Roy Orbison

Iconic singer-songwriter associated with many melancholy songs, and having more than his fair share of personal tragedy. He died 30 years ago (this December). Made something of a comeback late last year with an album blending his music with the orchestrations of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Here are a handful of his best works:

Running Scared

In Dreams

Cryin'

You Got It

I Drove All Night

Roy Orbison: Live in Australia
And in Black & White, in 1973. This was also an hour or so, and amidst a swift runthrough of his own hits (Blue Bayou, It's Over, Penny Arcade etc), he did versions of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and 'Sweet Caroline'. He also finished on a predictable crowd-pleasing note with 'Pretty Woman', then went off-stage, and came back... and reprised 'Pretty Woman' again

Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits
Varying footage from shows over the years, from a static 'Only The Lonely' to a lively 'You Got It', interspersed with some interview material of Roy. The best of that comes when he talks of writing 'Pretty Woman' in just 30 minutes... the good ones are quick to write, the bad ones take months, probably as true a rule of thumb now as ever. All the expected hits, the version of 'Pretty Woman' comes from a show he did with Springsteen, Costello, Waits & others, and features a charming guitar jam solo which goes on for a good few minutes.

Songs of Roy Orbison
Not sure if I've seen this before. Featured the Bee Gees, Robert Plant, kd Lang, Jeff Lynne, Don Was, Bono and others applauding songs, inbetween footage of the great man in action. Still a joy to enjoy.

Roy Orbison - One of the Lonely Ones
A nice new lookback, notable perhaps for his children being the core of the story-tellers, along with co-writer Joe Melson. There were some adulatory comments from fellow pros like Bobby Goldsboro, T-Bone Burnett and Marianne Faithfull.

Roy Orbison and Friends - A Black and White Night
Sure I must have done this one before. It's a 1987 gig in Los Angeles with Roy running through his hits, with musical accompaniment from the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, kd lang, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, JD Souther, T-Bone Burnett and Jackson Browne. With Billy Idol in the audience. A welcome effort from the autumn of his career.

Discovering: Roy Orbison
"The patron saint of the broken heart", he started off in a country sound with the Wink Westerners, then the Teen King. Music was an escape route. Johnny Cash recommended him to Sam Phillips. Had a hit with "Ooby Dooby". Wrote "Claudette" for the Everly Brothers. Felt more a songwriter than a singer. Only The Lonely was a big success. Had a huge vocal range. Wore sunglasses one night and found a style. Kept having hits. Changed label, to poor results. His wife was killed, two of his sons died when his house burned down. He had an artistic hiatus, and heart surgery in 1978. The Black and White Night event in 1987 helped reignite his career, as did the Travelling Wilburys super-group. But he died of a heart attack soon after.

Roy Orbison: Love Hurts
The usual story, albeit starting in the mid-60s, and told by the surviving sons Wesley (who does resemble Roy) and Roy Jr and Alex (who don't). Roy and Barbara were represented in quite a bit of archive footage, but the main thrust was to plug the new "A Love So Beautiful" album that they did with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. At least the three brothers seem close, and worked together on this album, as they all seem to play different instruments.

His family have cobbled together another "new" album for Christmas, Unchained Melodies, which has been a top 10 hit here.

Austin City Limits - Classic - Roy Orbison
From Aug 5, 1982, at the Moody Theatre. A good hour of hits, from Only The Lonely through to Running Scared, and most expected points inbetween.

Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl: Unraveled
Like the "Classic Albums" format show, but officially not, this 2014 prog looked at the making of Roy's final album, with Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy's widow Barbara, and three of his sons on hand to talk it through.

Music Legends: Roy Orbison
Born in April 1936, he was a school mate of Pat Boone's, formed bands like the Wink Westerners and the Teen Kings, and made it to Sun Studio, before finally finding success as a singer and songwriter under his own name. His private life was rougher than his music career, though he did find love again after the tragic death of Claudette. He suffered with stage fright, and his career faded during the 1970s. He also had a triple heart bypass. He won a couple of Grammys in the 1980s through duets with Emmylou Harris and kd lang, before the Travelling Wilburys project reignited his career, and he made a final album with help from Jeff Lynne, before his heart attack at the end of 1988.

Roy Orbison - Forever
Fairly decent round-up of the life and career of the "Big O", including archive of both the man himself and Johnny Cash. As well as predictable inclusions like Jeff Lynne and Elvis Costello, it was good to hear from less obvious suggestions like Bernie Taupin and Steve Jones. Even David Lynch discussed how Blue Velvet was enhanced because Dean Stockwell could learn a song to mime and Dennis Hopper couldn't.

Roy Sings Orbison
A half-hour show possibly from 1974, as Roy stands with his band and sings 10 tracks of his from Penny Arcade through Candy Man to Oh, Pretty Woman.

Roy Orbison at the BBC
A brutally short compilation, much of which was culled from latterday shows rather than an original source, which begs a few questions. Certainly any post-1989 material is questionable. Plus the inclusion of one of his Travelling Wilburys numbers felt like trying to fill time.

misery guts wrote:Songs of Roy Orbison
Not sure if I've seen this before. Featured the Bee Gees, Robert Plant, kd Lang, Jeff Lynne, Don Was, Bono and others applauding songs, inbetween footage of the great man in action. Still a joy to enjoy.

Roy Orbison - In Dreams
Billed as being new, but actually from 2006, it featured many of the above listed names, which is indicative to me. There were a few country names like Dwight Yoakam and Willie Nelson too, plus the likes of Chris Isaak and Emmylou Harris.