A FROME band which was formerly a popular Beatles tribute act, is returning next month as ‘The Unravelling Wilburys’, a celebration of the Harrison, Orbison, Petty and Dylan supergroup formed in the 1980s.
Beatles tribute act, Sgt. Pepper’s Only Dart Board Band, started in Frome and spent over 20 years on the road in the UK and abroad, before retiring at a home town concert at the Cheese and Grain on New Year’s Eve 2014.
That night, nearly 700 people turned up see the band off in style. Now the same line-up is back as The Unravelling Wilburys, a celebration of the Travelling Wilburys, and it’s promising to be even more popular.
The Unravelling Wilburys will play at the Cheese and Grain on Saturday 3rd December.
In the late 1980s George Harrison formed a super- group featuring his friends Roy Orbison; Jeff Lynn from ELO; Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. They called themselves The Traveling Wilburys in the style of a family band of troubadours, and released two albums. Songs like ‘Handle with Care’ and ‘End of the Line’ became great hits, and in recent years, following the death of both Orbison and Harrison, the Wilburys have developed a cult following.
According to Frome Festival director Martin Dimery, formerly the ‘John’ in Sgt Pepper’s, reviving the music of the Wilburys was a natural progression.
“We’d really enjoyed our years with Sgt. Pepper’s, but we’d achieved as much as we felt was possible with the band, and there comes a point when playing 25-year-old rock gods starts to wear thin. Even our wigs were going grey!
“None of us wanted to stop playing altogether, but after a little time out, John Freeman, who played ‘Paul’, came up with the idea of The Unravelling Wilburys.
“There was the George Harrison connection of course, and we’d included ‘Handle with Care’ in some of our previous shows. As the Wilburys only made two albums, it also gave us the opportunity to unravel some of the best songs of each member. In concert we find numbers like ‘Mr Blue Sky’ and ‘Pretty Woman’ are real favourites.”
The band are keen to call this a ‘celebration’ rather than a ‘tribute’. As Martin explains, “Tribute bands tend to try to be lookalikes. We weren’t really lookalikes as Sgt. Pepper, but it did lend itself to costumes and characterisation.
“As the Wilburys we’re assuming the role of an original bunch of brothers born and raised in a shack in the Deep South who had their act allegedly ‘stolen’ by the Travelling Wilburys.
“We’ve come to claim their act back and now they’re stealing some of the Wilburys’ solo tunes too. It’s all done with the same tongue-in-cheek humour that distinguished Sgt. Pepper’s Only Dart Board Band, and has been even more popular at many venues.”
The Unravelling Wilburys also comprises keyboard player Rob Waller from Frome; guitarist Colin Holley and drummer Colin Chalk – both from Trowbridge. Their first big show back on home turf is on Saturday December 3rd. Tickets are available from the Cheese and Grain box office 01373 455420 or online www.cheeseandgrain.com
