(Credits: Far Out / The Traveling Wilburys)
Wed 20 August 2025 18:30, UK
Anyone would have considered playing with any of the Traveling Wilburys to be a dream come true. Jamming with legends of rock and roll is something that feels lifted out of any rock and roll fan’s fever dream, but people don’t realise how daunting it can be when faced with the idea of actually performing with them.
Because as much fun as it sounds on paper, what could anyone have possibly added to the equation in one of the ultimate supergroups? Sure, someone might have a great rhythm guitar technique and a knack for writing decent lyrics, but was there anyone who had the guts to tell someone like George Harrison or Bob Dylan that they could perform whatever guitar part better than they could? Probably not.
Then again, the appeal of the Wilburys was never about anyone grandstanding. The band was put together for a laugh by Harrison in between making pieces of his solo album, and when they found everyone with a free schedule for a few days, the album was more about getting to hear some of the best writers in the world practice their craft in front of each other. Out of everyone in the group, though, Tom Petty was always going to be looked at as the adopted little brother of everyone.
While he and Jeff Lynne were much closer in age, he was clearly the new kid compared with Harrison or Roy Orbison, but that didn’t mean his contributions weren’t as good. You have to remember that he was on the verge of making Full Moon Fever within months of the group’s debut album, so it made sense for him to bring something new to the table while also asking some of his new friends to stick around for songs like ‘I Won’t Back Down’ and ‘Zombie Zoo’.
But even if Full Moon Fever is looked at as the musical lovechild of Petty and Lynne, Mike Campbell was always the glue keeping everything together. His lead guitar break on ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream’ is one of the best guitar parts on any Petty record, but while the heartland rocker was more than happy to bring Campbell along when working with his famous friends, the guitarist was never going to even think about playing with them.
He was there for the creation and overdubbing of a song like ‘Handle With Care’, but after one or two passes trying to do his own thing, Campbell eventually asked Harrison to break out his slide for the solo, saying, “Jeff said play something like Eric Clapton. I did my best version of trying to play in that mould, but I knew it wasn’t my best stuff. I felt really bad because Tom was really trying to involve me in the whole thing. I wanted the heat off me. I had the sound up in my guitar, so I just handed it to George and he pulled out a slide… the rest is history. When you hear what George played, it’s a hundred times better than what I played.”
Although Campbell was also a master at slide guitar, Harrison’s choice of putting a slide solo in its place was a much better call. Whereas most slide players like to throw in the occasional part to bring some levity to the track, Harrison is second only to Duane Allman in making a slide sound like a person talking whenever he plays, and no bluesy licks were ever going to make up for that.
Even if Campbell relinquished his guitar duties, it seems a little bit bittersweet that they eventually tapped Gary Moore to lay down the bluesy guitar parts on ‘She’s My Baby’. Campbell may have been too scared to show his stuff with the Wilburys at the time, but as fate would have it, working with them is an opportunity that only came around once.
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