In 1987 a band of serious musicians decided they wer fed up with the plastic pop being manufactured by Stock, Aitken and Waterman among others. They decided to form a band - they called it The Traveling Wilburys.

The story of the Traveling Wilburys, a group of five half-brothers with a common father, Charles Truscott Wilbury Sr., was told on the sleeve notes - allegedly by Michael Palin inspired by Derek Taylor.

Calling themselves Charlie T Jr., Lefty, Nelson, Lucky and Otis Wilbury, their disguise lasted for at least one bar of their first record. The voice of Lefty Wilbury was immediately recognisable: Roy Orbison. Nelson Wilbury's writing style revealed him to be George Harrison, Otis's guitar style was unmistakably that of Jeff Lynne. Nobody could mistake Lucky Wilbury for anyone other than the great Bob Dylan, and Charlie T Jr. was obviously none other than Tom Petty.

The music was traditional rock & roll, played on acoustic instruments. As Phil Collins said on the cover of No Jacket Required, "There is no Fairlight¹ on this record."

Wilburys was a phrase which had been used by George Harrison to describe technical gremlins during the recording of Cloud Nine. Bob Dylan added the "Traveling" part.

The most famous Wilbury record is You Got It - which isn't a Wilbury record at all. It is an Orbison track co-written with Tome Petty and Jeff Lynne, who also sang backing vocals, and it doesn't appear on any Wilburys albums.