A new business agreement will bring rock supergroup The Traveling Wilburys past the end of the line.
The all-star quintet, consisting of George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne, is now represented by Concord Bicycle Music in a worldwide agreement that will include physical and digital reissues of the band's complete back catalogue--including, for the first time, streaming rights across Apple Music, Spotify and others--on June 3, as exclusively reported by Billboard.
That same day, Concord will physically reissue The Traveling Wilburys Collection, a multi-disc audiovisual box set that gathers expansions of both Wilburys albums, Vol. 1 (1988) and Vol. 3 (1990) with bonus video content. As with the original Rhino Records release in 2007, the box will be available as a standard 2CD/1DVD set; a deluxe, numbered edition; a vinyl box set (including three extended versions that were otherwise unavailable) and hi-res download options.
The Traveling Wilburys were one of the happiest accidents in late '80s music history. Harrison, who broke a five-year silence and enjoyed a major comeback in 1987 with the album Cloud Nine (which Lynne produced), was visiting Dylan and Orbison at Dylan's Malibu home to record a B-side for the album's final single, "This is Love." Harrison briefly left to retrieve a guitar from Petty and came back with the leader of The Heartbreakers himself.
The resultant track, "Handle with Care," was deemed too good to sit on the B-side of a single, and a full album bloomed over 10 days in the spring of 1988. Establishing a humorous alternate history for themselves as pseudonymous half-brothers born of a Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr. (the last name a joking reference to Harrison's avoidance of errors during the Cloud Nine sessions--"We'll bury 'em in the mix," he'd say), the group was a hit from the word "go." Vol. 1 sold 3 million copies in the United States, and the project spurred several renaissances for the individual members, with Lynne producing both Petty's smash Full Moon Fever and Orbison's comeback Mystery Girl for a 1989 release.
Following the untimely passing of Orbison in late 1988 (an empty seat was left in his memory in the "End of the Line" video), the surviving remembers recorded and released the intentionally mislabeled Vol. 3 in 1990 to considerably less success than its predecessor. But the Wilbury effect lingered on, with Lynne continuing to work with Harrison and Petty, even reuniting Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr around a pair of John Lennon demos for a mini-Beatles reunion in 1995.
The Traveling Wilburys deal continues a wave of catalogue activity at Bicycle Music. In addition to a new publishing deal with Harrison's estate announced in January, the company added a huge jewel to its crown of managed catalogues late last year, controlling distribution of R.E.M.'s Warner Bros.-era masters for future reissues and other opportunities.
You'll find the track listings and pre-order links below!
The Traveling Wilburys Collection (originally released as Wilbury/Rhino R2 167804, 2007 - reissued Concord/Bicycle Music, 2016)
Amazon U.S.: 2CD/1DVD Standard Edition; 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition; 3LP
Amazon U.K.: 2CD/1 DVD Standard Edition; 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition; 3LP
Disc 1: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (originally released as Wilbury 25796, 1988) and bonus tracks
- Handle with Care
- Dirty World
- Rattled
- Last Night
- Not Alone Any More
- Congratulations
- Heading for the Light
- Margarita
- Tweeter and the Monkey Man
- End of the Line
- Maxine (bonus track)
- Like a Ship (bonus track)
Disc 2: DVD
- The True History of The Traveling Wilburys (24-minute documentary)
- Handle with Care (promo video)
- End of the Line (promo video)
- She's My Baby (promo video)
- Inside Out (promo video)
- Wilbury Twist (promo video)
Disc 3: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (originally released as Wilbury/Warner Bros. Records 26324, 1990) and bonus tracks
- She's My Baby
- Inside Out
- If You Belonged to Me
- The Devil's Been Busy
- Deadly Sins
- Poor House
- Where Were You Last Night?
- Cool Dry Place
- New Blue Moon
- You Took My Breath Away
- Wilbury Twist
- Nobody's Child (from Nobody's Child - Romanian Angel Appeal - Warner Bros. Records 26280, 1990)
- Runaway (remix of U.K. 12" B-side to "She's My Baby" - Warner Bros. Records W9523T, 1990)
Bonus 12" with vinyl box
- Handle with Care (Extended Version) (U.K. 12" A-side - Wilbury Records W7732T, 1988)
- Like a Ship
- Maxine
- End of the Line (Extended Version) ) (U.K. 12" A-side - Wilbury Records W7637T, 1989)
- Nobody's Child
- Not Alone Any More (Remix)
- Runaway (Remix)
Dirceu says
If Concord remaster this, would be beautiful!
The 2007 is LOUD!!!
Dan Yesindeedy says
Already been done and widely available?
Andrea says
Exactly. I distinctly remember having on the shelf a "complete Traveling Wilburys". They're just trying to make you buy this, again, for the dvd and/or the vinyl. Really, we shouldn't lend ourselves to this sort of operation.
Dan Yesindeedy says
2 previous versions with the dvd also,2007 and they weren't limited,easy to get!
Only thing different is the bonus 12'' which has a remix or extended version? not worth even reproducing,i can go down to any music store here in Australia and find the 2007 deluxe edition package remastered for cheap! This release is pointless? Hasn't been re-remastered either,not that it would need it because it been done on '07 version!?
Thanks for commenting Andrea ๐
Eurovision says
The only new extras are only on VINYL? Pass.