The Traveling Wilburys - My "New" Favorite Band

Born April 23, 1936 - Died December 6, 1988.

Roy was nicknamed "The Big O."

His recording career spanned more than four decades.

Orbison is best known for the songs, "Ooby Dooby," "Only the Lonely," "In Dreams," "Oh, Pretty Woman," "Crying," "Running Scared," and "You Got It".

In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1989, he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Orbison influenced groups such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

In 1963, he headlined a European tour with The Beatles. He became lifelong friends with the band, especially John Lennon and George Harrison.

Elvis Presley was a fan of Orbison's, and during a show in Las Vegas in 1976 he called Orbison "the greatest singer in the world"

Bob Dylan counted Orbison as one of his favorite artists.

Roy Orbison started wearing his signature sunglasses when he accidentally left his regular glasses in an airplane. He was unable to wear contact lenses and the only other glasses he had were a pair of prescription sunglasses. Ever since then, he wore those sunglasses onstage.

Roy had a vocal range of 3.5 octaves.

Roy was a champion radio-controlled model airplane builder and flier.

Bob's real name was Robert Allen Zimmerman. He was born 24 May 1941 in Duluth MN.

Bob Dylan made his first record in a department store booth on Christmas Eve when he was 15 years old.

In 1959, Bob entered the University of Minnesota and began performing as Bob Dylan at clubs in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

he following year he went to New York, performed in Greenwich Village folk clubs, and spent much time in the hospital room of his hero Woody Guthrie.

Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind" is ranked #56 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll.

Dylan has written more than 500 songs.

Over 2000 artists have covered Dylan's songs.

In 1986 and 1987, Dylan toured extensively with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers on True confessions tour, sharing vocals with Petty on several songs each night. The tour was filmed for the documentary Hard to Handle.

Dylan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1988. Bruce Springsteen made the induction speech, declaring: "Bob freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body. He showed us that just because music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti-intellectual."

He received a Pulitzer Prize in 2008; a Special Citation for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.

There are two biographical films about Bob Dylan:
No Direction Home Directed by Martin Scorsese

I'm Not There (November 2007) Directed by Todd Haynes
I'm Not There is an unconventional journey into the life and times of Bob Dylan. Six actors portray Dylan as a series of shifting personae - from the public to the private to the fantastical.

I was curious about it, especially the fact that Cate Blanchett plays one of Dylan's personalities, so I rented it. Be advised that it is not a "biography" in the true sense of the world. It does not relate the story of his life from a-z. It is a little hard to understand at first, but then I figured out the concept.

I believe the movie makes the point that people usually try to keep people in little boxes. If they step out of the box, or the image that people have of them, the fans become angry. This happened when Dylan left folk music for rock music.He was a musician who refused to be categorized nor be put into a box.

Petty is actually a very talented musician and songwriter. Tom can play the Guitar, Bass Guitar, 6 and 12 String Electric and Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Electric Piano, the Harmonica, and the Tambourine, not to mention the Ukulele.

Other facts of interest::

His interest in rock and roll music began at age 10 when he met Elvis Presley

In a 2006 interview on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air, Petty said that he knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.

In 2002, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On December 6, 2005, Petty received the Billboard Century Award for his lifetime achievements.

Petty had a Number Three 1981 hit in "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," a duet with Stevie Nicks off her solo Bella Donna,

09/25/08 - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers donated coveted tickets to their sold-out summer tour in a special auction to raise money that will specifically help support Habitat for Humanity affiliates in areas affected by the June 2008 Midwest floods. They raised over $85,000 for this charity.

Tom Petty Remembers George - a Rolling Stone Interview (click on the link to read the whole interview) Petty reminisced about his relationship with George Harrison shortly after George's death. He stated,

"George's idea of a band was that everybody hung. From what he told me, the Beatles were that way. They were very, very tight. He really wanted the Traveling Wilburys to be like that. Like, "If we're going to the party, we're all going." I'm so glad I got to be in a band with him. He taught me so much."

Lynne is an English rock musician who is best known as the leader of the Electric Light Orchestra. (Wow, now I have an idea. I had some ELO albums. Let's find out more.)

He is a songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, guitarist, and record producer.

He started his experimenting with music with an old two-track tape recorder in his parents' living room.

He has stated that the Beatles were a major influence on his life. He met them during the making of The White Album. (Well, now we know he has great taste in music.)

John Lennon said the ELO were the "Sons of the Beatles."

Ringo Starr and George Harrison made frequent guest appearances on ELO albums.

Lyhnne has worn sunglasses indoors and out since the mid-1970s.

Jeff Lynne is a two-time Ivor Novello award recipient. The "Ivors" are awards for songwriting and composing. and are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

In 2008, the Washington Times named Lynne as the fourth greatest record producer in music history.

Lynne received the Golden Note Award from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) on April 24, 2009 in recognition of his contribution to music.

As a child George's favorite musician, whom he would listen too often, was British skiffle king Lonnie Donegan.

He was known as the "quiet Beatle."

George met teenage model Patty Boyd (who later became his wife), while filming A Hard Day's Night. They were divorced in 1977 and Patti later married George's friend, Eric Clapton.

George married Olivia on September 1, 1978 and they had one son, Dhani.

December 29, 1999: George Harrison was stabbed by anintruder at his Friar Park estate. The knife narrowly misses his heart, and he is hospitalized with a punctured lung.

The last ten years of Harrison's life were largely lived out of the limelight. He had a passion for gardening.

November 29, 2001: George Harrison succumbs to brain cancer in Los Angeles.

March 15, 2004: George Harrison is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

On April 14, 2009 George was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, becoming the 2,382nd person to be commemorated. Olivia paid tribute to her late husband, describing him as "a beautiful, mystical man living in a material world."

On Nov 29th 2002, the one year anniversary of his death, George Harrison's friends got together to pay tribute to him. The first half of the concert is a special composition by his friend Ravi Shankar, played by Ravi's daughter, Anoushka, and an Indian orchestra. That is followed by a special selection of Monty Python skits which George enjoyed so much.

But my favorite part is the concert given by his friends, organized by Eric Clapton. The concert included many well known performers, such as Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and Billy Preston. The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers set featured "Handle Me with Care" from George's Traveling Wilburys days.

The highlight for me was Sam Brown's bluesy rendition of "Horse to the Water," accompanied by Jools Holland on piano. Other great cuts include Eric Clapton singing "Beware of Darkness" and Clapton and McCartney on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

I wondered why Bob Dylan was not a part of this event. Wikipedia reports "Dylan, a friend of George's, could not attend "Concert for George" because of tour commitments in the US. So instead, roughly a week before the concert he played George's song "Something" as a tribute, at a concert of his at Madison Square Garden on 11th of November 2002"

George's son Dhani plays guitar throughout the concert, and was the co-writer for "Horse to the Water." Olivia, George's widow, tells Paul McCartney that with Dhani on stage it looks as though George stayed young and everyone else got older!