George Harrison on the Rumors of the Fifth Member of The Traveling Wilburys
George Harrison accidentally formed The Traveling Wilburys in 1987. He needed to record an extra single for his album, Cloud Nine. He asked Jeff Lynne to help him write it, and Bob Dylan allowed them to use his recording studio. Roy Orbison and Tom Petty tagged along to watch them.
However, it seemed strange to George to have four of the best singers/songwriters in the studio with him and not work on the song. So, all five rock stars recorded “Handle With Care,” but the record company didn’t take the single because it was too good. George held on to it until he got the rest of the guys back together to record an entire album. Thus The Traveling Wilburys were born.
The supergroup recorded two albums, Vol. 1 and Vol.3. Shortly after they released Vol. 1, Orbison died. They never considered replacing him, but George often contemplated who would make good Wilburys.
Source: cheatsheet.com
