Say Something Interesting about: Roy Orbison

"THE DARK ELVIS!!"

...........Chuck E. don't like him much though.

I think I'm right in saying he was much more popular in the UK than the USA? Or he had hits for a longer period in the UK?

Anyway, y'all should rent this unexpectedly terrific documentary called Roy Orbison: In Dreams, released in 2003, featuring rather good interviews with Robert Plant, Jeff Lynne, Emmylou Harris, and a surprisingly un-twat-ish Bono, among others. The last 15 minutes, as the Mystery Girl-Traveling Wilburys triumphs approach, is so wonderful and sad that I had to pause the DVD. I forgot how much great stuff he recorded before he died: the k.d. lang remake of "Crying," the Danzig collab, "You Got It."

Fuck Johnny Cash -- he was the only artist who could have made one of those Rick Rubin album-length collabs work.

Yeah, I really enjoyed the fact that half the music business seemed to be behind him, determined to give him a hit.

-- scott seward (skotro...), March 26th, 2006. (scott seward)

That is interesting though - just by sheer odds it seems impossible.

He's part of the best anagram ever :

The Traveling Wilburys: Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison

An angry jew, the Beatle, blond boy, sorry prat in ELO, stiff guy, in short: very boring old men

Funny how they never managed to make a decent song after Big Roy's passing though.

YOU GOT IT

Is there any better sounding echo than on Roy Orbison's early 60s hits? I'm not familiar with music terms so I don't know if you would exactly call it "echo", but what I'm talkin about is the sound of his voice specifically on "In Dreams" when he starts singing "I close my eyes and drift away...". God I love that song.

reverb, I imagine

and yeah, it's pretty much the best reverb

He wore those big sunnies 'cause he was shy.

album recommendations?

The original In Dreams if you mean non-compilations.

The two-disc comp released a few years ago collects a lot of worthwhile one-off tracks from various eighties soundtracks ("Wild Hearts Run Out of Time," "Life Fades Away"), but the track list is frustratingly out of sequence.

There's a new 4xCD set called The Soul of Rock and Roll. It's out next month and it's very good.

does Roy Orbison join Al Green as the artist with universal ILE acclaim?

I like him a lot more than I do like Al Green. Al Green is, well, OK, but not at all up there with peers such as Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. Roy Orbison was one of the very few great pre-Beatles acts.

As for original albums, I guess "Crying" may be the most essential. The title track in particular, but also contains "Running Scared" among others.

Generally, original albums by pre-Beatles acts are not really recommended though. They were typical singles acts and should be treated as such. Also the case with Orbison.

Thanks for the education.

Had a look at the tracklisting for the box set - no "Southbound Jericho Parkway," no "definitive" I'm afraid.

He was a guest on Night Network one night in the late 80s, along with the Voice of the Beehive. They were reviewing new videos and a late Smiths or early solo Morrissey song came on and Roy Orbison said how sad the singer seemed and how he felt bad for him.
― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 9 November 2003

I picked up a really shabby looking Roy Orbison best of today for a dollar and I'm mighty glad that I did. I've always been envious of people who grew up with families who listened to radio all of the time, and have long been familiar with all the old staples. But then again, sometimes it's really cool to approach this stuff as an adult for the first time. Currently I'm going fucking wild about "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)", the way the drums get louder and louder during the final minute.

He's really somethin' else. Runnin' Scared is my jam.

I was flipping through channels on Thanksgiving during post-eating and some kind of all-star concert was shown on PBS.. It was filmed in B&W, and I remember hearing "It's Over" and "Pretty Woman.."

wow ZS, I'm not sure if I envy you or pity you.

Dream Baby, Crying, Dream Baby, Pretty Woman: these songs are the sdtk to my life.

hard to imagine what could've replaced them, but the thought of approaching with fresh ears is appetizing

xp

billstevejim, that special is the greatest dream like music thing i've ever seen. kinda lynchian

Yeah I loved it.. I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of my family was into it, but there were people running in and out of the room a lot, so it's hard to tell.

Okay, I'm reading on wikipedia that he recorded a disco album called Laminar Flow in 1979. This sounds intriguing.

LIFE FADES AWAY

a friend of mine recently picked up a tape at a carboot sale with "boy or bison" written on the inlay card. he thought it was a great bandname and bought it for that reason. he got home and it was, of course, a roy orbison compliation.

His late Sixties/Early Seventies Jimmy Webb-style Überpop-opera recordings for MGM-Monument are totally slept on.
― musicmope (musicmope), Saturday, November 8, 2003 11:40 AM (5 years ago)

On the basis of the copy of 'Memphis' (1972) I just picked up, this would appear to be true - amazing song called 'Run the Engine High' by jerry McBee, that sounds like it could be the Box Tops, a bonkers, phased I fought the Law, and an even more Bonkers 'Danny Boy'

"She's a Mystery to Me" is an obvious standout on Mystery Girl but this is a really strong album. The second half is particularly strong: "The Comedians" is excellent as is said above, as is "Windsurfer" and "Careless Heart" (the latter a Diane Warren co-write but let's not hold that against it).

Why do we always go for something we can't reach? Nobody ever really understands.

roy orbison sing it for the lonely

Yeah, I really enjoyed the fact that half the music business seemed to be behind him, determined to give him a hit.

So true.

You know someone who said something interesting about Roy Orbison is Alan Sparhawk in that NPR Fresh Aire interview linked from the Low thread.

christ, but Mystery Girl is a TREMENDOUS album. obviously I always loved "You Got It", but never heard the entire lp until I picked up a sealed copy for three bucks last weekend. so wonderful in every way. how sad that he wasn't around to bask in its glow.

i love roy orbison more than life

Something interesting. Hmmm...

I think I read somewhere that Elvis Presley got a phone call from somebody praising his new song, but it turned out to be one of Roy's singles.

Someone's face was red.

Roy Orbison was the first American rock musician to start using Marshall amps and bring them back to the USA after a UK tour.

always listen to roy orbison at christmas

No proper C/D thread, so...

I picked up the Bear Family "Roy Rocks" comp of his rockabilly and up-tempo material and it's just strength to strength. While I enjoy Roy's ballads more than most of his contemporaries I really appreciate this Rocks series approach, it concentrates on the stuff I like best.

My favourite is Running Scared, an extraordinarily tense song. One of the live albums I have, he ends it on that huge "...with MEEEEEE!!!" and the audience goes wild, and then he just sings the last couple of lines another half dozen times, putting more into it each time. It's fantastic.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, November 7, 2004 11:13 PM (6 years ago)

martin OTM. this has been one of my favorite performances (on the record, haven't heard the live version) for ever and ever.

Despite boasting an "anodyne" production (as I heard someone call Jeff Lynne's job last month), "You Got It" is such a remarkable piece of craft.

Back in around 2006 or 2007 the RnR Hall of Fame had an Orbison exhibit. Among the artifacts was a hand-scrawled memo to himself essentially telling him to pull his shit together, from the mid-80s or so. It was in list form, kind of like "1) Fire manager; 2) Get new band" etc.

that's interesting - i'd always chalked orbison's comeback to a confluence of factors: blue velvet, the showtime 'black and white night' special (this was a pretty big deal at the time), the 'crying' remake w/ kd lang and then the watershed w/ traveling wilburys and mystery girl. i'd never even considered that he might've been the active catalyst behind it.