Roy Orbison: A life in black and white

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On the 30th of September 1987 some of the biggest stars of the time came together in the Ambassador Hotel in LA, all to watch “Roy Orbison & Friends: A Black and White Night”. Joining him on stage were greats including: Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, k.d. Lang, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, and Elvis Presley’s TCB Band. 

Roy Orbison was clearly something special. Elvis said that his voice was the “greatest” he had ever heard, the country singer Dwight Yoakam described his voice as “the cry of an angel falling backwards through an open window”. Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees simply said that when he listened to him he heard “the voice of God”. Orbison’s vocal range allowed him to sing much higher than many of the Rock ‘n’ Roll stars of the 50s and 60s. There are times when you listen to him sing that it feels as if you’re listening to an operatic ballad. His voice was powerful yet tender, and laced with heartache; as he said it really was a “gift”.

Another thing that made him so distinctive compared to his contemporaries was his songwriting ability. Songs like  In Dreams, It’s Over and Crying feel more like some kind of heartbroken dream; with a combination of complex, often orchestral music and poetic lyrics. The focus of many of his songs are ideas of loneliness or lost love but songs like Uptown, Pretty Women or Claudette show that he could write more commercial 1960s pop songs. His style of songwriting was really unlike anyone at the time or since. He never followed conventional song structures, a song like In Dreams has no one line repeated, and there is no chorus. The songs is more like some kind of tragic poem, instead of a 1960s pop ballad that is hauntingly good. 

Credit- franklintheatre.com

Orbison had plenty of heartbreak in his own life to draw from. In 1966 his first wife, Claudette (whom he wrote the song of the same name about), died in a motorbike accident in which Roy was driving. Just over two years later while touring the UK, Orbison was told that his home in Tennessee had burned down with his two eldest sons dying; only leaving his youngest son Wesley who would then be raised by Orbison's parents. By the 1970s his career was failing and he would continue to struggle until the late 1980s. 

In 1986 his song In Dreams was used in David Lynch’s more than a little surreal film Blue Velvet, this skyrocketed Orbison back to fame. Over the next 2 years he would go on to record a new album, join the rock supergroup the Traveling Wilburys (with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne), he would also film his Black and White as mentioned above. However, less than three years after his comeback Orbison would die of a heart attack in December 1988 at only 52. His album Mystery Girl being released posthumously. The album’s sing You Got It entering the Top 10 of music charts the world around.

Credit- musicinsf.com

The life of Roy Orbison was clearly a tough one but his Black and White Night provides us with a perfect snapshot to his music and helps to show just how important he was to so many musical greats of the 70s and 80s. For instance, there are moments in the show when you see Bruce Springsteen look over at Orbison and you can tell just how much he loves and appreciates him. If you watch the videos of the show from the 30 year anniversary re-release (Black and White 30), then it is just as much a cinematic pleasure as it is a music pleasure to listen to (much of it is available on YouTube). What you’ll see is a man at the top of his game, which is classic dark glasses, and black clothes; loving every minute of the show. But what you’ll also see is a man that had experienced enough heartache for a number of lifetimes and a man that would sadly die just over a year later. 

After the tragedies of the 60s he would go on to have a seemingly happy marriage with his second wife, Barbara, and then when he found fame again in the late 80s he would have what were two of his most creative and successful years of his career; all to be cut short. His life was one of both love and pain, and black and white.