Yesterday and Today

It's March 1989 and a new solo album from Julian Lennon is fresh on the stands - a stylistic departure titled Mr. Jordan. This latest effort in some ways marked the end of Julian's success streak as a pop star, though the effort did still manage to chart in the US, Canada and even go top 20 in the Australian market. While John Lennon's eldest son endeavored to craft musical distance from his late father, Paul McCartney and George Harrison maintained the break-neck pace that had come to signify activity in the late 80s former Beatle world by each heading into the studio. McCartney's cover of the Gerry & the Pacemakers classic Ferry Cross the Mersey was a charity single intended to raise money for the victims and families of victims of the Hillsborough disaster in Liverpool. Harrison's new composition? A freshly penned tune with fellow Wilbury Tom Petty...

It's 1989 and George Harrison is still riding high on the success of the debut Traveling Wilburys LP! Of all the former Beatles, Harrison's late-80s resurgence resonated with near-universal public and critical acclaim, and the momentum of successful collaboration between George and producer Jeff Lynne showed no signs of slowing down. Also on an upturn in the early weeks of the year was Ringo Starr, whose newfound sobriety triggered an abundance of activity -- from starring in the PBS children's television show Shining Time Station (as the unflappable Mr. Conductor) to a collection of recent selections dubbed Star Struck: The Best of Ringo Starr vol2. Meanwhile, the release of the LP Spike by Elvis Costello heralded the coming of newly co-written material with Paul McCartney - material destined for McCartney's own resurgence in the months to come...

It's the end of the line for 1988, and the beginning of the epic super-group: The Traveling Wilburys! With the release of their debut LP ``Volume 1", George Harrison and friends Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jim Keltner floored both modern and classic rockers alike with a signature blend of harmony, guitar, and rambler-style songcraft. Listeners of the day, curious to know if the band could live up to the heights of their strong debut single Handle With Care, were not disappointed. From the joyous noise of Heading for the Light to the often-hilarious lyrics of Dirty World, six old friends proved to the masses that age has nothing to do with good music, and that the combined talents of otherwise disparate musicians could amount to something spectacular. Of course the December 6th passing of bandmate Roy Orbison would put a damper on the otherwise happy affair - still, through the heartache and pain, the music of the Traveling Wilburys was a beacon of comfort to those who might need to hear that they were not alone anymore...

A flurry of developments in the lives and legacies of all four former Beatles permeated October 1988, starting with the debut of the feature-length IMAGINE film chronicling the life of John Lennon, opening in movie theaters across the world. This template for future Beatles archival projects was met with warm embrace by John's fans, and was an important milestone in the preservation of film footage and audio artifacts from throughout Lennon's life. Another former Beatle in preservation mode was Ringo Starr, having finally sought help for alcoholism with his wife Barbara Bach later in the month. After decades of substance abuse Ringo has resolved to clean up, so as to evade the fates of his less fortunate and departed friends and fellow rockers. And lastly a new single, from a super-group calling themselves "the Traveling Wilburys"...

It's the summer of 1988 and a fresh wave of "Lennon Fever" was sweeping its way across pop culture. In this case, however, not all of the attention on the late great John Lennon was positive - case in point the scathing, unapologetic, and often needlessly cruel biography called The Lives of John Lennon by author Albert Goldman. Goldman's feet were held to the fire by a furious but captivated public...glued to the drama by a media apparatus unable to look away from this trainwreck of a depiction of John's life in book form. While this circus took a toll on Yoko Ono, the Lennon clan nevertheless soldiered onward with its own various rebuttals to the Goldman narrative, and a dose of positivity as well. Not only was the forthcoming theatrical release of the Imagine documentary poised to reignite positive memories of the Beatles and of Lennon's successful solo works, but a star on the Hollywood walk of fame put to pavement a legacy that would, despite its occasional cracks, endure for generations to come.

As the summer of 1988 heats up, a new super-group emerges from the primordial soup of rock'n'roll...they are The Traveling Wilburys. Born from a supplementary recording session in support of George Harrison's latest Cloud 9 single, George (aka Nelson Wilbury) was joined by fellow music legends Tom Petty, Jeff lynne, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison to produce the superb track Handle With Care -- quickly deemed too good to be buried on an extended single release. Of course music and activity continued respectively for Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at this time, but for the Yesterday & Today podcast we will linger with George for a moment, as opportunity knocks at Friar Park...