The genesis of the name The Traveling Wilburys has sparked some lighthearted debate, venturing into the realms of historical whimsy rather than serious academic discourse. While the actual Traveling Wilburys Group Members were undoubtedly focused on creating timeless music, the fictional etymological roots of their band name are far more entertaining.
Professor “Bobby” Sinfield, in a flight of fancy, posits that the name hails from Medieval European Wilbury Fairs. Picture traveling troupes entertaining the masses with ballads – perhaps early versions of songs the Traveling Wilburys group members might have appreciated? Alternatively, he suggests a connection to “YE TRAVELING WILBURYS,” alleged locksmiths from the Crusades. These resourceful individuals supposedly unlocked chastity belts, a service perhaps as essential in their time as emergency plumbing is today. Whether these historical figures were actual groups or individuals remains, of course, delightfully unclear.
Dr. Arthur Noseputty of Cambridge, with a name befitting his outlandish theory, links the Wilburys to the “Strangling Dingleberries.” Thankfully, he clarifies this isn’t another obscure band but a (fictional) disease, a notion swiftly dismissed due to both his comical name and his tendency to deliver lectures while impersonating Ethel Merman. Then there are those who, with a stretch of the imagination, propose a connection to The Pillsburys – the baking giants, not a band, known for “Flour Power.” The link, as with many of these theories concerning the Traveling Wilburys group members name origin, remains wonderfully tenuous.
Dim Sun, a Chinese academic with a penchant for wordplay, proposes a connection to “THE STROLLING TILBURYS,” Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite minstrels. His evidence? The Traveling Wilburys is, he cleverly points out, an anagram of “V. BURYING WILL’S THEATRE,” a clear (and entirely fabricated) reference to the closure of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre due to plague under Villiers. This, he argues, explains the “traveling” aspect. He further connects the plague’s dancing mania, and St. Vitus’ dance, to the “dancing theme” resurfacing in the “Wilbury Twist.” This, he claims, is reminiscent of the “Wilbury Quadrille” popularized in Bath in 1790 by Beau Diddley and the “Wilbury Waltz” that swept Vienna in the 1890s – all dances, naturally, supposedly linked to imagined Wilburys of the past, not the actual Traveling Wilburys group members.
One thing remains hilariously certain amidst these fictional etymological expeditions. The meandering journeys of these imagined, wandering, worldly, peripatetic nomads have, in our reality, given us a collection of popular songs. These songs, thankfully, are far less convoluted than the attempts to define the Traveling Wilburys group members name origin, offering a satisfying musical experience for everyone.
Professor “TINY” Hampton is, we are told, still searching for Intelligent Life amongst Rock Journalism at the University of Please Yourself, California. Perhaps he will one day uncover the real story behind the Traveling Wilburys group members and their wonderfully whimsical name.
