Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

Well, it’s been a long time since my last recording as the last three were pre-recorded before I went away on a trip to Italy and Greece. And, while I was away, a lot has happened with the unfortunate passing of two Australian Superstars, Judith Durham of the seekers and Olivia Newton John a personal favourite. Both did enormous good in the world along with their extraordinary singing talents.

While I was away, I got some inspiration for two new episodes, one on the Greek Islands and the other on the Vatican, so look out for those in future episodes.

Today's episode is on the super group the Traveling Wilburys who’s serendipitous formation happened when George Harrison was looking to complete a B-side for his song “This Is Love”.

It just so happened that Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison were all in town at Dylan’s studio and George asked for a little bit of help. They quickly came up with “Handle With Care” which was far too good for the B-side, but rather, the start of a collaboration album.

Today’s mnemonic is on the Traveling Wilburys band members.

So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilburys_leave_their_mark.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Originating from an idea discussed by Harrison and Lynne during the sessions for Harrison's 1987 album Cloud Nine, the band formed in April 1988 after the five members united to record a bonus track for Harrison's next European single. When this collaboration, "Handle with Care", was deemed too good for such a limited release, the group agreed to record a full album, titled Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. Following Orbison's death in December 1988, the Wilburys continued as a quartet and released a second album, titled Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, in 1990.

The project's work received much anticipation given the diverse nature of the singer-songwriters. The band members adopted tongue-in-cheek pseudonyms as half-brothers from the fictional Wilbury family of travelling musicians. Vol. 1 was a critical and commercial success, helping to revitalise Dylan's and Petty's careers. In 1990, the album won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.

Although Harrison envisioned a series of Wilburys albums and a film about the band, produced through his company HandMade, the group became dormant after 1991 and never officially reunited, though the individual members continued to collaborate on each other's solo projects at various times. After being unavailable for several years, the two Wilburys albums were reissued by the Harrison estate in the 2007 box set The Traveling Wilburys Collection. The box set included a DVD containing their music videos and a documentary on the band's formation.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_Wilburys]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phoenix-Musical_Instrument_Museum-Roy_Orbison_exhibit.jpg

Mnemonic

Traveling Wilburys – Band Members Mnemonic – Roys BiG JeT

(Picture Roy Orbison buying a big jet to fly all the other members of the group on tour)

1. Roy Orbison

2. Bob Dylan

3. George Harrison

4. Jeff Lynne

5. Tom Petty

Five Fun Facts

1. The Travelling Wilburys recorded two albums, one in 1988 and the second in 1990. Roy Orbison, unfortunately, died less than two months following the release of the first album.

2. Their name “The Travelling Wilburys” came about from a slang term that George Harrison and Jeff Lynne gave to studio equipment. They referred to equalizers and limiters as “wilburys,” as in “we’ll bury that mistake in the mix.”

3. The musicians used pretend names for the album Cloud Nine. George Harrison was “Nelson Wilbury,” Bob Dylan was “Lucky Wilbury,” Roy Orbison was “Lefty Wilbury,” Tom Petty was Charlie T. Jr.,” and Jeff Lynne was “Otis Wilbury.” Meant as a joke, the Wilburys were five fictional brothers who all had the same father, Charlie T. Wilbury Sr., but different mothers.

This brings me back to the group we formed back in high school. We didn’t have fictional names but the cover band was called Duvet!

4. There were no specific delegations to the five stars. Everyone wrote, sang, and produced.

5. The last fact is a little indulgent. But I encourage everyone to go to YouTube or the Mnemonic Tree Facebook page as I will post the links, and play firstly “Handle With Care” and then the “End of the Line”.

Both songs illustrate the massive talent of each artist and how they blended their brilliance to produce something that is truly memorable and moving and with no pretense or ostentation just pure soul.

The song “End of the Line” is even more poignant with the video clip showing them performing the song together in a carriage with a rocking chair, rocking with a guitar sitting on it, to pay respect to the passing of the great Roy Orbison, whose picture is also shown in a frame. The song really illustrates the strength and star power of each member and their mellifluous/magical blend.