This is the fifth of my personal additions to the Eighties
albums.
Towards the end of the Eighties, George Harrison released his first solo album in ages (Cloud Nine, the one featuring Got My Mind Set On You); shortly afterwards Tom Petty did the same (Full Moon Fever, with among others Free Fallin'). And there was Jeff Lynne on production of both, lurking behind a slew of albums released at the time like Nick Fury in the post-credits scene of a Phase One Marvel film.
From that metaphor, this album is the first Avengers film, bringing
together each of the solo artists into one supergroup – Lynne, Harrison, Petty,
along with Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. Which would make, let’s see ...
Harrison, millionaire with his mansion full of gadgets, would
be Tony Stark / Iron Man, Dylan; a relic from the past would be Captain America; Lynne I’ve already cast as Nick Fury, and I kind of ran out of ideas
for Petty and Orbison. Although in actuality, the group give
themselves pseudonyms that, like the Ramones, they pretend are all part of the
same family – Nelson Wilbury (Harrison), Otis Wilbury (Lynne), Charlie T
(Petty), Lefty (Orbison) and Lucky (Dylan). Anyway....
Quite often with supergroups, there’s a certain
level of diminishing returns, usually being less than the sum of their parts,
and by this time all of these artists, although legendary, were also
getting a little old hat (although both Harrison and Petty's albums above are worth checking out). Nevertheless, this is a solid album, helped along by
the fact that each of the contributors has at least one track that
is noticeably their own style, and this makes it feel more like a
collaboration of equals rather than the old “Brown Plasticene” effect where
blending lots of exciting individual elements together too much turns them into
disappointing mush.
Not Alone Any More, for example, is a classic Roy
Orbison ballad that builds to a climax, while Tweeter And The Monkey Man
is a pure Bob Dylan troubadour song, with a pleasingly complex tale about a
drug dealer (Monkey Man), his transgender side-kick Tweeter (who “was a
boy scout ‘fore she went to Vietnam”), a cross-country chase involving
an undercover cop who is pursuing the duo, and the cop’s sister Jan (“for
reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man”). It's a bit like a Coen Brothers film.
Meanwhile, other tracks borrow from elements of each Wilbury
but manage to make them sound unique. Rattled, for example, is a bit of
rockabilly (very Petty) but mainly sung by Lynne, with Orbison
interjecting the kind of rolled-R growls that he put to good use in Pretty
Woman. Last Night sees Petty and Orbison
sharing vocal duties in a way that works well for both their
voices, with a kind of samba beat. Heading For The Light
is a bouncy George Harrison number (with obvious Lynne production
elements).
Dirty World is mainly vocalled by Dylan and
has a certain Subterranean Homesick Blues feel with a
witty list of strange and mundane things that a beloved finds
endearing (a lot are food and car-related), told in a call and response with the rest of the Wilburys:
“He loves your (electric dumplings)
He loves your (red bell peppers)
He loves your (fuel injection)
He loves your (service charge)”
The opening and closing tracks – Handle With Care
and End Of The Line respectively, deftly interweave all
Wilburys, giving each a time in the spot light.
Yes, the production values of Jeff Lynne are
absolutely evident throughout, not least in the style of the
drums (by Jim Keltner who gets the Wilbury-adjacent pseudonym of
Buster Sidebury). And although I mentioned at the start that supergroups
often get diluted, and each of these artists were getting on a bit, this one
actually works really well, a suitable revival of all their careers (except,
sadly, Orbison, who died shortly before this was released, and whose absence is
felt in the sequel album). Add to that sleeve notes written
by Michael Palin (whom Harrison presumably knew through his Handmade
Films production company behind the likes of Life of Brian and Time Bandits)
and you’ve got a very solid album made by a great bunch of artists,
and listening to it again pretty much every track is a keeper.
Sad note, at the time of writing only Lynne and Dylan are still with us.
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