Welcome to the BROW. A couple of months ago when I made a post about The Traveling Wilburys, the song I featured had no vocal, so I’ve decided to let you hear them sing this time. The lead vocals here are handled by Clayton Wilbury (i.e. Jeff Lynne), though you can hear, Spike, Muddy and Boo (i.e. George Harrison, Tom Petty & Bob Dylan) singing right along with him in the background of the chorus.
Runaway as you may know was a major international hit in 1961 by Del Shannon and written by him and keyboardist Max Crook. Back in June of 2007, a remixed version of this great cover by the Wilburys appeared as a bonus track on the Traveling Wilburys Collection CD/DVD set. It had never appeared on LP/CD, but the original mix appeared in the UK on the 12 inch vinyl single and CD single of She’s My Baby (no longer available), as a b-side, in November of 1990. It was never released in the US.
Traveling Wilburys - RunawayThe remixed version on the newer CD has a new clavioline solo replacing the guitar/harmonica solo heard on the original. This was such a “full-circle” addition considering that Max Crook was actually the inventor of his own clavioline-based keyboard which he called a musitron back around 1960. The recording below illustrates how the 2 mixes differ and show you first, the original solo (also heard above), then, the remixed 2007 solo.
Traveling Wilburys - Runaway (solo comparison)
My personal copy of the 12 inch UK single She's My Baby by The Traveling Wilburys, released in 1990
Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Visit my Beatles collection web site (www.MyBeatlesCollection.com) and hit the “Tracks” button and search my collection, then drop me a comment here and let me know what you’d like me to feature. There’s over 7361 recordings to choose from.
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I'm Happy Nat and I'm glad you dropped in! Feel free to listen to the latest BROW (Beatles Rarity Of The Week), watch the latest VOW (Beatles Video of the Week), and join the discussion by leaving comments or 
I had never heard any version of this cover until the remastered set came out a couple of years ago. I was underwhelmed, but it is always a joy to hear Harrison – even if I’m straining to pick up a mere harmony part. So it was a revelation to hear the original mix with the guitar/harmonica solo. While the clavioline is neat (a near replicate of the Del Shanon recording) I think the original mix is more in keeping to the spirit of the Traveling Wilburys. Either way it still seems like a bonus track.
One thing I have been thinking lately is how generic and anonymous Jeff Lynne’s vocals sound in all non E.L.O. tracks.
He is such a brilliant songwriter, arranger and producer, but often his vocals seem like those of someone hired to sing a demo for a non singing songwriter. It is passable but lacks much character.
His voice in Can’t Get it out of my Head is simply sublime.
Oh Elliot! You’re assignment is to put on Volume One and play track 3 (a song called Rattled). I’m not a big Jeff Lynne on vocals fan either but with the Wilburys he really fits and there are some tunes on both of the Wilbury albums proper that his lead vocal was superb. Take She’s My Baby, for instance (the opener for Vol. 3). It’s a chemistry thing. And Runaway, thanks to today’s post (though planned a while back) has been hummed by me all day. The harmonies are tight, the spirit could not be happier, and yes! it is a bonus track, but this is a site for “bonus tracks”. I stray from the main stream, in case you haven’t noticed, and the gold that you have to dig for is often the best.
Lousy day. Woke up this morning to find that my home had been broken in to while I was sleeping. They got my wallet (7.5 hours on the phone this afternoon dealing with credit card companies, the DMV and (strangely) the FTC (whom you are supposed to call when your SS card has been stolen.) Worse still they got my first strat, which my dad bought for me when I was 15 (a long 21 years ago.) Blah. Contrary to my posts here I am generally a very optimistic fellow. Today’s events however, pushed my limits. A sympathetic bartender poured me a few free whiskeys which enlivened my spirits a bit.
I love B-Sides! I am forever frustrated with radio for lack of more inventive playlists and programming. Paul’s Big Boy’s Bickering stands up to the very best of any of his solo work. The Traveling Wilburys themselves were essentially created for a Gearge B-Side. So when I say that this sounded like a B-side, what I mean to say is that it seems quickly thrown together. That is cool, but we should call it like it is. Heading for the Light is magnificent, but it is well arranged and thoroughly composed. Those sax parts alone are a graduate course in orchestration. I know it is mostly George’s song but Lynne’s bride is one of the highlights of their whole ouvre. His voice has never been finer. That kind of thing is deliberately composed and does not happen by accident and rarely happens quickly. Just imagine if Olivia and Dhani were to truly open the vaults or even if Lynne himself were to feel reflective – so many of those unreleased gems (I’m assuming that they are gems, you would know better than I) would be superior to this relatively generic, by-the-books cover.
Please don’t mistake my criticism as a lack of appreciation for you. I love getting to hear this take and look forward to next week’s BROW. It is a wonderful thrill for me, why didn’t the internet exist when I was 13? I was such an obsessive – I doubt I would have got anything done. Ever. But my days of loving all Beatle stuff wholesale have sadly ended.
Again, I end on a cynical, nasty note. I’m really not like this. Boy, I have been nervous all week. Why? Simply because I feared that The Who would not do too well on their big performance this weekend. I was stressing, fretting and worrying. That may be some sort of OCD, but I’d rather think it is because I really, deeply care about these artists. I spend an awful lot of energy thinking about career moves, brilliant possible duets, potential remixes, etc. So, despite what I personally thought of the Superbowl Halftime, I have repeatedly trolled through websites – looking to see popular consensus. I bring this up because, I have not found a truly meaningful analysis of that performance. Even though every blogger claims to have loved The Who since they saw them at The Cow Palace in ’74 or what have you. Still, the comments are so shallow as to be insipid and meaningless. I like work, I like my personal life, embarrassingly I even like Survivor, but I LOVE music and musicians.This is why I find it exceptionally hard to be brief. Unlike many, rock and roll is not entertainment to me, it is the highlight of my (pretty darned good) life. Perhaps that graduate school offering horn arrangements with Professor Lynne will allow me to audit an editing course – I really need to be more terse.
Now
People really suck Elliot. My most sincere condolences go out to you on your strat and the whole mess. I’m hoping the hassle of it all won’t be as much as I’m imagining, but it may even be more. Yeah, people can really suck. I don’t feel right yapping about tunes after such news but as a less significant aside, don’t ever feel like you are offending me with your opinion on any of these posts. People on the site are free to state their views, positive or negative at all times and that is how I want to keep it on this site. ‘Nuff said about that. Don’t get me started on the bloody Who. I really love The Who.
Am I going nuts? I bought the Wilburys box and would swear that “Runaway” wasn’t on it. Maybe because I taped it off MOG earlier and thought that was the version still on my iPod. Seems to me they should’ve put EVERY TW rarity on that thing.
I absolutely love Jeff Lynne’s vocals. He’s a bit of a chameleon and can sound very different depending on what he’s going for.
Love the comparison versions. Extra effort on your part and appreciated.