Song Lyric Sunday – Supergroup

Supergroups is the theme for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, hosted by Jim Adams. I thought of a couple of Supergroups but only wanted to pick one so I have gone with The Traveling Willburys and their song ‘End of the Line.’ I did feature the song and video 5 years ago here on SLS but it is such a happy song that I wanted to share it again today.

The Supergroup

Based on the accomplishments of their members, Traveling Wilburys were the most super of supergroups. The lineup was Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of ELO, all future members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Harrison was the leader of the group. It came together when he needed a B-side for a single. He got his friend Jeff Lynne to work on it with him and Bob Dylan offered use of his garage studio. Tom Petty and Roy Orbison came along, so the five superstars found themselves together writing and recording the song on the spot: “Handle With Care.” They had such a good time making it and were so impressed with the results, they decided to form a band and include the song on a full album, which they recorded a month later.

They were named after a slang term George Harrison and Jeff Lynne gave to studio equipment. The pair referred to equalizers and limiters as “wilburys,” as in “we’ll bury that mistake in the mix.”

Like the Ramones, as mentioned by Jim in his post last week, each member took a moniker with the band name in it, although they changed their names for each album. Harrison was “Nelson Wilbury” for the first album and “Spike Wilbury” for the second.

With the exception of “Handle With Care,” the songs on their first album were all written and recorded in a two-week span at the house of Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. Stewart is British, but fell in love with Los Angeles when he came there in 1983. He befriended Tom Petty and co-wrote three songs for Petty’s 1985 Southern Accents album, including the hit “Don’t Come Around Here No More.” Stewart bought a place in the Encino area of Los Angeles and built a small studio on the grounds. His home became a gathering spot for the future Wilburys, and when they decided to make their album, Stewart gave them the keys. In a Songfacts interview with Stewart, he explained why he wasn’t a Wilbury. “I would have loved to and I would have easily been an accepted Wilbury, but it was right at the period of Eurythmics making We Too Are One and touring it.”

Roy Orbison died in December 1988 just two months after their first album was released. The remaining Wilburys decided to make another album without him, which they released in 1990.

They needed a drummer, so they brought in one of their favorite session players, Jim Keltner, to fill that role. He was credited as “Buster Sidebury,” as he was a “sideman.”
The never performed live, in part because Harrison hated touring.

Sadly three of the five band members have now passed away. Roy Orbison was followed by George Harrison and Tom Petty.

The Song

This song contains the folksy wisdom that comes from their experiences. It has a railroad theme, as the “end of the line” represents the train’s last stop. Fittingly, it was the last song on their debut album, Volume One.

The song is credited to all five group members, but George Harrison came up with the idea, including the main chord sequence – it certainly bears resemblance to his Beatles and solo output. Harrison takes the first verse, followed by Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison. Tom Petty gets the lead on the chorus.

Nine of the 10 songs on the Volume One album, including “End Of The Line,” were recorded in a 10-day span when the group had to write and record almost a song a day. Dave Stewart of Eurythmics let them use his Los Angeles house and attached studio for these sessions, which were extremely productive and a lot of fun.

The song they didn’t record there is “Handle With Care,” which they made about a month earlier at Bob Dylan’s home studio for George Harrison to release as a B-side. That song was so good, and the experience so pleasant, that they decided to form a band. “Handle With Care” was the first single, with “End Of The Line” released next. Both songs got a lot of airplay on a variety of formats and helped the album sell over 3 million copies in America.

“End Of The Line” became a eulogy of sorts for Roy Orbison, who died on December 6, 1988, just six weeks after the album was released. His work in the Traveling Wilburys brought him back to the fore after many years of obscurity. Orbison was one of the biggest stars of the ’60s, but his ’70s albums had little impact, and by the ’80s he was struggling to fill small theaters. Before his death, he completed a comeback album with his fellow Wilburys called Mystery Girl, which was released on January 31, 1989, just as “End Of The Line” was climbing the charts. The album did very well, selling over a million copies in America and a lot more worldwide. The single “You Got It” landed at #9 in the US in April 1989, giving him his first Top 10 hit since “(Oh) Pretty Woman” in 1964.

The music video was directed by Willy Smax, who had previously worked with George Harrison on his “Got My Mind Set On You” video. It takes place, fittingly, on a train where the band is performing in a boxcar. Roy Orbison died before the video was made, so when his verse comes we see his photo and his guitar on a rocking chair.

It was kind of amazing that Harrison, Petty, Lynne and Dylan were able to get together for a music video months after the album was released. They were all busy with other projects but really enjoyed each other’s company, so when the album exceeded expectations, they made time to make another video. The drummer on the train is Jim Keltner, the stalwart session player they used on the album. He’s credited as “Buster Sidebury.”

Credit Songfacts