Traveling Wilburys

George Harrison needed a B-side for his European single 'This Is Love,' so he dragged Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty to Bob Dylan’s home studio in Malibu. They wrote 'Handle with Care' in a single afternoon while Roy Orbison sat in a rocker watching them work. Warner Bros. heard the track and told George it was too good to waste on a flip-side, which forced the five of them to actually become a band. It’s the only time a supergroup didn't feel like a board meeting or a tax dodge. Jeff Lynne’s production was the glue, for better or worse. He gave the Wilburys that compressed, gated snare and the thick wall of acoustic guitars he’d been perfecting with ELO and Petty’s 'Full Moon Fever.' It’s a miracle it works at all considering Dylan was in the middle of his late-'80s slump and Orbison’s voice was the only thing holding back the kitsch. They played it like a garage band that happened to have a combined five hundred years of road miles.

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