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By
the early 1950's he was performing professionally under the guidance of
Norman Petty (later Buddy Holly's manager), his break came when acting
on Johnny Cash's advice, Roy sent a copy of the song - "Ooby Dooby"
- to Sun Records' founder Sam Phillips. Phillips liked what he heard,
Roy drove to Memphis, and by June 1956 Sun had released its first Roy
Orbison hit single. A
rockabilly classic, "Ooby Dooby" was a hit in 1956, and was
followed by several similar records. Even at this early stage, however,
Roy was looking beyond rockabilly and was convinced that his true
calling was as a songwriter. Roy Orbison left Sun in 1957 and signed to
music publishers Acuff-Rose. Indeed his song "Claudette",
written while at Sun was a top 30 hit for The Everly Brothers in 1958. It
was as a songwriter that he was invited to move to Nashville. Signing a
new contract with Monument. Throughout Orbison's stay at Monument
Records, his backup band was a group of all-star studio musicians led by
Bob Moore. The play of Orbison's voice against the dynamic yet
uncluttered sound of the band gave Orbison's records a unique,
identifiable sound. Orbison began collaborating with fellow Texan, Joe
Melson. Beginning with Up Town, the pair had a long and extremely
productive writing partnership. Of Roy's first 15 top 40's hits, the
Orbison/Melson team penned six. They included the breakthrough record
Only The Lonely (Know How I Feel), which became No1 in Britain and No2
in America. (This record sold two million and established Orbison as the
premier balladeer of the Kennedy years.) In Britain however, it didn't
just top the charts but remained in the Top 40 for nearly 6 months. Only
The Lonely is, of course, the song regarded by many as the starting
point of Roy's classic ballad sound. Most of the hits that would follow
before he left Monument in 1965, such as Running Scared, Crying, Dream
Baby, In Dreams, and It's Over, contain a vivid combination of hurtful
romantic longing combined with near operatic vocals that established Roy
as a truly unique talent. A
powerful influence on his contemporaries such as The Rolling Stones, in
1963 Roy Orbison headlined a European tour with The Beatles, John Lennon
admitted to trying to emulate Orbison when writing the Beatles' first
British chart-
Even
as the British Invasion swept America in 1964,
It
seemed at that time that Roy was well equipped to survive the British
onslaught of the mid-'60s. But Orbison's fortunes declined rapidly after
he left Monument for MGM in 1965 lured by a lucrative deal that also
offered the potential of Presley-level movie stardom. Indeed he did star
in 1968's The Fastest Guitar Alive. It would be easy to say that the
major label couldn't replicate the unique production values of the
classic Monument singles, but that's only part of the story. Roy, after
all, was still writing most of his material, and his early MGM records
were produced in a style that closely approximated the Monument era. The
harder truth to face was that his songs were starting to sound like
lesser variations of themselves, and that contemporary trends in rock
and soul were making him sound outdated. To compound this, Roy's private
life was marred when, in the midst of reconciliation with his ex-wife
Claudette, (heroine of the Everlys hit), she was killed in a motorcycle
accident. Two years later in 1968, two of Roy's sons were killed in a
house fire. Reduced to touring clubs, Roy returned to his country roots
and recorded for Mercury and Asylum in the '70's. His reputation as an
influential master, however, began to soar once again via covers of his
early work. Linda
Ronstadt set the ball rolling with Blue Bayou (1977) and three years
later, Roy won a grammy for his duet with Emmylou Harris (That Loving
You Feeling Again). A year later Don McLean scored with Crying, but real
success came Roy's way again when his re-recording of the 1963 hit In
Dreams became a pivotal element of David Lynch's 1986 movie, Blue
Velvet. Signing
to Virgin, and with all of his old recordings embroiled in bankruptcy
proceedings, Orbison set about re-recording his songs "just so they
would be available" and released a double-set In Dreams. In
1987, Roy Orbison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and
within twelve months had become a member of the Traveling Wilburys
alongside Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and George Harrison. With his career
rejuvenated, Orbison fronted the extraordinary TV special recorded at
the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles-Roy Orbison and Friends: a Black and
White Night. Roy's friends who became his backing band were indeed
stellar: Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Kd Lang (duetting with him on the
revival of Crying), Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, J.D.
Souther, Jennifer Warnes and more.
Posthumously
released in 1989, Roy's Mystery Girl album became the biggest selling
record of his career. That success was sparked by two more Top Ten hits,
You Got It (written by fellow Wilburys' Petty and Jeff Lynne) and I
Drove All Night. In 1992 Virgin released King Of Hearts, a collection of
previously unissued songs. The world continues to mourn the loss of one of music's all time greatest performers, most especially because only in death is his vast talent conspicuously receiving the long over due recognition it so richly deserved in life! Roy Orbison remains one of rock's truly legendary figures: a consistent talent whose influence grows with each passing year. His is a combination of voice and songs that, harnessed together, unleash a rare power which grabs listeners by the heart and holds them forever enthralled. ALBUMS 1961 Roy Orbison at the Rock House Lonely and Blue 1962 Crying 1963 In Dreams 1965 There Is Only One Roy Orbison Orbisongs 1966 The Orbison Way The Classic Roy Orbison 1967 Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson Cry Softly Lonely One 1969 Roy Orbison's Many Mood 1970 Hank Williams the Roy Orbison Way The Big O 1972 Roy Orbison Sings Memphis 1973 Milestones 1976 I'm Still in Love with You 1977 Regeneration 1979 Laminar Flow 1985 Class of '55(with Jerry Lee Lewi, and Carl Perkins) 1989 Mystery Girl 1992 King of Hearts SINGLES 1956 "Trying to Get to You" "Ooby Dooby" "Rock House" 1957 "Sweet and Easy to Love" "Chicken Hearted" 1958 "Seems to Me" "Almost 18" 1959 "Paper Boy" "Uptown" 1960 "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" "Blue Angel" "I'm Hurtin'" 1961 "Running Scared" "Love Hurts" "Crying" "Candy Man" 1962 "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" "The Crowd" "Evergreen" "Working for the Man" "Leah" 1963 "In Dreams" "Falling" "Distant Drums" "Blue Bayou" "Mean Woman Blues" "Pretty Paper" "Beautiful Dreamer" 1964 "Borne on the Wind" "What'd I Say" "It's Over" "Indian Wedding" "Oh, Pretty Woman "She Wears My Ring" 1965 "Goodnight" "(Say) You're My Girl" "Ride Away" "Crawling Back" "Breakin' Up Is Breakin' My Heart" 1966 "Let the Good Times Roll" "Twinkle Toes" "Lana" "Too Soon to Know" "There Won't Be Many Coming Home" "Communication Breakdown" 1967 "So Good" "Cry Softly Lonely One" "She" 1968 "Born to Be Loved by You" "Walk On" "Heartache" 1969 "My Friend" "Southbound Jericho Parkway" "Penny Arcade" "Break My Mind" 1970 "She Cheats on Me" "So Young" 1971 "(Love Me Like You Did) Last Night" 1972 "God Love You" "Remember the Good"1973 "Blue Rain (Coming Down)" "I Wanna Live" 1974 "Sweet Mama Blue" 1975 "Hung Up on You" "Still" 1976 "Belinda" "I'm a Southern Man" 1977 "Drifting Away" 1979 "Easy Way Out" "Poor Baby" 1980 "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again"(with Emmylou Harris) 1985 "Wild Hearts" 1987 "In Dreams" "Crying" (with k.d. lang) 1988 "Handle with Care" 1989 "You Got It" "End of the Line" "California Blue" "She's a Mystery to Me" 1990 "Oh Pretty Woman" (live) 1992 "I Drove All Night" "Crying" (with k.d. lang) (re-issue) "Heartbreak Radio" |
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