Roy Orbison

Orbison was born on April 23, 1936, in Vernon, Texas. He was the second of three sons born to Orbie Lee Orbison (1913–1984) and Nadine Vesta Shults (1914–1992). His father was an oil-field driller, who struggled to find work after the Great Depression, and his mother enjoyed painting and writing poetry. His direct paternal ancestry was traced to Thomas Orbison (born 1715) from Lurgan, Ireland who settled in the Province of Pennsylvania in the middle of the 18th century. According to The Authorized Roy Orbison, a biography written by Orbison's son Alex, the family moved to Fort Worth in 1942 to find work in the aircraft factories. Due to eyesight problems, Roy Orbison wore thick glasses from the age of four. He recalled, "I was finished, you know, for anything else" by the time he was seven, and music became the focus of his life. His major musical influence as a youth was country and western swing music. He was particularly moved by Lefty Frizzell's singing, with its slurred syllables, leading Orbison to adopt the stage name "Lefty Wilbury" during his time with the Traveling Wilburys. He also enjoyed Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Moon Mullican, and Jimmie Rodgers. One of the first musicians that he heard in person was Ernest Tubb, playing on the back of a truck in Fort Worth. Orbison also said that a formative experience was the regular singing sessions at Fort Worth, where he was surrounded by soldiers who were intensely emotional because they were about to be sent to the front line in World War II. In West Texas, he was exposed to rhythm and blues, western swing, Tex-Mex (Tejano music), the orchestral arrangements of Mantovani, and Cajun music. The Cajun favorite "Jole Blon" was one of the first songs that he sang in public. He attended Denver Avenue Elementary School Orbison described life in Wink as "football, oil fields, oil, grease, and sand" and expressed relief that he was able to leave the desolate town. He was self-conscious about his appearance and began dyeing his nearly white hair black when he was still young. He was quiet, self-effacing, polite, and obliging. During recess at school, he played guitar by himself while the other kids were playing physical games. As a teenager, Orbison's lack of sporting ability left him with shyness and low self-esteem. He was always keen to sing, however, and considered his voice memorable, but not great. ==Career==

1949–1955: Wink Westerners In 1949, Orbison (then 13 years old) formed the band "Wink Westerners" Their first performance was at a school assembly in 1953. Orbison also began writing songs in a rockabilly style, including "Go! Go! Go!" and "Rockhouse". In June 1956, "Ooby Dooby" peaked at number 59 in the Billboard charts and sold 200,000 copies, Nonetheless, he continued to pitch his ballad "Claudette" (on which he began working in early 1956) to singers he met on tour, During the period of 1958–1959, Orbison made his living at Acuff-Rose Music, Playing shows at night and living with his wife and young child in a tiny apartment, Orbison often took his guitar to his car to write songs. Songwriter Joe Melson, an acquaintance of Orbison's, tapped on his car window one day in Texas in 1958, and the two decided to write some songs together. In three recording sessions in 1958 and 1959, Orbison recorded seven songs for RCA Victor at their Nashville studios; only two singles ("Paper Boy" and "With the Bug" Wesley Rose brought Orbison to the attention of the producer Fred Foster at Monument Records, the record label to which Orbison would soon switch. Orbison's own style, the sound created at RCA Victor Studio B in Nashville with pioneer engineer Bill Porter, the production by Foster, and the accompanying musicians gave Orbison's music a "polished, professional sound... finally allowing Orbison's stylistic inclinations free rein". Impressed with the results, Melson later recalled, "We stood in the studio, listening to the playbacks, and thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world." The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll states that the music Orbison made in Nashville "brought a new splendour to rock", and compared the melodramatic effects of the orchestral accompaniment to the musical productions of Phil Spector. "Uptown" was a modest hit and the first song by Orbison and Melson to reach the Billboard Top 100. "Only the Lonely" '' advertisement, September 12, 1960 Experimenting with a new sound, Orbison and Joe Melson wrote a song in early 1960, which in using elements from "Uptown" and another song they had written called "Come Back to Me (My Love)", employed strings and the Anita Kerr doo-wop backing singers. It also featured a note hit by Orbison in falsetto that showcased a powerful voice, which according to biographer Clayson, "came not from his throat, but deeper within". The song was "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)". Orbison was passing through Memphis when he tried to pitch the song to Elvis Presley (along with several other songs) to make some money quickly, but it was early in the morning and Presley did not want to see Orbison at that time. This combination became Orbison's trademark sound. At the time of its recording, though, Orbison was struggling to earn a living, because he was only working as a singer at local dances. Melson also moved to Hendersonville soon after, and began working on "Blue Angel" together, which was recorded in August 1960. Orbison worked on a new song, "Running Scared", about a man worried that his girlfriend is about to leave him for another man. Fred Foster then put Orbison in the corner of the studio and surrounded him with coat racks, forming an improvised isolation booth to emphasize his voice. Orbison was unhappy with the first two takes. In the third, however, he abandoned the idea of using falsetto and sang the final high 'A' naturally, so astonishing everyone present that the accompanying musicians stopped playing. They later went on to have their own career, releasing a few singles and two albums on their own. Also in 1962, he charted with "The Crowd", "Leah", and "Workin' for the Man", which he wrote about working one summer in the oil fields near Wink. Orbison first met Bob Dylan at Dylan's 21st birthday party in May 1962. According to the discography in The Authorized Roy Orbison, a rare alternative version of "Blue Bayou" was released in Italy. Orbison finished 1963 with a Christmas song written by Willie Nelson, "Pretty Paper" (US number 15 in 1963, UK number six in 1964). As "In Dreams" was released in April 1963, Orbison was asked to replace Duane Eddy on a tour of the UK in top billing with the Beatles. The tour sold out in one afternoon. Finally, when the audience began chanting "We want Roy!" again, Lennon and Paul McCartney physically held Orbison back. Orbison felt a kinship with Lennon, but it was George Harrison with whom he would later form a strong friendship. In 1963, touring took a toll on Orbison's personal life. After discovering a letter from one of Orbison's secret girlfriends, his wife Claudette had an affair with the builder of their home in Tennessee.) for $1 million The move was described as Orbison "joining the ranks of fading rock stars fleeing to MGM". The contractual requirement to release a certain number of singles and albums per year for MGM also took its toll on the quality of Orbison's songs., and thrown into the air. She was taken by ambulance to hospital, but her liver was seriously injured and she died, aged 25. Orbison's character was a spy who stole and had to protect and deliver a cache of gold to the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, and was supplied with a guitar that turned into a rifle. The prop allowed him to deliver the line, "I could kill you with this and play your funeral march at the same time", with, according to biographer Colin Escott, "zero conviction". Orbison's single "Cry Softly Lonely One" from March 1967 was his last song to enter the top 100 until the 1980s. This occurred two years after the death of his wife Claudette and Orbison's grief meant he could not write songs. The property was sold to Johnny Cash, whose house at the same location also burned down later. Wesley (born 1965), his youngest son with Claudette, was raised by Orbison's parents. Orbison and Barbara had a son (Roy Kelton Jr.) in 1970 and another (Alexander) in 1975. 1970s: Struggles Orbison continued recording albums in the 1970s, but his career stagnated during this decade. At the beginning of the decade, Orbison started to wear his hair straight, instead of combing it back. He would wear it like this for the rest of his life. However, several artists released popular covers of his songs. Orbison's version of "Love Hurts" was remade by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, again by hard rock band Nazareth, and by Jim Capaldi. Sonny James' version of "Only the Lonely" reached number one on the country music charts. Orbison said he felt rejuvenated after the procedure, but his weight would continue to fluctuate for the rest of his life. He also continued to smoke cigarettes, despite the advice of his doctor. Orbison was all but forgotten in the US, yet he reached popularity in less likely places such as Bulgaria in 1982. He was astonished to find that he was as popular there as he had been in 1964, and he was forced to stay in his hotel room because he was mobbed on the streets of Sofia. In the meantime, Van Halen released a hard-rock cover of "Oh, Pretty Woman" on their 1982 album Diver Down, further exposing a younger generation to Orbison's music. Orbison, his wife, and two oldest children moved from Nashville to Malibu in 1986 Lynch's first choice for a song had actually been "Crying"; the song served as one of several obsessions of psychopath Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper). It was lip-synched by Ben (Dean Stockwell), Booth's drug-dealer boss, using an industrial work light as a pretend microphone, lighting his face. In later scenes, Booth demands the song be played repeatedly, and also wanting the song while beating the protagonist. During filming, Lynch would also sit his cast down every few hours and ask them to listen to the song. k.d. lang and he performed a duet of "Crying" for inclusion on the soundtrack to the film Hiding Out (1987); the pair received a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals after Orbison's death. Also in 1987, Orbison was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and was initiated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen, who concluded his speech with a reference to his own album Born to Run: "I wanted a record with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector—but, most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now, everyone knows that no one sings like Roy Orbison." In response, Orbison asked Springsteen for a copy of the speech, and said of his induction that he felt "validated" by the honor. and k.d. lang. Lang later recounted how humbled Orbison had been by the display of support from so many talented and busy musicians: "Roy looked at all of us and said, 'If there is anything I can ever do for you, please call on me'. He was very serious. It was his way of thanking us. It was very emotional." Traveling Wilburys began in 1987, when Orbison began collaborating seriously with Electric Light Orchestra bandleader Jeff Lynne on a new album. Expanding on the concept of a traveling band of raucous musicians, Orbison offered a quote about the group's foundation in honor: "Some people say Daddy was a cad and a bounder. I remember him as a Baptist minister." The band's debut album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988), was released on October 25, 1988. Orbison was given one solo track, "Not Alone Any More", on the album. His contributions were highly praised by the press. Orbison determinedly pursued his second chance at stardom, but he expressed amazement at his success: "It's very nice to be wanted again, but I still can't quite believe it." He lost some weight to fit his new image and the constant demand of touring, as well as the newer demands of making videos. In the final three months of his life, he gave Rolling Stone extensive access to his daily activities; he intended to write an autobiography and wanted Martin Sheen to play him in a biopic. Orbison completed a solo comeback album, Mystery Girl, in November 1988. Mystery Girl was co-produced by Jeff Lynne. Orbison considered Lynne to be the best producer with whom he had ever collaborated. Elvis Costello, Bono, Orbison's son Wesley, and others offered their songs to him. Around November 1988, Orbison confided in Johnny Cash that he was having chest pains. Orbison traveled to Europe and received an award at the Diamond Awards festival in Antwerp, where footage for the video for "You Got It" was filmed. He gave several interviews a day in a hectic schedule and became ill with a blinding headache during the final interview. A few days later, a manager at a club in Boston was concerned that he looked ill, but Orbison played the show to a standing ovation. ==Death==

Orbison performed at the Front Row Theater in Highland Heights, Ohio, on December 4, 1988. After the meal, Orbison went to his mother's house and chatted with his son Wesley. A public memorial attended by friends, family and fans was organized by friend Jean Shepard and held at the College Heights Baptist Church in Gallatin, Tennessee, on December 11. ==Posthumous career==

Orbison's posthumous album Mystery Girl was released by Virgin Records on January 31, 1989 and became the highest-selling album of his career. According to Rolling Stone, "Mystery Girl cloaks the epic sweep and grandeur of his classic sound in meticulous, modern production—the album encapsulates everything that made Orbison great, and for that reason it makes a fitting valedictory." Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 spent 53 weeks on the US charts, peaking at number three. It reached number one in Australia and number 16 in the UK. The album won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. In the United Kingdom, he achieved even greater posthumous success, with two solo albums in the top three on February 11, 1989 (Mystery Girl was number two and the compilation The Legendary Roy Orbison was number three). Although the video for the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care" was filmed with Orbison, the video for "End of the Line" was filmed and released posthumously. During Orbison's vocal solo parts in "End of the Line", the video shows Orbison's guitar in a rocking chair next to Orbison's framed photo. On October 20, 1992, King of Hearts—another album of Orbison songs—was released. Earlier in the early 1990s, Rodney Crowell and Orbison’s friend and occasional songwriting partner Will Jennings wrote the lyrics to a recording of a melody that Orbison had made before his death; they titled the resulting song, which was recorded by Crowell and released in 1992, “What Kind of Love”. In 1996, the album The Very Best of Roy Orbison documented his entire career. On December 4, 2015, the studio album One of the Lonely Ones, recorded by Orbison in 1969, was posthumously released. The album, which Orbison recorded surreptitiously in the aftermath of his first wife Claudette's death in a motorcycle accident and the death of their two sons in a house fire 2 years later, was long believed lost. ==Public image==

Orbison eventually developed an image that did not reflect his personality. He had no publicist in the early 1960s, so had little presence in fan magazines, and his single sleeves did not feature his picture. LIFE called him an "anonymous celebrity". After leaving his thick eyeglasses on an airplane in 1963, Orbison was forced to wear his prescription Faosa sunglasses on stage His black clothes and song lyrics emphasized the image of mystery and introversion. ==Style and legacy==

Rock and roll in the 1950s was typically defined by a driving backbeat, heavy guitars, and lyrical themes that glorified youthful rebellion. Few of Orbison's recordings have these characteristics. The structure and themes of his songs defied convention, and his much-praised voice and performance style were very different from his peers. Many of his contemporaries compared his music with that of classically trained musicians, although Orbison never mentioned any classical music influences. Peter Lehman summarized it, writing, "He achieved what he did not by copying classical music, but by creating a unique form of popular music that drew upon a wide variety of music popular during his youth." Orbison was known as "the Caruso of Rock" and "the Big O". Song structures Music critic Dave Marsh wrote that Orbison's compositions "define a world unto themselves more completely than any other body of work in pop music". Orbison's music, like the man himself, has been described as timeless, diverting from contemporary rock and roll and bordering on the eccentric, within a hair's breadth of being weird. Peter Watrous, writing for the New York Times, declared in a concert review, "He has perfected an odd vision of popular music, one in which eccentricity and imagination beat back all the pressures toward conformity". In the 1960s, Orbison refused to splice edits of songs together which was then becoming standard for the recording industry, and insisted on recording songs in single takes with all the instruments and singers together. The only convention Orbison followed in his most popular songs is the time limit for radio fare in pop songs. Otherwise, each seems to follow a separate structure. Using the standard 32-bar form for verses and choruses, normal pop songs followed the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus structure. Where A represents the verse, B represents the chorus, and C the bridge, most pop songs can be represented by A-B-A-B-C-A-B, like "Ooby Dooby" and "Claudette". Orbison's "In Dreams" was a song in seven movements that can be represented as Intro-A-B-C-D-E-F; no sections are repeated. In "Running Scared", however, the entire song repeats to build suspense to a final climax, to be represented as A-A-A-A-B. "Crying" is more complex, changing parts toward the end to be represented as A-B-C-D-E-F-A-B'-C'-D'-E'-F'. Although Orbison recorded and wrote standard structure songs before "Only the Lonely", he claimed never to have learned how to write them: Elton John's songwriting partner and main lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote that Orbison's songs always made "radical left turns", and k.d. lang declared that good songwriting comes from being constantly surprised, such as how the entirety of "Running Scared" eventually depends on the final note, one word. Some of the musicians who worked with Orbison were confounded by what he asked them to do. Nashville session guitarist Jerry Kennedy stated, "Roy went against the grain. The first time you'd hear something, it wouldn't sound right. But after a few playbacks, it would start to grow on you." In concert, Orbison placed the up-tempo songs between the ballads to keep from being too consistently dark or grim. In 1990, Colin Escott wrote an introduction to Orbison's biography published in a CD box set: "Orbison was the master of compression. Working the singles era, he could relate a short story, or establish a mood in under three minutes. If you think that's easy—try it. His greatest recordings were quite simply perfect; not a word or note surplus to intention." Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant favored American R&B music as a youth, but beyond the black musicians, he named Elvis and Orbison especially as foreshadowing the emotions he would experience: "The poignancy of the combination of lyric and voice was stunning. [Orbison] used drama to great effect and he wrote dramatically." Carl Perkins, however, toured with Orbison while they were both signed with Sun Records and recalled a specific concert when Orbison covered the Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald standard "Indian Love Call", and had the audience completely silenced, in awe. When compared to the Everly Brothers, who often used the same session musicians, Orbison is credited with "a passionate intensity" that, according to The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, made "his love, his life, and, indeed, the whole world [seem] to be coming to an end—not with a whimper, but an agonized, beautiful bang". Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees went further to say that when he heard "Crying" for the first time, "That was it. To me that was the voice of God." Elvis Presley stated Orbison's voice was the greatest and most distinctive he had ever heard. Likewise, Tim Goodwin, who conducted the orchestra that backed Orbison in Bulgaria, had been told that Orbison's voice would be a singular experience to hear. When Orbison started with "Crying" and hit the high notes, Goodwin stated: "The strings were playing and the band had built up and, sure enough, the hair on the back of my neck just all started standing up. It was an incredible physical sensation." His voice ranged from baritone to tenor, and music scholars have suggested that he had a three- or four-octave range. Orbison's severe stage fright was particularly noticeable in the 1970s and early 1980s. During the first few songs in a concert, the vibrato in his voice was almost uncontrollable, but afterward, it became stronger and more dependable. This also happened with age. Orbison noticed that he was unable to control the tremor in the late afternoon and evenings, and chose to record in the mornings when control was possible. Live performances Orbison often excused his motionless performances by saying that his songs did not allow instrumental sections so he could move or dance on stage, although songs like "Mean Woman Blues" did offer that. He was aware of his unique performance style, even in the early 1960s, when he commented, "I'm not a super personality—on stage or off. I mean, you could put workers like Chubby Checker or Bobby Rydell in second-rate shows and they'd still shine through, but not me. I'd have to be prepared. People come to hear my music, my songs. That's what I have to give them." k.d. lang compared Orbison to a tree, with passive but solid beauty. This image of Orbison as immovable was so associated with him it was parodied by John Belushi on Saturday Night Live, as Belushi, dressed as Orbison, falls over while singing "Oh, Pretty Woman", and continues to play as his bandmates set him upright again. However, lang quantified this style by saying, "It's so hard to explain what Roy's energy was like because he would fill a room with his energy and presence, but not say a word. Being that he was so grounded and so strong and so gentle and quiet. He was just there." Orbison attributed his own passion during his performances to the period when he grew up in Fort Worth while the US was mobilizing for World War II. His parents worked in a defense plant; his father brought out a guitar in the evenings playing the driving rhythm of western swing, and their friends and relatives who had just joined the military gathered to drink and sing heartily with him. Orbison later reflected, "I guess that level of intensity made a big impression on me, because it's still there. That sense of 'do it for all it's worth and do it now and do it good.' Not to analyze it too much, but I think the verve and gusto that everybody felt and portrayed around me has stayed with me all this time." ==Discography==

Studio albums • Lonely and Blue (1961) • Roy Orbison at the Rock House (1961) • Crying (1962) • In Dreams (1963) • Oh, Pretty Woman (non-US) (1964) • There Is Only One Roy Orbison (1965) • Orbisongs (1965) • The Orbison Way (1966) • The Classic Roy Orbison (1966) • Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson/Sweet Dreams (Africa) (1967) • Cry Softly Lonely One (1967) • ''Roy Orbison's Many Moods'' (1969) • Hank Williams the Roy Orbison Way (1970) • The Big O (1970) • Roy Orbison Sings (1972) • Memphis (1972) • Milestones (1973) • ''I'm Still in Love with You'' (1975) • Regeneration (1976) • Laminar Flow (1979) • ''Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming'' (with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins) (1986) • In Dreams: The Greatest Hits (1987) Soundtrack albums • The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967) Posthumous albums • Mystery Girl (1989) • King of Hearts (1992) • The Last Concert (2009) • One of the Lonely Ones (2015) Remix albums • A Love So Beautiful (with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) (2017) • Unchained Melodies (with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) (2018) Concert videos • 1972: Live from Australia (Roy Orbison album) • 1982: Live at Austin City Limits • 1988: Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night ==Honors==

Rolling Stone placed him at number 37 on their list of the "Greatest Artists of All Time" and number 13 on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time'. In 2002, Billboard magazine listed Orbison at number 74 in the Top 600 recording artists. • Grammy Awards • Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2010) • America's Pop Music Hall of Fame (2014) • Memphis Music Hall of Fame (2017) • Texas Country Music Hall of Fame (2024) ==Footnotes==