Every young man has had the fantasy of playing in a band with his friends, but that dream becoming a reality has never been more impressive than when George Harrison gathered some pals for a recording session and ended up forming the supergroup Traveling Wilburys.

In 1987, Harrison released Cloud Nine, his first album in five years. It was a success and there came a time when he needed to record a B-Side for “This Is Love,” the album’s third single. As the story goes, Harrison was in Los Angeles and got in touch with his friend Jeff Lynne, former Electric Light Orchestra leader, who co-produced Cloud Nine with him. Lynne was working with Roy Orbison on what would be his last album, the posthumously released Mystery Girl, and Orbison volunteered to take part. The only studio they could book time in belonged to Bob Dylan, who agreed to sit in, and when Harrison went to pick up his guitar from Tom Petty’s home, Petty tagged along.

Harrison explained what happened in the studio. “And so everybody was there and I thought, I'm not gonna just sing it myself, I've got Roy Orbison standing there. I'm gonna write a bit for Roy to sing. And then, as it progressed, then I started doing the vocals and I just thought I might as well push it a bit and get Tom and Bob to sing the bridge.” The song they created was “Handle With Care.”

This impressive roster of talent and history was a music executive’s dream, and the song was a very catchy number, so it wasn’t surprising when Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker of Warner Bros. Records heard it, they realized they had much more than a B-Side. The musicians had so much fun together, they all agreed to create an album. They called themselves Traveling Wilburys, the word “wilbury” being an inside joke between Harrison and Lynne regarding accidents in the studio. Most likely for legal reasons because there is no way anyone would not recognize their voices, they didn’t use their real names and posed as a fictitious group of brothers, using the pseudonyms: Nelson (Harrison), Otis (Lynne), Lucky (Dylan), Lefty (Orbison) and Charlie T. Jnr (Petty).

Released in October 1988, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 was received well, reaching #3 on the U.S. charts and earning a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (album). It is simple and straightforward, a good collection of songs mostly about love, longing, and loss. The vocals alternate between songs from one lead and sharing leads. In some of the choruses it’s sometimes hard to tell who of the band is there.