It has been a while since I’ve reviewed
an album that was actually two albums in one package. The last two times I remember are way back in
the early days with Townes Van Zandt (at Disc 43) and Kris Kristofferson (at
Disc 54). Both times I reviewed the
albums separately, but I called them by a single disc, and I wish looking back I’d
given them each their own number.
So when I rolled this album that’s
exactly what I did.
Disc 583 and 584 is….The Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 and 3
Artist: The
Traveling Wilburys
Year of Release: 1988 (Volume 1) and
1990 (Volume 3)
What’s up with the Cover? The original covers
featured weathered old photos of the band, and Volume 1 also had the logo for
the band. This is a reissue of both
albums together, and they went with just the band’s logo and a silver
background. I don’t love it, but given that because of his death Roy Orbison
was pictured in the band for Volume 1, but absent for Volume 3, putting any
kind of a photo would have been awkward.
How I Came To Know It: I don’t honestly remember. I originally had Volume 1 on tape, but I
don’t remember when I got it. Given the
year it came out, it could have been my last foray into the “Columbia House”
mail order system. Anyway, for years I
had it on tape and for years you couldn’t find it on CD until 2007 when they
put out this re-issue and I snapped it up.
The re-issue was my first experience with Volume 3.
How It Stacks Up: The Wilburys only have two albums and this is
them. Of the two, I’d put Volume 1first.
Supergroups are all the rage, but
all supergroups take a backseat to the Traveling Wilburys. When your band is composed of Bob Dylan, Tom
Petty, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison and Roy Orbison it is hard to go wrong.
Traveling Wilburys Volume 1
Rating: 4 stars
The Wilburys came together first
in 1988 for Volume 1, and looking at my CD collection now, it was an
inevitability that I would love what I heard.
Totaled we have 41 other CDs with
these guys doing their own work; 16 Dylan albums, three ELO albums (Jeff Lynne’s
band), 15 Tom Petty albums, including his one record as Mudcrutch and seven
Beatles albums (that’s where George Harrison comes from, fyi). The only Wilbury I don’t have something else
by is Roy Orbison.
Recorded in a style that is deliberately
‘old timey,’ Volume 1 features lots of tight strumming in a very American folk,
jangly style. The songs themselves, however, are ‘Wilbury’ originals that still
sound current today.
Part of this is the production,
which is handled by Jeff Lynne and George Harrison. I’ve always been an admirer of Jeff Lynne’s
ability to get a crisp, rich sound. Even
his little ELO-like synth flourishes in the background of “Congratulations” are restrained and serve to add a nice depth to
the music.
The boys harmonize beautifully
throughout the record and it is clear by the way the songs are arranged (often
with different Wilburys taking a verse each) that the rock star egos were
parked at the door. They have similar
voices overall, and where they differ it is in a good way. Dylan adds grit, Lynne and Harrison’s voices
are a bit more breezy and airy and Petty delivers his lines with his famous
high nasal voice that is always oddly soothing.
Above it all there is Roy Orbison,
his quavering near falsetto delivering power exactly where it is needed. When he cuts in with “I’m so tired of being lonely/I still have some love to give” on “Handle With Care” the whole song descends
another giant step deeper into heartbreak.
Each voice gets its turn in the
sun, however. Orbison soars in “Not Alone Any More” and Dylan sings a a
dusty and grimy tale of robbery and ill-considered desire in “Tweeter and the Monkey Man.” Mostly though, the guys take their turns on
lead within each song, without ever having the songs come out sounding busy or
disjointed.
The album fittingly ends with “End of the Line” which is a song filled
with the wisdom of five guys who have done a lot of living, and have concluded
that things are never so bad if you just take life as it comes.
As this is a reissue there are two
bonus tracks on Volume 1, “Maxine”
and “Like a Ship” not on the original
release. “Maxine” is intended to
sound like an old Irish folk song but it doesn’t really work, and is marred by
some oddly placed hand clapping. That’s weird,
because hand-clapping almost always works, but not here.
“Like a Ship” is similar in style to “Maxine” but works far better.
Maybe I just have a soft spot for a sea shanty (which it is) but I
really like this song and wish it had been on the original album. Either way, it is here now.
For a good while getting this
album was very hard indeed. I sold my cassette
copy for $20 around 2004 (pretty good if you think about the market for tapes
at the time) and the CD was worth more like $80. Now that it is widely available again I
encourage you to get out there and get it.
The songs will be just as good as you remember them.
Best tracks: Handle With
Care, Last Night, Not Alone Any More, Congratulations, Tweeter and the Monkey
Man, End of the Line
Traveling Wilburys Volume 3
Rating: 3 stars
As I mentioned earlier, I have no
Orbison albums, but there is no question his absence on Volume 3 is significant. Despite the valiant efforts of the other
Wilburys to overcome this and deliver another classic what they manage is
merely good, not great.
Orbison sadly died before Volume 3
could be recorded. Apparently Del
Shannon was considered to replace him, but he committed suicide before that
could happen.
OK – enough with the sadness and
on with the music. The tight guitar
strumming is still present as are the strong harmonies, and Lynne and Harrison
again deliver good production value.
What is missing is Orbison’s high vocal, and in its absence the songs
feel like they have a ceiling on their sound.
The band also seems more self-conscious
about making an old-time traditional roots album. As a result the songs sometimes come off as a
bit derivative rather than the timeless quality they have on Volume 1.
That said, there are still bright
spots. “If You Belonged To Me” has a very pretty harmony and because it is
hearkening back to an earlier musical style I can even forgive its archaic way
of expressing love as ownership.
“Cool Dry Place” was also a guilty pleasure. The lyrics are a bit kitschy, but I love the
idea of aging rockers singing about their struggles to find a place to house
all of their instruments where they won’t get damaged by water or other perils.
I can imagine all these guys have collected a ton of “favourite” guitars in
their decades of playing, and this would be a real – although hardly tragic –
problem for them. The song is fronted by
Tom Petty’s and the style is totally reminiscent of his “Full Moon Fever”
feel. It sounds a lot like that album’s “Zombie Zoo” but instead of making fun of
some young clubber, Petty turns his sights on himself.
As with “Volume 1”, “Volume 3’s”
reissue has two bonus tracks. In this
case they are both remakes. The first is
an old classic, “Nobody’s Child”
first recorded by Hank Snow in 1949 (if Wikipedia is to be believed – and I’m
pretty sure it’s never wrong). The
second is the Del Shannon classic, “Runaway.”
I liked both of these, with “Nobody’s Child” delivered with heart and
honesty, and “Runaway” is brilliantly
performed and all the more tragic because of the circumstances of Del Shannon’s
death.
While “Volume 3” compares poorly
to “Volume 1” when you listen to them both side by side, it is still a good
album and worth a listen from time to time if you want to, you know, have even
more opportunity to hear four music legends performing together.
Best tracks: If You
Belonged To Me, Poor House, Cool Dry Place, Runaway
No comments:
Post a Comment