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Traveling Wilburys — Handle with Care
Album: Vol 1
Avg rating:
7.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1611









Released: 1988
Length: 3:13
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Been beat up and battered round
Been sent up, and Ive been shot down
Youre the best thing that Ive ever found
Handle me with care

Reputations changeable
Situations tolerable
Baby, you're adorable
Handle me with care

(chorus)
Im so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Wont you show me that you really care

(bridge)
Everybodys got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine, and dream on

Ive been fobbed off, and Ive been fooled
Ive been robbed and ridiculed
In day care centers and night schools
Handle me with care

Been stuck in airports, terrorized
Sent to meetings, hypnotized
Overexposed, commercialized
Hand me with care

(chorus)

(bridge)

Ive been uptight and made a mess
But I'll clean it up myself, I guess
Oh, the sweet smell of success
Handle me with care
Comments (63)add comment
Super group if ever there was one. That’s an incredible amount of talent right there
Immortal song! I have an indelible memory of Tony B. playing this at a rather cranked volume in his traditional Japanese tatami-mat and shoji-paneled apartment tucked among the urban high-rises of sunny Shizuoka the morning after our all-night beer and sake karaoke party. Roy had only days before gone beyond The End of the Line. It had been discovered -- at Tony's relentless insistence -- that I could actually sing Roy's songs. It had proved a timely and tremendous boon toward the funding of our bold, fun-filled drinking adventures. We looked out upon the morning traffic of the bustling city as we rehashed the previous evening over pancakes and coffee. We also talked of Roy's passing and the ephemerality of things in this life. We then had to hurry up and get properly wakened and ready to meet two of the gals we'd partied with for a day-trip to a famous shrine in the autumn-tinted hills, and Tony's choice of cobweb-clearing motivational tunes was inspirational and impeccably apropos... Thanks for the music, Traveling Wilburys, Tony, and RP!
I believe this was the greatest supergroup. The album is so infectiously fun 🤩 
Fun to hear these unique artists in one song. Song is formulaic.
 from Wikipedia:
Jeff Lynne recalls that, as they all travelled together to the film shoot, Orbison kept the band entertained by reciting entire Monty Python comedy sketches by himself. Lynne continues: "And he's got this enormous and most infectious giggle you've ever heard, and we'd all be giggling like schoolgirls after a minute or two and all fall about!"
 
Man that is just awesome... the more I hear about Roy the more I like him.



This song always gives me tingles. Brilliant.

Never much of a fan of the you-take-a-verse-then-you-take-a-verse approach. I've always wanted this to be only Roy O on lead
 treatment_bound wrote:

Nice to hear George's voice again on an otherwise crappy Tuesday morning.




Nothing changes except everything changes!!
 TerryS wrote:

Ahhh, The Trembling Wilburys.



I wonder if the folks who thumbed down your comment have any idea that "Trembling Wilburys" is what Harrison thought they should call the band before Lynne suggested "Traveling" instead?
The super-est of super groups!
Quire!Quire!Quire! did a nice rendition. 
I've been known to bad talk the Wilburys because of the super group recording company nature of their creation. But on occasion I think the artists rise above it.
I still recall the first time I heard who was in this group. It went something like..Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison  WOW! And Bob Dylan..holy sh...!!! And Tom Petty..are you kidding me!!!? And George Harrison..OK, now you're making it up!
Bumped this great song to 9
 treatment_bound wrote:
Nice to hear George's voice again on an otherwise crappy Tuesday morning.
 

Don't forget good ol' Roy and Tom too!  
Full strength line up 
This is a great song. Sad to realize how many of these fine artist have died. Roy, Tom, George. Bob just sold his music catalog so he's thinking about his exit from this mortal coil.  Jeff is 72!
 TerryS wrote:
Ahhh, The Trembling Wilburys.
 

What they were going to call the band originally, in case folks weren't aware.
When they lost Orbison, they should've replaced him with Randy Newman. Would've been a perfect fit.
What a bundle of talent. They are all sorely missed...
Near perfection
The best supergroup there ever was, and possibly will be, and the album is ace from start to finish. That is all.
 treatment_bound wrote:
Nice to hear George's voice again on an otherwise crappy Tuesday morning.
 
George and Roy are awesome... the backing vocals from Tom, Jeff, and Bob are a bit jarring on the first chorus. But it's a quite likeable joy all the same.
Jeff and Bob are the last ones standing. Damn.
c.
 treatment_bound wrote:
Nice to hear George's voice again on an otherwise crappy Tuesday morning.
 
Agreed, and then BillG paired this with John's #9 dream...wonder if it'll be Paul or Ringo after that....LLRP!!  And this one's a 9.9 to me, whereas "End of the Line" is a 10.1
Five great talents knowing how to collaborate and share on a fun tune.  

I have no qualms or shame about giving this track a '10.'
A seven just for the names! (if thats ok)
 treatment_bound wrote:
Nice to hear George's voice again on an otherwise crappy Tuesday morning.
 
Amazing!  It's still nice on this otherwise crappy Tuesday 5 years later...
Poor. Bland. Going nowhere fast.
Dylan drags the rating down at least a couple of points.
Roy-Gone, George-Gone, Tom-Gone. Hope the other boys won't "travel"yet.
#GreatSong
handle w/ care still great in 2019--great music does that
Not sure why such great hate of the Wilburys.  Yes they were nothing overly special considering their lineup but still pretty far above average, at least their first album.  Second one I admit was pretty poor.


Nice to hear George's voice again on an otherwise crappy Tuesday morning.
There are self-conscious super groups--think Cream, CSNY. Then there are the Wilburys.

"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is CLEARLY the best song on that album!


Two songs in a row by bands with a Dylan in it.
thank you George for goosing Roy. R.I.P. the BEST EVER....{#Dance}
 Pedro1874 wrote:

Perfect Pop, really top feelgood music - such great band members - loved the documentary which after viewing makes these tunes so much more - you can feel the enjoyment they had making the albums coming out in the music - thanks Bill.
 

I agree...  this song is marvelous...  love it...
 
PSD!!!
Loved this tune when it first came out, and still love it now.
Nice segue Bill~
 pcicatar wrote:

The documentary featured some really wonderful footage from the making of this album and the lead up to it.  If you haven't seen, it reaffirmed why George was such a wonderful musician and interesting human being.

 

Exactly!  {#Dance}


 romeotuma wrote:


Yes, I agree...

and this song is marvelous...

 
 
Perfect Pop, really top feelgood music - such great band members - loved the documentary which after viewing makes these tunes so much more - you can feel the enjoyment they had making the albums coming out in the music - thanks Bill.
UTTERLY TERRIBLE!!!!!!

Perfect use of the "Mute" button.....  
 romeotuma wrote:


This is my favorite song on this very special album...  powerfully emotive...  very humble...  about a person who has endured the whips and scorns of time but finds redemption from pain through hope and love...

I love this song...


 
Mine too....
Ahhh, The Trembling Wilburys.
Love The Wilburys..got the special two CD + DVD box,the *End Of The Line* video still make my eyes moist. {#Wink}
Haven't heard this in years. Great tune.

 dionysius wrote:
The only reason this misbegotten experiment-gone-awry doesn't get a bottom-scraping "1" is the single verse in which the glorious voice of Roy Orbison briefly lifts this underwritten thing out of complete mediocrity. So, a "2" instead.
 
You're too kind dionysius......off with your head!!!!!
This song is great!

This is the 3rd RP song with Roy Orbison I've heard today, and that's not all bad.
 romeotuma wrote:

George Harrison Documentary Will Premiere on HBO

A new documentary about the life of George Harrison featuring home movies, interviews and unseen footage of the late Beatle will premiere on HBO in October. George Harrison: Living in the Material World, a film produced by Martin Scorcese along with Harrison's widow Olivia, is set to air in two parts on October 5th and 6th.

 
The documentary featured some really wonderful footage from the making of this album and the lead up to it.  If you haven't seen, it reaffirmed why George was such a wonderful musician and interesting human being.

Heavenly voice - then they get to the chorus w/ Petty, Dylan, et al. and the difference is jarring. {#Headache}

only the lonely...
...hey, two wilburys tracks in one morning!..can't complain at all...

{#Good-vibes}

and a wee wick air!
Yes!!!!!

Traveling Wilburys - "Handle With Care" Live (1988)

"  "Handle with Care" is the first track from the Traveling Wilburys 1988 album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. Writing credits are shared by all five band members, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan.

The single reached #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, #21 on the UK singles chart and #3 on the ARIA Chart.

The song was originally intended as the B-side of Harrison's "This is Love". Harrison had not yet written a song for the B-side when an impromptu gathering of the musicians who became the Wilburys turned into an informal songwriting and jam session. Casting about for a song idea while relaxing in a garden near Bob Dylan's recording studio, Harrison was inspired when he noticed a box in Dylan's garage that was labeled "Handle with Care". The box also inspired the opening line: "been beat up and battered around." The complete song quickly followed, with different members of the gathering contributing various lines. The group moved to a recording studio and quickly laid down the basic tracks which were later polished by eventual Wilburys producer Jeff Lynne.

Harrison's record company decided that the song was too good to be released as "filler." Encouraged by this response and the enjoyable experience of recording together, the group re-convened to record the first Wilburys album, which featured "Handle With Care" as the lead track."


The only reason this misbegotten experiment-gone-awry doesn't get a bottom-scraping "1" is the single verse in which the glorious voice of Roy Orbison briefly lifts this underwritten thing out of complete mediocrity. So, a "2" instead.