The “fantastic” Wilbury George Harrison could watch all day: “Just amazing”

This piece revisits George Harrison's role in the Traveling Wilburys, the late-1980s supergroup he assembled with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne. Harrison, always uncomfortable in the spotlight as the most reserved Beatle, valued the band chiefly as cover among fellow legends, though he retained a particular admiration for Dylan, whom he treated almost as a hero rather than merely a peer.

The article centres on Harrison's recollections of watching Dylan work on "Tweeter and the Monkey Man," a song Harrison admitted he had little hand in writing beyond a remembered fragment that became its chorus. He described Dylan reworking the lyrics from paper in the studio and delivering a warm-up take before nailing the "real" version on take two, calling the process "just fantastic" and "just amazing" to witness. The piece also touches on speculation that the song's imagery draws on Bruce Springsteen's music, framing Dylan's contribution as elevating the track into something resembling American folklore.