Created By: Jonathan Dysart (DJJD)
Original Creation Year: 2006
Year of Re-master: 2010
Song Listing
Side A
Side B
Side C
Side D
Origin of the Album
I just finished the high of creating a great instrumental album DJJD Volume 16, and I was scattering around of ideas for the next album. I did not have any “theme” or concept for an album, so I decided to start collecting songs that came to mind or felt close to me. Using DJJD Volume 15 as a template for this album, I constructed the initial version of this album, and boy what a mistake that was.
Despite a couple bright spots of songs here and there, which usually confined to the second half of the album, the initial version of this album was unlistenable. There was no sense of chemistry or flow the album whatsoever. It was just a bunch of songs thrown together, which goes against my whole purpose of creating these albums. On the first half of the album, I had the following lineup:
1. Stacy’s Mom: Fountain of Wayne
2. Hot Legs: Rod Stewart
3. You Got It: Roy Orbison
4. Feel Like Making Love: Bad Company
5. No Myth: Michael Penn
6. Tubthumping: Chumbawamba
7. Steal My Sunshine: Len
8. Perfect Situation: Weezer
9. Do You Want To: Franz Ferdinand
Most of the songs that I had problems with were the contemporary ones. They were popular at that time, but I was not too heartfelt for them. They were too "bubblegum" for me, but more importantly I tried to recreate previous album themes. Plus, I was out of ideas. So in my opinion at that time, I just created the worst album in my list.
When I tried to adjust it after doing adjusting DJJD Volume 15, I tried to add some life to this album. The adjustments helped a bit, like including “I Can’t Explain” by The Who, but adding songs like “Under The Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers (whom I really don’t like listening to anyway) did not help.
It wasn't until I began the remastering process of this album. It started when I was watching the DVD documentary of the beginning of the Traveling Wilburys, which is included in the 2007 box set. I started remembering that time in my life where the Traveling Wilburys were huge, and I remember that lost tape that I made in 1989. Details of both below.
From those memories, I decided to gut out this album and make DJJD Volume 17 the reincarnation of my 1989 lost tape, adding in solo songs from the five Wilburys and certain elements that I did recall from my 1989 lost tape. Being almost like a mad scientist, I restructured what was the worst album I've made to a brand-new creature that I am proud of, and most importantly bearable now, in my collection.
“It’s Alive! It’s Alive!”
Traveling Wilburys Era: 1988-1990
The story of the Traveling Wilburys really started in the “Cloud Nine” sessions with George Harrison and Jeff Lynne. By late 1986 – after a substantial break – George Harrison felt the desire to make music again. He asked Jeff Lynne, who just went through the breakup of his beloved Electric Light Orchestra after releasing “Balance of Power”, to co-produce the album with him.
“Wilbury” was a slang term first used by George Harrison during the recording of “Cloud Nine” with Jeff Lynne. Harrison, referring to recording errors created by some faulty equipment, jokingly remarked to Lynne, “We’ll buy ‘em in the mix”. Thereafter, they used the term for any small error in performance and the term was used again when the supergroup was together. Harrison suggested “The Trembling Wilburys” as the group’s name; instead, Lynne suggested “Traveling”, with which the group agreed.
Starting with a meal among Roy Orbison, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne, the group came together at Bob Dylan’s home studio in Malibu, California, to record an additional track as a B-side for the single release of Harrison’s “This is Love” from the album Cloud Nine. Tom Petty’s involvement came by chance, as Harrison had left his guitar at Petty’s house and Petty came back with Harrison. The record label, however, decided that the song that resulted, “Handle with Care”, was too good to be released as “single filler”.
The members enjoyed working together so much that they decided to create a full album together. “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1”, written by all the members, was recorded over a ten-day period in May 1988 and released on October 18. The “Wilburys” joke was extended further, with the band members credited under various pseudonyms. The album was a critical and commercial success, spawning several successful singles and eventually reaching triple-platinum sales status in the US. The album was nominated for several awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1989.
Roy Orbison’s death on December 6, 1988, brought the end of the original lineup. During the music video for “End of the Line”, Roy Orbison’s photo is shown followed by a shot of his rocking in a rocking chair. This is done when Orbison’s portion of the song was sung.
The Traveling Wilburys contributed the title track “Nobody’s Child” (DJJD Volume 1) to the Romanian Angel Appeal benefit album “Nobody’s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal”, released on July 24, 1990.
The final studio album by the Wilburys, intentionally mis-numbered “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3”, was released on October 30, 1990, but met with less success than the previous one. In the booklet contained in the 2007 box set, the album name is credited to “George being George”.
Nelson Wilbury, Spike Wilbury: George Harrison
The only solo work he did during the Traveling Wilburys era was releasing the “Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989”, a compilation is drawn from his later solo work. This album also included two new songs “Poor Little Girl” and “Cockamamie Business” (which saw him once again looking wryly upon his Beatle past), as well as “Cheer Down”, which had first been released earlier in the year on the soundtrack to the film “Lethal Weapon 2” in 1989. These songs were co-produced by Jeff Lynne.
Harrison also did session work on Tom Petty’s “Full Moon Fever” in 1989 and Jeff Lynne’s “Armchair Theatre” in 1990.
Otis Wilbury, Clayton Wilbury: Jeff Lynne
In 1988, Jeff Lynne worked on Roy Orbison’s album “Mystery Girl” co-writing and producing Orbison’s last major hit “You Got It”, plus two other tracks on that album. For “Rock On!”, the final Del Shannon album, Jeff Lynne co-wrote “Walk Away” and finished off several tracks after Shannon’s death.
In 1989, Jeff Lynne co-produced “Full Moon Fever” by Tom Petty, which included the hit singles “Free Fallin’”, “I Won’t Back Down”, and “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, all co-written by Lynne. Lynne’s song “One Way Love” was released as a single by Agnetha Faltskog and appeared on her second post-ABBA album “Eyes of a Woman”. Lynne co-wrote and produced the track “Let It Shine” for Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson’s first solo album in 1988. Lynne also contributed three tracks to an album by Duane Eddy and “Falling in Love” on “Land of Dreams” for Randy Newman.
In 1990, after working on “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3”, Jeff Lynne released his first solo album “Armchair Theatre”, with old friends George Harrison and Richard Tandy featuring the singles “Every Little Thing” and “Lift Me Up”.
In 1991, Jeff Lynne returned to the studio with Tom Petty, co-writing and producing the album “Into the Great Wide Open”, which featured the singles “Learning to Fly” and “Into the Great Wide Open”. The following year he produced Roy Orbison’s posthumous album “King of Hearts”, featuring the single “I Drove All Night”.
In 1994, Jeff Lynne fulfilled a lifelong dream by working with the three surviving Beatles on the “Anthology” album series by co-producing both “Free as a Bird” and “Free Love”. He then produced Paul McCartney’s “Flaming Pie” in 1995.
Lefty Wilbury: Roy Orbison
His career was revived by the use of his music in David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” in 1986, even though Orbison refused to allow his music to be used in the film. Another factor was released of “Crying”, performing a duet with K.D. Lang.
Orbison and Springsteen paired to film a concert at the Cocoanut Grove Ballroom in Los Angeles. They were joined by Jackson Browne, T-Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, and K.D. Lang. The concert film is entitled “Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night”.
After the release of “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1”, Orbison was in high demand for concerts and interviews once again. He began writing songs and collaborating with many musicians from his past and newer fans to develop a solo album titled “Mystery Girl”. U2’s lead singer Bono had become aware of Orbison when he saves “Blue Velvet” and, with The Edge wrote “She’s a Mystery to Me” for him.
In November 1988, “Mystery Girl” was completed and “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1” was rising up the charts. Orbison went to Europe where he was presented with an award and played a show in Antwerp where footage for the video for "You Got It" was filmed. He gave multiple interviews a day in a hectic schedule. A few days later a manager at a club in Boston was concerned that he looked ill, but Orbison played the show to another standing ovation. Finally, exhausted, he returned to his home in Hendersonville to rest for a few days before flying again to London to film two more videos for the Traveling Wilburys. On December 6, 1988, he spent the day flying model airplanes with his sons. After having dinner at his mother's home in Tennessee, Orbison died of a heart attack.
Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr., Muddy Wilbury: Tom Petty
In 1989, Tom Petty released “Full Moon Fever”, which featured hits "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin'" and "Runnin' Down a Dream". It was nominally his first solo album, although several Heartbreakers and other well-known musicians participated: Mike Campbell co-produced the album with Petty and Jeff Lynne, and backing musicians included Campbell, Lynne, and fellow Wilburys Roy Orbison and George Harrison. Since all the original Traveling Wilburys except Bob Dylan participated on the album, it is sometimes considered by fans as the unofficial Traveling Wilbury's "Volume Two".
In 1990, Tom Petty contributed to the music of Jeff Lynne’s solo album “Armchair Theatre”.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers reformed in 1991 and released “Into the Great Wide Open”, which was co-produced by Lynne and included the hit singles "Learning To Fly" and "Into The Great Wide Open", the latter featuring Johnny Depp, Gabrielle Anwar, Faye Dunaway, and Matt LeBlanc in the video.
Before leaving MCA Records, Tom and the Heartbreakers got together to record, live in the studio, two new songs for a "Greatest Hits" package. "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air". This was Stan Lynch's last recorded performance with The Heartbreakers.
Tom Petty's cause of death in 2017 has been revealed as an accidental overdose of prescribed medications. ... with the medical examiner – coroner's office and we were informed of their final analysis that Tom Petty passed away due to an accidental drug overdose as a result of taking a variety of medications.
Lucky Wilbury, Boo Wilbury: Bob Dylan
In 1986 and 1987, Bob Dylan toured extensively with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, sharing vocals with Petty on several songs each night. Dylan also toured with The Grateful Dead in 1987, resulting in a live album “Dylan & The Dead”.
When Dylan released the album “Down in the Groove” in May 1988, it was even more unsuccessful in its sales than his previous studio album. The critical and commercial disappointment of that album was swiftly followed by the success of the Traveling Wilburys. Despite Orbison's death in December 1988, the remaining four recorded a second album in May 1990, which they released with the unexpected title “Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3”.
Dylan finished the decade on a critical high note with “Oh Mercy” produced by Daniel Lanois. Dylan critic Michael Gray wrote that the album was: "Attentively written, vocally distinctive, musically warm, and uncompromisingly professional, this cohesive whole is the nearest thing to a great Bob Dylan album in the 1980s."
DJJD 1989: The Lost Tape
In the spring of 1987, I accomplished my creative feat of recording “DJJD 1987” on a TDK 120 minute tape. However, after the death of my father, I was not in the right frame of mind of creating any additional recording tapes. I tried to do some recording taken from the radio the next year, but they were not my best and were forgettable. It was not until 1989 that I made a modest significant tape recording that was comparable to my “DJJD 1987” recording. I’m not sure what happened to the tape, but it is physically lost forever.
I remembered some of the songs (or some of the bands) that included on that lost tape. The songs that I remember were in the tape were the following: “You Got It” by Roy Orbison, “Dream On” by Aerosmith, “Shooting Star” and “Silver Blue and Gold” by Bad Company, and “Tuesday’s Gone” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Other bands included in the tape were from Supertramp, The Kinks, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Yes.
Concept and Theme of the Album
There was not the main theme of this album, but a revitalization of the music that I listened to around the times of the Traveling Wilburys’ era, where it was at its peak in 1989.
I gutted out the “garbage” songs that were in there, mainly the contemporary stuff, and added elements relating to the Wilburys and from my 1989 lost tape. I decided to take some of the good songs already existing on the album and move them around, so to improve the chemistry and the flow of the album, thus making it more cohesive as a whole.
Concept and the Album Cover
The original album cover, when working on the second version of this album, was just as bad as the album itself. I had a fairly nice surreal picture, but the frame, color, and the album title was nothing left to be desired.
When remastering this album, I wanted to add another surreal picture, which had nothing to do with the album except for artistic purposes. I found this weird picture of a headless Barbie doll surrounded by some garbage toys or something around it. Since my thought of the earlier version of this album was garbage to me, the picture seemed appropriate. For the back album cover, I applied the same “garbage” approach and had the album title and song listings written on top of some garbage paper.
It reminded me of the process of “rummaging through my old stuff” as a pictorial association with this album, and I think it is appropriate for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment