Clapton got him off his **** and onto the stage, even if it was only for a short tour. At least we have that!

 

George, like Paul and Ringo (and John) was contractually obligated to appear in interviews for a Beatles documentary, originally conceived of as "The Long and Winding Road"...So no matter what his mood or financial status, he'd have had to appear in the Anthologies on camera. Though not necessarily recording or playing live with Paul and Ringo as he did do in the end.

They all signed contracts in the late 70s I believe to contribute to a Beatles film, and IRCC there was even a stipulation that some kind of music had to be played (probably they were thinking incidental instrumental bits that they could record at home separately, not a studio reunion for new singles). Then the project was delayed after John's death, then delayed again because Yoko did her Imagine documentary for John. Finally the pieces came together in 1991/92 I think and they started shooting interview segments with the Threetles and conceiving of a reunion song with one of John's demos.

 

I'd never seen this quote before. Sigh...

 

Here's an idea I had for a setlist, using George's idea of "making everything Wilburys":
1. Handle With Care – all, with Jeff Lynne taking over for Roy Orbison
2. She’s My Baby – all
3. Dirty World – Bob Dylan
4. Cheer Down – George Harrison & Tom Petty
5. That’s All Right Mama – Jeff Lynne
6. Pretty Woman – all (tribute to Roy Orbison)
7. Something – Bob Dylan & Jeff Lynne
8. Rainy Day Woman #12&35 – Tom Petty & George Harrison
9. Don’t Bring Me Down – Jeff Lynne
10. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) – George Harrison
11. Telephone Line – Bob Dylan & Tom Petty
12. I Won’t Back Down – George Harrison & Bob Dylan
13. New Blue Moon – Jeff Lynne & Bob Dylan
14. Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
15. Roll Over Beethoven – Jeff Lynne & George Harrison
16. If Not For You – Bob Dylan & George Harrison
17. Poor House – Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne
18. Willbury Twist - all
19. End of the Line – All, with Bob Dylan taking over for Roy Orbison

It's a mix of Wilburys and solo tunes, with bandmates taking over some of each other's solo songs. It's definitely a show I'd like to hear.

 

Revenue wise George would have done way better on a solo tour without 4 other stars that were profit participants rather than salaried. Wilburys really would not have drawn much better than George would have on his own hot off the heels of C9.

 

How many WIlburys songs have been done live by WIlburys? I know of Congratulations (Dylan) and three done by Petty (Handle, Tweeter and End of the Line). Any others?

 

Great suggestions, everyone! First of all, Sour Milk Sea's tracklist is great, and I'd just add another song and maybe an encore as well, to make the show the same lenght as the usual gigs back then. As for the band, the most probable would be their studio personnel (Jim Keltner on drums, Ray Cooper on percussion and Jim Horn on the saxophone), plus Richard Tandy on keyboards.

I chose him based on two things: the fact that he played with three out of four of the bandmembers still alive back then in their recent albums, as of 1992, and that he can also play bass when Petty/Lynne are too busy with guitar parts to do so, making him an useful pick for his versatillity.

Jeff would end up singing most of Roy's parts, and if needed, Cooper could perform second keyboards as well, rounding up the band's sound. Most lead guitar would be by George, with occasional co-lead parts by Lynne, and all four plus Tandy doing backing vocals.

They'd have different alias than on the two albums, and the other four guys could also be called "Liveburys" instead of "Sideburys"

 

All these “what if?” threads keep bringing me back to the classic
“If frogs had wings”

 

Hey! As I said, I did some expanding on your original setlist idea (a great set, BTW), and added a couple of songs, as well as making some other minor changes. In addition to the main/common setlist, I added some tunes to be rotated with the rest of the set throughout the tour, as Petty and Dylan are notable for not having a very "consistent" set in tours, I think this would be the case too. The backing band would be as I said previously, with Keltner, Tandy, Cooper & Horn, and in my imagination this whole shebang takes place in late-1991/early-1992, in the US, Europe and Japan. Here it is:

Regular Setlist:
01 Handle With Care – all, with Jeff Lynne taking over for Roy Orbison
02 She’s My Baby – all
03 Dirty World – Bob Dylan, with all on chorus
04 Cheer Down – George Harrison & Tom Petty
05 That’s All Right, Mama – Jeff Lynne
06 You Got It – all (tribute to Roy Orbison)
07 Something – Bob Dylan & Jeff Lynne
08 All Along the Watchtower – Tom Petty & George Harrison
09 Don’t Bring Me Down – Jeff Lynne
10 Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) – George Harrison
11 Telephone Line – Bob Dylan & Tom Petty
12 I Won’t Back Down – George Harrison & Bob Dylan
13 New Blue Moon – Jeff Lynne & Bob Dylan
14 Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
15 Roll Over Beethoven – Jeff Lynne & George Harrison
16 If Not For You – Bob Dylan & George Harrison
17 Runaway - Jeff Lynne (tribute to Del Shannon)
18 Poor House – Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne
19 Inside Out - Bob Dylan & Tom Petty
20 End of the Line – All, with Jeff Lynne taking over for Roy Orbison
Special Encores:
21 Last Night - Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne
22 Blowin' in the Wind - all, with George Harrison alone on the verses
23 Willbury Twist - all, with extended coda and band intros

Songs for rotation:
24 Jammin' Me - Bob Dylan & Tom Petty
25 Heading for the Light - George Harrison & Jeff Lynne
26 Tweeter and the Monkey Man - Dylan
27 If I Needed Someone - Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne
28 Work it Out - Jim Horn, with Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne

At least to my tastes, a pretty consistent gig, and it would be very entertaining to watch. The only tunes I've replaced are "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35", with "All Along the Watchtower taking it's place, due to Dylan & Harrison playing it during Dylan's HOF induction in '88, as well as "Pretty Woman" for Roy's more contemporary hit "You Got It". All their big hits are featured one way or the other, as I added them along with some solo classiscs, and this is a great representation of the band separately and together. No 7-minute percussion solos, unfortunately