4:30 PM
So, in case you missed yesterday's Celebrity News du jour, former Beatle George Harrison passed away after a long battle with cancer. I bring this up not because I think you haven't heard, but because I noticed that it caused a spike in Amazon's music sales charts; currently at the top of the chart are Harrison's All Things Must Pass and The Best of George Harrison.

I'd like to propose an alternative for you, one that I have coicidentally been listening to in my car for the last few days, The Travelling Wilburys, Volume 1, my reccommended disc for the month of December.

The Wilburys were a side project of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison, all working under Wilbury nom de plumes like "Muddy Wilbury" and "Boo Willbury". It's a lot of talent to stuff on one album, and they mesh together surprisingly well to make some really great tracks, especially the third track "Rattled"--a rockabilly masterpiece with Roy Orbison fronting the group and at the top of his game.

Apparently the disc will be harder to find than I suspected--I can't find it on Amazon--but it's definitely worth the trouble. Next time you're in a used CD store (or, for those of you who have piratical leanings, when you're online), keep an eye open for Volume 1 (there's also a Wilburys Vol. 3--no, there's no Vol. 2--but it's not as good in my opinion.)