Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXI--Traveling Wilburys: End of the Line

At one point in time I had thought that if I ever decide to bring Friday Night Jukebox to a close this week's tune would be perfect for its ending...but considering that I have songs to cover the next three years and seem to come up with a year to a year and a half's worth of songs each year to continue FNJ, its demise seems pretty remote....

The Traveling Wilburys formed in 1988 when George Harrison (Nelson Wilbury) asked Jeff Lynne (Otis) and Roy Orbison (Lefty) to help him with a B-side for his next single.  As Bob Dylan's (Lucky) house was nearby and had a recording studio, they asked if he'd let them use it.  Tom Petty (Charlie T., Jr.) came on when Harrison stopped by his house to pick up a guitar he'd left there.  They deemed the B-side single they recorded ("Handle with Care") too good for a B-side...and decided to join forces.  Their first album was a surprise hit, won a Grammy, and led to a second--and final--LP.  Sadly, Roy Orbison passed away shortly after the first album was released, George Harrison passed away in 2001, and Tom Petty in 2017.  The band discussed touring but it never came to be.  The super group is credited with revitalizing the careers of Dylan, Petty, and Roy Orbison (the revitalization, especially Dylan, played a large part in their only releasing two albums, as solo careers took precedence), and also with giving rock and roll a shot in the arm as it defied what were then the most commercially successful genres of pop music.  If nothing else, they were a hell of a lot of fun....

"End of the Line" was the second single released from the Wilburys' appropriately named debut album, The Traveling Wilburys, Vol 1 (have to admit the "Vol. 1" was a nice touch, separating them from every other group with an eponymous album).  The single would reach #63 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album roared up to #3 on the albums chart.

Fun (if somewhat sad) Fact:  Roy Orbison had passed away by the time the Traveling Wilburys made the video (seen below) for "End of the Line," so Orbison is memorialized by showing a rocking chair with a guitar on it next to his picture every time Orbison's vocals are present in the song.

The Traveling Wilburys pretty much had me at the jangly guitar (adroitly played by Harrison) at the beginning of the song--that the rest of the song is a gem is just icing on the cake.  Much like the Grateful Dead's "Touch of Grey" (which I wrote about in Jukebox No. 23, "End of the Line" is a paean to getting older and relishing in it.  While I was still a young man when the single debuted, I've come to appreciate its sentiments more and more as I get older.  Surprisingly enough, getting older is "all right" as the band tells us, and you do tend to appreciate the day to day treasures just a bit more.  The song features Tom Petty's vocals through the stanzas, and each of the band members (except Dylan) takes a turn leading the chorus vocals.  The music is top tapping good, there's a knowing humor to both the lyrics and the vocals, and the band's chiming "...at the end of the line, end of the line..." as the end of each sentence Petty sings makes one of those special moments that all great songs have.  As I've noted here a time or two, one of the surest ways for me to know how amazing a song is is how much I sing it after I've done my half-assed research for the week--suffice it to say this one's been driving my wife and youngest son nuts all week--having to listen to me sing it again and again and again....

Lyric Sheet:  "Well it's all right, even if you're old and gray/Well it's all right, you still got something to say..."


Enjoy:

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emaycee