Say Something Interesting about: Roy Orbison

Yeah, I'm with that. I always thought "You Got It" was striking for being on a continuum with the earlier hits that worked just fine on radio and elsewhere. Still does.

Search: "Life Fades Away," from the 'Less Than Zero' soundtrack. He cowrote it with Danzig. Great one.

George Harrison said that Roy was deeply conversant with the work of Monty Python. I love that.

Two of my favorite things about Roy, these. ("Life Fades Away" is really great and I'm wondering if it was ever anthologized properly, as otherwise I guess it would be missed.)

now that's bizarre. {insert dan perry-esque quip here}

Same here. Still.

"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.