 "handle with care" is the first track from the traveling wilburys 1988 album, traveling wilburys vol. 1, and the group's most successful single. writing credits are shared by all five band members, george harrison, jeff lynne, roy orbison, tom petty, and bob dylan. the single reached #45 on the billboard hot 100 chart, #2 on the billboard mainstream rock tracks chart, #21 on the uk singles chart and #3 on the aria chart. the song received a highly positive retrospective review from allmusic journalist matthew greenwald, who described the song as "one of the most memorable records of the 1980s." greenwald wrote: "musically, the song is built around a descending, folk-rock chord pattern and some fine major-key chorus movements. george harrison handles the verses, and there are also two excellent bridges featuring roy orbison and bob dylan. orbison's section capitalizes on his awesome, operatic vocal pipes, and the effect is wonderful." the opening chords are reminiscent of jeff lynne's "10538 overture", the elo single from 1972 and paul weller's, "the changing man". == genesis ==  the song was originally intended as the b-side of harrison's "this is love". harrison had not yet written a song for the b-side when an impromptu gathering of the musicians who became the wilburys turne
1988_singles Debut_singles Jenny_Lewis_songs Song_recordings_produced_by_George_Harrison Song_recordings_produced_by_Jeff_Lynne Songs_written_by_Bob_Dylan Songs_written_by_George_Harrison Songs_written_by_Jeff_Lynne Songs_written_by_Roy_Orbison Songs_written_by_Tom_Petty The_Watson_Twins_songs Traveling_Wilburys_songs