This first outing by the collective of rock legends – Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne – has attained something of its own legendary status, and listening back to it, it’s not hard to see why.
The two group efforts, “Handle With Care” and “End Of The Line”, deservedly got a great deal of attention as singles, but there were plenty of other music treasures to be found. “Dirty World” and “Tweeter And The Monkey Man” are obviously Bob Dylan’s babies, while Lynne’s influence is obvious on the retro-rocker “Rattled”. But far and away, the prize on Volume One goes to “Not Alone Anymore”, which was the last thing any of us heard out of Roy Orbison before his death. It was a nice preview of the sound Orbison and Lynne would glean from their collaboration on Orbison’s final solo album Mystery Girl, and took on a bit of a haunting quality in hindsight.
Harrison’s “Heading For The Light” ain’t shabby either…and I think it’s the last song we’ve heard out of him that 
really sounds like him, Beatles Anthology “new” songs notwithstanding.
It’s a bit of fun with a little touch of a country twang to it, and while the follow-up, Volume Three, had its own charms, Orbison’s presence – and, indeed, the presence of the other four rock legends working together for the first time – made Volume One a special outing for the Wilburys.
- Handle With Care (3:20)
- Dirty World (3:30)
- Rattled (3:00)
- Last Night (3:48)
- Not Alone Any More (3:24)
- Congratulations (3:30)
- Heading For The Light (3:37)
- Margarita (3:16)
- Tweeter And The Monkey Man (5:30)
- End Of The Line (3:30)
Released by: Wilbury Records
Release date: 1988
Total running time: 36:25
