Even though Roy Orbison was gone too soon, the remaining Wilburys were determined to carry on, and they did. The joke here is that rather than trying to follow the success of Volume One with a second installment, they skipped right to the third. (Cue rim shot.) The songs are largely Dylan-centric compositions, and better than the album he’d released a month earlier. “She’s My Baby” hits the ground running, with over-the-top guitar injections by “bluesman” Gary Moore. “Inside Out” and “The Devil’s Been Busy”—complete with sitar!—are ecological numbers, sandwiching the too-short “If You Belonged To Me”. “7 Deadly Sins” is the only doo-wop number in Dylan’s oeuvre, and it’s a scream. “Poor House” is standard inconsequential Jeff Lynne rockabilly redeemed by George’s guitar.
“Where Were You Last Night?” is more Bob, who steps aside long enough for Tom to recite the wry musical inventory in “Cool Dry Place”. (It, of course, being the natural sequel to “Handle With Care”.) “New Blue Moon” fits the same weird pocket as “Margarita” on the other album, but this one’s funnier. “You Took My Breath Away” is better Petty, and the whole thing comes crashing down with “Wilbury Twist”.
While there may be those who find Vol. 3 as enjoyable as the first, the boys just couldn’t capture lightning in the same bottle. It was too much to expect the same surprising fun, but it didn’t merit the near commercial ignorance the public served it. At least the band had the decency not to try and replace Roy. They even picked new pseudonyms. (The 2007 reissue adds “Nobody’s Child”, which was originally available only on Olivia Harrison’s Romanian Angel Appeal charity album, and a sadly reworked version of “Runaway”, which wasn’t so close to the original Del Shannon version when first released as a B-side. Thanks a lot, Jeff.)
And that was that. While George professed to be a Wilbury till he died, no further recordings by the group have surfaced or much less been rumored.
Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (1990)—3
2007 rerelease: same as 1990, plus 2 extra tracks
i picked up a bootleg called volume 2 1/2. it is mostly out-takes and has a lot of dylan doing the vocals in place of the other guys.
ReplyDeletepersonally, i like all three CDs.
The album does rock harder than the first, with more emphasis on electric guitars and drums. I don’t find the songwriting to be quite as sharp. “Cool Dry Place” is more odd than funny; “Poor House” isn’t quite as good a showcase for Lynne as “Rattled” is. Orbison, the best vocalist in the group, is very much missed. He would have sent “New Blue Moon” into the stratosphere. The album could also have used more George.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, “She’s My Baby”, “Wilbury Twist” and “Seven Deadly Sins” are as hilarious as the peaks of the first album were. Overall, I agree with your review. There’s fun to be had, but it was inevitable that it would be a comedown. It was good that there never was a Volume 4 (or would that have been a Volume 5?).