Released on October 18, 1988, in the US, Volume One became a surprise commercial success, reaching number 3 in the US and selling 2 million copies there within six months. It was released on October 24 in the UK, where it reached number 16. With over 50 weeks on the US charts, The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 was later certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. While Harrison and Petty had recent successes, Dylan, Orbison (who died of a sudden heart attack on December 6, 1988) and Lynne had not seen an album climb that high in several years. At the time, no Dylan album had ever achieved two million in sales. As one critic put it, it was "one of the great commercial coups of the decade". The single "Handle with Care" was a significant hit in the UK charts, peaking at number 21, and an even bigger hit in Australia (number 3) and New Zealand (number 4), though it stalled at number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Most critics said the group's modest ambitions were fresh and relaxing. During 1989 and 1990 the album won many accolades, including a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year. In his book The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Colin Larkin describes the Traveling Wilburys as "the last of the great supergroups" and writes of the band's accidental origins: "This wonderful potpourri of stars reintroduced 'having a good time' to their vocabulary and the result was not a Harrison solo album but the superb debut of the Traveling Wilburys. The outing proved to be a major success, bringing out the best of each artist; in particular, this [album] proved to be the marvellous swan song for Roy Orbison who tragically died soon afterwards." On June 12, 2007, Volume One and Vol. 3 were reissued by Rhino Records as The Traveling Wilburys Collection, packaged together with bonus tracks and a DVD. The box set debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and number 9 on the US Billboard 200.
Track listing
Personnel
Traveling Wilburys
- Nelson Wilbury (George Harrison) – electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, Dobro, lead and backing vocals
- Otis Wilbury (Jeff Lynne) – electric and acoustic guitars, bass, keyboards; drums and cowbell on "Handle with Care", lead and backing vocals
- Charlie T. Wilbury Jr (Tom Petty) – acoustic guitar,<!-- Please do not add bass guitar for Petty unless accompanied by a reliable source. He's seen playing bass in the video for "Handle with Care", but, as sourced, only Lynne (and perhaps Harrison) played bass on the Wilburys' recordings. Thank you. --> lead and backing vocals
- Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison) – acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals
- Lucky Wilbury (Bob Dylan) – 12-string acoustic guitar, harmonica on "Handle with Care", lead and backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Buster Sidebury (Jim Keltner) – drums (all tracks except "Handle with Care")
- Otis Wilbury – production
- Nelson Wilbury – production
- Bill Bottrell – engineering (Los Angeles)
- Don Smith – engineering (Los Angeles)
- Richard Dodd – engineering (Henley)
- Phil McDonald – engineering (Henley)
- Michael Palin (as Hugh Jampton, E.F. Norti-Bitz Reader in Applied Jacket) – album liner notes
- David Costa – original art direction for Wherefore Art?
- Neal Preston – sleeve photography
- Gered Mankowitz – sleeve photography
- Chris Smith – sleeve photography
Accolades
Grammy Awards
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1990
| rowspan="2" | The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1
| Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| Album of the Year
|
|}
American Music Awards
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1990 || Traveling Wilburys (performer) || Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist ||
|-
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1988–89)
! scope="col"| Peak<br>position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian ARIA Albums Chart
|1
|-
!scope="row"|Austrian Albums Chart
|3
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian RPM 100 Albums
|1
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian The Record Top Albums
|1
|-
!scope="row"|Dutch Mega Albums Chart
|33
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Oricon Albums Chart
|46
|-
!scope="row"|New Zealand Albums Chart
|2
|-
!scope="row"|Norwegian VG-lista Albums
|2
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums Chart
|2
|-
!scope="row"|Swiss Albums Chart
|6
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums Chart
|16
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|3
|-
!scope="row"|US Cash Box Top 200 Albums
|1
|-
!scope="row"|West German Media Control Albums
|10
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1988)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Dutch Albums Chart
|99
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums Chart
|78
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1989)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums Chart
|1
|-
!scope="row"|Austrian Albums Chart
|25
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian RPM Year-End
|3
|-
!scope="row"|Swiss Albums Chart
|20
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums Chart
|8
|}
Certifications
<!-- The title is wrong, this is in fact for Vol. 1, note the release year -->