The Flatlanders

Supergroups rarely add up to the sum of their parts. Take the Traveling Wilburys: Dylan, Harrison, Orbison, Petty and the chump from ELO mustered only some wimpy strum-alongs.

The Flatlanders
— Texas stars Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock — are saddled with similar expectations. Back in 1972, the then-unknown trio made one masterful album before parting ways. But the music retained a cult life of its own; rare eight-track versions of the album were treated like panned gold by rabid fans. And it was easy to see why. As stark and quiet as the Panhandle’s dry vistas, the album featured plaintive crooning, humming guitars and a warbling saw blade. But as each man achieved individual success, the brief collaboration took on hindsight supergroup status. The album wasn’t pressed on CD until 1990, when it was released as More a Legend Than a Band. In 2002, the band reformed and released the rather generic Now Again. Now the three are plying tunes from Wheels of Fortune. The Flatlanders have outlived the Traveling Wilburys, but whether they can dodge the supergroup snakebite remains to be seen.