‘Big O’ The Roy Orbison Story
Roy Orbison was born on April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas and like most white rockers; he began his musical career in the 50s as a country singer. A friend and contemporary of Elvis Presley, he shared billings in Britain with The Beatles in the '60's; saw his work covered by the likes of Linda Ronstadt in the '70's; watched as his classic "In Dreams" became a keystone of David Lynch's film Blue Velvet. 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-topper, "Please Please Me." Roy became lifelong friends with the band, in particular with John Lennon and George Harrison (Orbison would later record with them both). During their tour of Europe, an impressed Roy Orbison encouraged The Beatles to come to the United States. When they finally decided to try America, they asked Orbison to manage their first tour but his own schedule forced him to turn down what was to become an astounding success. Even as the British Invasion swept America in 1964, Orbison's single 'Oh, Pretty Woman' broke the Beatles' stranglehold on the Top 10, soaring to number 1 on the charts. The smash hit record sold more copies in its first ten days of release than any 45rpm up to that time and would go on to sell more than seven million copies. 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. Then on December 6 1988 at the age of 52, Roy Orbison died suddenly from a heart attack at Hendersonville Hospital in Hendersonville Tennessee, after complaining of chest pains at the home of his mother. 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.
	LIVEMUSICMAGAZINE.COM2006