LONDON.- The Traveling Wilburys was not a carefully planned band, not formed from deep premeditation. Rather, the band was created in a casual blending of genuine friends one ordinary afternoon, which turned out to be anything but ordinary.
Genesis Publications celebrates this supergroup of friends featuring George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison with the release of the extraordinary, limited edition book The Traveling Wilburys. This 144 page, hand-bound collectible book features unseen photographs, Polaroids, drawings, log book entries and handwritten lyrics.
George said to me, We should have a group, me and you. I said, Great, who would we have in it? He said, Well, Ill have Bob Dylan. I said, Can we have Roy Orbison? We thought Tom Petty would be a great member of the group too; luckily so did Tom. Jeff Lynne, from his foreword to the book.
The photographs, many by the Wilburys themselves, plus handwritten, often unfinished lyric sheets run throughout the book. Song arrangements, notes and sketches, many of which are hand-pasted onto and between the pages as individual reproductions, are also included in the publication. This unique book has been many years in the making. The result is an inside look at how five of the greatest singers, songwriters, musicians and friends joined together in a series of kitchens and living rooms to write two albums of unforgettable songs.
It really had very little to do with combining a bunch of famous people, it was a bunch of friends that just happened to be really good at making music. Tom Petty
The Traveling Wilburys is a fine-bound book published in a numbered, limited edition of 3,000 copies, each handsigned by Jeff Lynne and presented in a cloth-bound slipcase. Each book is accompanied with a uniquely numbered lithograph of the lyrics to Handle With Care, handwritten by George Harrison and available exclusively with the book.