Music / The Collection (2007)

The Traveling Wilburys Collection (2007)

Released: June 11-12, 2007 Label: Rhino Records, in association with Wilbury Records Chart peak: #1 (UK), #9 (US Billboard 200)

After George Harrison's Warner Bros. distribution deal lapsed in 1995, ownership of both Wilburys albums reverted to him, and, for reasons nobody has ever fully explained, he simply never got around to reissuing them. Both records drifted out of print through the late 1990s, becoming exactly the kind of used-CD-bin holy grail longtime fans remember hunting for. Harrison died in 2001 without resolving it. It fell to his estate, managed by his widow Olivia, to finally bring the catalog back into the world.

What's in the Box

The Traveling Wilburys Collection gathers both studio albums, remastered under Jeff Lynne's supervision, expanded with previously unreleased bonus material, and packaged alongside a DVD containing the band's five music videos and a documentary built from footage shot during the original 1988 sessions. Three editions were released:

• Standard edition: both CDs plus the bonus DVD, in a double digipak with a 16-page booklet.
• Deluxe limited edition: a linen-bound slipcase package with a 40-page casebound book featuring rare photographs, the original liner notes, new commentary, complete lyrics, an envelope of postcards and photocards, a fabric logo sticker, and a numbered certificate of authenticity, limited to 50,000 copies worldwide.
• Vinyl edition: both original albums on 3LP, plus a bonus 12-inch of additional material.

The Bonus Tracks

• "Maxine" and "Like a Ship": previously unreleased Vol. 1-era outtakes, both featuring new 2007 overdubs from George's son Dhani Harrison, credited as Ayrton Wilbury in tribute to Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna.
• "Nobody's Child" and "Runaway": added to the Vol. 3 disc; "Nobody's Child" had originally been released in 1990 as a charity single for the Romanian Angel Appeal, while "Runaway," a cover of the Del Shannon classic, had previously only appeared as a UK B-side, here remixed with a new clavioline solo.

The Documentary

The DVD's centerpiece is The True History of the Traveling Wilburys, a roughly 24-minute documentary built primarily from footage filmed during the Vol. 1 sessions in 1988, expanded with retrospective interviews. Read more about it on its own page.

Chart Performance

The reissue outperformed both original albums in one very specific sense: it became the highest-debuting box set in UK chart history at the time, entering at number one, and reached number nine on the US Billboard 200, a higher debut position than Nirvana's box set With the Lights Out had managed, even though Nirvana's set ultimately sold more total copies. The Wilburys' reissue has gone on to sell well over a million copies worldwide.

Since 2007

The catalog saw a further digital-era update in 2016, when Concord Music Group reissued the collection with additional remastering and brought both albums to streaming platforms for the first time. For a band that spent nearly a decade completely out of print, it was a fairly emphatic second act. The songs cut in ten days in a borrowed kitchen in 1988 were, by 2016, streaming to listeners who weren't alive when any of it happened.

Explore the two original albums individually: Vol. 1 and Vol. 3, or see every video included on the reissue's bonus DVD on our singles and videos page.