The Traveling Wilburys were a supergroup formed by Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison (who passed away between the first and second album), and Tom Petty. On the album, the members were credited as brothers in the fictional Wilbury family, though they changed their pseudonyms after their first album.

The name itself is an inside joke: When faced with minor recording errors during his 1987 Cloud Nine sessions, Harrison would joke to co-writer/producer Lynne “we’ll bury ‘em in the mix”, soon referring to such problems as “will-bury’s”. The suggested band name “Trembling Wilburys” was changed at Lynne’s suggestion to “Traveling Wilburys”.

The genesis of the band was Harrison’s record label asking him for an additional song to use as a bonus track on the European “This Is Love” single from Cloud Nine. While Harrison and Lynne were having dinner with Orbison, he asked to join their recording session and watch. Harrison contacted Dylan to ask if they could use his home studio in Malibu, California. Then Harrison stopped by Petty’s house to get his guitar, and he joined the session as well. The outcome of that session was “Handle With Care” – a song deemed “too good” to be used as an obscure b-side.

The group released two albums, Vol. 1 and Vol. 3. Vol. 1 netted them a Grammy award for the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and two international hits with “Handle With Care” and “End Of Line” (though in the US, they were minor hits).

Documentary: