Operatic Rockabilly Singer Roy Orbison Evokes A Simpler Time In History~

I wasn’t around in the mid 1950s to early 1960s when Roy Orbison, born in Texas, first became extremely popular with, I believe, nine Top 10 songs and so I don’t feel attacked by sweet nostalgia for those simpler days that most other Orbison fans likely feel; but delighting in his eerily operatic rockabilly style doesn’t rely on how old you are. I suggest rather that it’s a matter of how young you feel in your heart, for these are love songs anyone can relate to and enjoy. Each song tells a different story of how love has broken his heart or made him fantasize and dream joyously or to reflect on a relationship.

After his initial success he was ignored shamefully only in America until 1986 when a David Lynch movie called Blue Velvet copiously used one of his songs and suddenly other singers and music lovers either discovered him or loved him all over again. In 1987 Orbison gathered a number of fantastic musicians/singers to help him put on a 64-minute concert at the hip Coconut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, had them dress in spiffy black dress (a couple like Roy had dark sunglasses on) and called it Roy Orbison and Friends, Black and White Night, which I first saw on PBS a few years ago, although it premiered on HBO, and recently watched again on DVD. While Orbison is front and center, the focus of this magnificent, black-n-white filmed show, his friends performing with him in tribute to his influential, awe-inspiring talent are another major reason why his concert is such a joy to watch and listen to. They begin with Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello who are often beside Roy singing back-up, playing guitar or, in Elvis’ case, the harmonica. Others are Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, T-Bone Burnett, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, k.d. lang and James Burton on guitar.

The seventeen tracks follow each other without any introductions or comments, making the star-filled audience connect with Orbison through only his anguished ballads or rockabilly songs, but like me they were entranced in their seats by him, wildly clapping after each. The songs are:


1. Only The Lonely
2. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
3. Blue Bayou
4. The Comedians (written by Elvis Costello)
5. Ooby Dooby
6. Leah
7. Running Scared
8. Uptown
9. In Dreams
10. Crying
11. Candyman
12. Go, Go, Go (Down The Line)
13. Mean Woman Blues
14. (All I Can Do Is) Dream You
15. Claudette
16. It's Over
17. Oh, Pretty Woman

I’m hardly an expert on Orbison, but his early big hits in America seem to all be here and sung just as gloriously as he had twenty years earlier. He had a tremendous four-octave range that flowed effortlessly from a deep tone to a strong falsetto (or dropped from high to low) that few singers have had and it allowed him to project so much emotion out to his audience. He really was a rare singer who deserved so much more attention in America than he got for most of his life, but fortunately he gave us this intense, jaw-dropping concert and a couple more albums, then was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before he unexpectedly died in December 1988, about 52 years old.

There’s a whole lot of expert guitar riffing, especially on “Dream Baby” and “Oh Pretty Woman,” which went on for five minutes plus and earned a Grammy. Roy, Bruce and James Burton dueled on that one. If you love guys having a grand time playing old time rock-n-roll and girls singing their hearts out on back-up (some guys too), then you’ve got to check out Roy Orbison and Friends, Black and White Night now.

Not only was Roy revered for his voice, but also his songwriting ability. Three songs written and recorded by him (“Only the Lonely,” “Crying,” and “Oh, Pretty Woman”) are in the Grammy Hall of Fame and he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I don’t have any lyrics to share with you, but I find them fascinating and very soulful to listen to, evoking a simpler time with his gentle charm. For very good reason he left an impact on all the artists who freely joined him for the 1987 concert and many more he worked with. More recently Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #37 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

I’ll end my review/tribute with a fun quote by Bob Dylan who after the 1987 concert was a band mate of Orbison's in the Travelin‘ Wilburys; he wrote:

"Orbison...transcended all the genres. With Roy, you didn't know if you were listening to mariachi or opera. He kept you on your toes. [He sang] his compositions in three or four octaves that made you want to drive your car over a cliff. He sang like a professional criminal...His voice could jar a corpse, always leave you muttering to yourself something like, 'Man, I don't believe it'. His songs had songs within songs. Orbison was deadly serious–no pollywog and no fledgling juvenile. There wasn't anything else on the radio like him".

(copied from wikipedia)