Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 - The Album

The Album

Released October 18, 1988, Volume One became the surprise hit of the year, selling two million copies within six months in the United States. Although the single "Handle With Care" did not scale the pop charts (it stalled at US #45), the album did, reaching #16 in the UK and an impressive #3 in the US. With over fifty weeks on the charts, the album was later certified triple-platinum. While Harrison and Petty had had recent successes, Dylan, Orbison (who would die suddenly of a heart attack on 6 December 1988) and Lynne had not seen an album climb that high in several years. At the time, no Dylan album had ever achieved two million in sales. As one critic put it, it was "one of the great commercial coups of the decade."

Most critics said the group's modest ambitions were fresh and relaxing. During 1989 and 1990 the album won many accolades, including a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.

After George Harrison’s distribution deal with Warner Bros. expired in 1995, ownership of the Dark Horse Records catalog as well as the two Traveling Wilburys albums reverted to Harrison and the albums went out of print. On June 12, 2007, Volume One and Vol. 3 were re-issued by Rhino Records as The Traveling Wilburys Collection, packaged together with bonus tracks and a DVD. The box set debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart and at #9 on The Billboard 200.