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Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988), nicknamed
"The Big O," was an influential American singer-songwriter, guitarist and a pioneer
of rock and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades. By the
mid-1960s Orbison was internationally recognized for his ballads of lost love,
rhythmically advanced melodies, characteristic dark sunglasses, and his taut,
powerful alto voice coupled with his occasional distinctive usage of falsetto,
typified in songs such as "Ooby Dooby," "Only The Lonely," "In Dreams," "Oh, Pretty
Woman," "Crying," "Running Scared," and "You Got It." Elvis Presley once said
Orbison had the best singing voice he'd ever h
eard. In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and posthumously
in 1989 into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
 Early life
and career
Orbison was born in Vernon, the seat of Wilbarger
County in north Texas. He was the second son of Nadine Shults and Orbie Lee
Orbison. After having first moved to Fort Worth about 1943 to find work in the
munitions and aircraft factories which had expanded during Second World War,
the family moved to the West Texas oil town of Wink in Winkler County near the
border of New Mexico, in late 1946. Music was an important part of his family
life.
At the age of thirteen in 1949, Orbison organized his first band, "The Wink
Westerners". When not singing with the band he played guitar and wrote songs. The
band appeared weekly on KERB radio in Kermit, Texas. Orbison graduated from Wink
High School in 1954. He attended North Texas State College in Denton, Texas for a
year, and enrolled at Odessa Junior College in Odessa, the seat of Ector County, in
1955 to study history and English. The Wink Westerners had some success on local
television, and were given 30 minute weekly shows on KMID and KOSA. One guest on
their show was Johnny Cash, who advised them to seek a contract with his record
producer, Sam Phillips, of Sun Records. At first Phillips turned them down ("Johnny
Cash doesn't run my record company!"), but he agreed to add them to Sun Records'
roster after hearing a recording made at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New
Mexico. The Wink Westerners were renamed "The Teen Kings", and Orbison left college
in March of 1956, determined to have a career in music. He ultimately headed for
Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
Orbison achieved his first commercial success in June 1956 with "Ooby Dooby",
written by Orbison's friends from college, and produced at Norman Petty's studio in
Clovis, New Mexico. Many of the earliest songs he recorded were produced by Sam
Phillips, who also produced Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis
Presley. Named after his first wife, his song "Claudette" was recorded by the
Everly Brothers as the B-side to their Number 1 hit "All I Have To Do Is Dream."
The rockabilly and blues sound of Sun's artists brought Orbison little success and
his career seemed over, although fans of rockabilly count his records among the
best of this genre. He worked at Acuff-Rose Music in Nashville, Tennessee as a
songwriter, and then was given a contract by RCA. Eventually Chet Atkins referred
him to Fred Foster, the owner of Monument Records, where he moved after his
contract with RCA ended in 1959.
Breakthrough
In 1957 Orbison met songwriter Joe Melson in Odessa. After hearing a song Melson
had written entitled "Raindrops," which featured melodic twists and lyrical
styling, Roy soon asked him to write with him. Together they created a sound
unheard of in rock and roll at the time: the dramatic rock ballad. They created
many hits for Monument Records. Fred Foster liked the new direction and assisted
with the writing team's vision. Roy's first record, "Uptown," was moderately
successful. With the release of "Only the Lonely" and its immediate rise to the top
of the charts (#2 in the US, #1 in the UK), he went on to become an international
rock and roll star. His single, "Runnin' Scared" became a US #1. Later, Roy wrote
many songs with writer Bill Dees including "Oh, Pretty Woman" which may be the most
well-known song of Roy's career. Throughout his stay at Monument Records his backup
band was a group of outstanding 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 and identifiable sound.
Orbison was a powerful influence on contemporaries such as The Rolling Stones. In
1963 he headlined a European tour with The Beatles. He became lifelong friends with
the band, especially John Lennon and George Harrison. Orbison would later record
with Harrison in the Traveling Wilburys. During their tour of Europe, Orbison
encouraged the Beatles to come to the United States. When they toured America, they
asked Orbison to manage their tour, but his schedule forced him to decline.
Unlike many artists, Orbison maintained his success as the British Invasion swept
America in 1964. His single "Oh, Pretty Woman" broke the The Beatles' stranglehold
on the Top 10, soaring to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The record sold more
copies in its first ten days of release than any 45rpm up to that time, and
eventually sold over seven million copies. The song later became the signature tune
for the film 'Pretty Woman', named for his song, which brought fame to actress
Julia Roberts.
He toured with The Beach Boys in 1964, and with The Rolling Stones in Australia in
1965. He was successful in England, logging three No.1 hit singles and was several
times voted top male vocalist of the year.
Orbison signed a contract with MGM Records in 1965, and starred in MGM Studios'
western-musical motion picture 'The Fastest Guitar Alive' in which he performed
several songs from an album of the same name. Due to changes in musical taste he
had no hits in the U.S. after 1967. He remained popular elsewhere, but his American
popularity did not recover until the 1980s.
Orbison endured a great deal of tragedy in his relatively short life. his first
wife Claudette (Frady) (b. September 7, 1941) died in a motorcycle accident on June
6, 1966 in Gallatin, TN. Two years later, on September 14, 1968 the family home at
Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee, burned to the ground while Orbison
was touring in England. Two of his three sons, Roy Jr. (b. 1958) and Anthony (b.
June 29,1962), died in the fire. His youngest son Wesley (b. May 23, 1965), three
at the time, was saved by Orbison's parents.
Orbison met his second wife Barbara Orbison in August 1968 in Batley, Yorkshire,
England. They were married in Nashville on May 25, 1969, and built a new house one
block away from where Roy's old house had once stood.
Songs that had limited success in North America, such as "Penny Arcade" and
"Working for the Man" would go to Number 1 on the Australian charts, and "Too Soon
to Know" was Number 3 in England. His popularity extended to Germany, and he
recorded his hit song "Mama" in German. His records were in great demand on the
"black market" behind the Iron Curtain. In France, he was viewed as the master of
the ballad of lost love in the vein of that country's most popular singer Édith
Piaf. A cover version of Orbison's "Blue Bayou" sung in French by Mireille Mathieu
went to the top of France's record charts. Fans in the Netherlands founded his
largest world-wide fan club. He continued to perform in Ireland, despite the
constant terrorist activities in Northern Ireland. A rendition of the popular
ballad "Danny Boy" on the 1972 'Memphis' album is considered one of the best
recordings ever made of this much-recorded song.
His contract with MGM ended in 1973 and he signed with Mercury Records. He released
on there a country style album entitled "I'm Still In Love With You." The original
liner notes even said how Roy's career was suffering and the lack of hits he had in
the states, and according to the notes, that was to change with the release of the
songs on the LP. The song "Sweet Mama Blue" which is considered another rare and
overlooked song was a single from the LP and like all the other songs of that era
of Roy's failed to chart.
He re-signed with Monument in 1976 hoping to revive his career, once again with
Fred Foster at the helm of his recording sessions. The music from the sessions gave
us the LP "Regeneration". The LP is classic Orbison through and through, but once
again the public failed to find the songs or Roy. There was enough material yet for
another lp to be released, but Roy asked Fred to be released from his contract in
1978.
In 1977, multi-Grammy winning vocalist Linda Ronstadt, included "Blue Bayou" in her
triple-platinum album ( 3 million copes in US ) Simple Dreams. The single reached
No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart and was RIAA certified platinum (over 1
million US copies sold). Ronstadt's interpretion of "Blue Bayou" is Orbison's
greatest commercial songwriting success with the single itself having reported
sales of over 7 million copies sold worldwide.
Roy continued to tour heavily in the late 1970's and at times non-stop for weeks at
a time. That all came to a halt in late 1977 when Roy had discovered that he needed
open heart surgery following a heart attack at the age 41. On January 18, 1978, Roy
underwent the operation and until he passed away in 1988, Roy had a new lease on
life and his voice and music would become as big, if not bigger than it did in the
early 60s.
Roy's last contract in the 1970's came in 1979, with Electra-Asylum where he
finished the LP "Laminar Flow". The LP was a new direction for Roy, as it was his
attempt at doing disco. The LP also has a beautiful tribute to Elvis Presley,
"Hound Dog Man".
Resurgence in
the 1980s
In 1980 Orbison teamed with Emmylou Harris to win the 1981 Grammy Award for Best
Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for their song "That Lovin' You
Feelin' Again". In 1985 Orbison recorded "Wild Hearts" for the Nicolas Roeg film
Insignificance, released on the ZTT Records label, produced by David Briggs and
Will Jennings. The inclusion of "In Dreams" in the 1986 David Lynch film Blue
Velvet also aided Orbison's return to popularity. He was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, with the induction speech made by Bruce Springsteen (who
had famously referenced Orbison and "Only the Lonely" in his 1975 song "Thunder
Road"). His pioneering contribution was also recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of
Fame. Having signed a recording contract for the first time in 10 years, with
Virgin Records, he re-recorded his 1961 hit song "Crying" as a duet with k.d. lang
in 1987 for the soundtrack of the motion picture Hiding Out. The song would earn
the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.
Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night, a black-and-white HBO television
special recorded at the Coconut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in
1988, brought Orbison to the attention of a younger generation. Orbison was
accompanied by a who's-who supporting cast organized by musical director T-Bone
Burnett. All were fans and all were volunteers who lobbied to participate. On piano
was Glen Hardin, who played for Buddy Holly as well as Elvis Presley for several
years. Lead guitarist James Burton had also played with Presley and Ricky Nelson.
Male background vocals, with some also playing the guitar or piano, came from Bruce
Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther and Steven
Soles. Jennifer Warnes, k.d. lang and Bonnie Raitt provided female background
vocals. He was also joined by percussionist Michael Utley, a long time member of
Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band.
Shortly after this critically acclaimed performance, while working with Jeff Lynne
of Electric Light Orchestra on tracks for a new album, Orbison joined Bob Dylan,
George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty to form the Traveling Wilburys, achieving
substantial commercial and critical success. He subsequently recorded a new solo
album, Mystery Girl, produced by Orbison, Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty's
Heartbreakers) and Jeff Lynne. It included one track by U2's Bono (who also wears
trademark dark glasses and co-wrote the song "She's A Mystery to Me" with the Edge
specifically for Orbison). At an awards ceremony in Antwerp a few days before his
death, Roy Orbison gave his only public rendition of the hit "You Got It" to the
applause of a huge crowd.
Death
Orbison had triple heart bypass surgery on January 18, 1978. On December 6, 1988,
at the age of 52, he suffered a fatal heart attack while visiting his mother in the
Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee. At the direction of his wife
Barbara, Orbison was interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in
Westwood, California on December 15, 1988. His two sons and their mother Claudette,
who predeceased him, had been laid to rest at his request in the Woodlawn Memorial
Park Cemetery in Nashville.
His new album, Mystery Girl, and the single from it, "You Got It," were posthumous
hits, and are generally regarded as Orbison's best work since the 1960s. At the
time of his death, he was the first person since Elvis Presley to have two LPs in
the top 5 (Mystery Girl and Traveling Wilburys). He was the posthumous winner of
the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and in 1992 the popular
"I Drove All Night" and "Heartbreak Radio" appeared on the posthumous album, King
of Hearts, produced by Jeff Lynne.
Source : Some of the information on
this page came from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU
Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Roy
Orbison - Projector - Biography
