Roy Orbison: The Soul Of Rock 'n' Roll
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Xmas gift problems resolved; this year's essential box set All the bases are covered, as you might expect. Orbison's country and rockabilly beginnings, the formidable 1960s hits and his late '80s star-assisted renaissance share equal billing across the 107 tracks on this box, but a handful of less celebrated and alternate recordings offer just as much of a clue to the man's place in popular music history.
The songs in question appear on the running order with additional information in brackets after the titles, alerting the listener to the fact they feature on movie soundtracks - movies made by David Lynch, Nicolas Roeg and Wim Wenders, three of the most visually stylistic directors of all time. These men are nothing less than artists, celluloid the canvas for their often outlandish and provocative imagery, and for whom The Big O could effortlessly provide the necessarily dramatic aural accompaniment.
It was always that way, you could argue. Even fumbling adolescent urgency like Roy's early single Almost 18 is cinematic, a two-and-a-half minute précis of countless high school coming-of-age comedies; Uptown could be read as an aspirational story of wrong-side-of-the-tracks betterment; Blue Bayou as a tail-between-the-legs return to humble home roots; Running Scared the positive denouement of a fraught love triangle tragedy; It's Over a lachrymose credit-roll to a story of romantic defeat. Any screenwriter who can't put together a script based on the lyrics to a Roy Orbison song ought to be back waiting on tables.
Sam Phillips famously fell out with Orbison because he didn't know what to do with him; he wasn't as malleable as Elvis, Jerry Lee or the rest of the Sun Records stable, and it took a car ride across state from Memphis to Nashville before Roy found the platform for his singular pain at Monument Records. Here was where the legend took shape, where an awkward, chubby and weak-sighted misfit articulated the doubts and insecurities of the vast majority of normal folk who, in common with the singer, weren't as pretty as Elvis or as aggressive or as confident as Jerry Lee.
It's interesting to hear those early Sun sides on the first disc of this collection, partly because it's the sound of a man struggling to find his place in the world. At Monument, on superb records like Only The Lonely, Crying and Pretty Paper, he arrived where he belonged, but it was still a world of obstacles and uncertainties. The swagger and bravado of Oh Pretty Woman aside, Orbison was the ultimate chronicler of inescapable emotional doom.
There was a period, stretching over the best part of two decades, where Roy was in the wilderness, condemned to poorly-staged nostalgia shows and low-rent supper clubs, but the essence of his music could still be heard in Bruce Springsteen (Born To Run), Elvis Costello (Alison) or Tom Waits (Blue Valentines). Interestingly, all three were on board when Orbison returned to prominence via a 1988 TV special, in tandem with the tremendous Mystery Girl album - U2, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne also contributing to the rehabilitation.
Dylan and George Harrison upped the ante with The Travelling Wilburys project, again represented here, but it wasn't so much a helping hand as an acknowledgement of the irrefutable genius in their midst. Roy Orbison was - is - a god, and The Soul Of Rock 'n' Roll might well be the nearest pop music ever gets to producing a Bible.
A version of this review appears in a forthcoming issue of the UK music magazine Record Collector
Comments (10)
Remember - "Pretty Woman" was a song to his wife, who was killed in front of him in a motorcycle accident. (Just as "Save the Last Dance for Me" was wheelchair-bound Doc Pomus's reaction to seeing his wife dancing with his brother at a wedding.)
Rolling Stone's mwmento mori piece on Orbison began with (more or less)
Arrgh!
I make a typo ad type "momento mori", correct it, and then - after posting - realise that i "fixed" it to "mwmento mori"...
Bad fingers! Bad, bad fingers!
Very eloquently put. This "She's a Mystery to Me" sounds great, and not dated at all. Now I want to check out his post-Sixties oeuvre.
She's A Mystery To Me was written by Bono and The Edge, Spike. I can honestly say that it's the one song that made me re-assess U2's past work and keep an eye on their future releases.
Now see? This is why I MOG. Terry, this is such a fine homage to one of Rock's true titans. I know several people who cried the day Roy died, & I'll bet a few Willburys did too.
But he's not alone anymore.
The second Travelling Wilburys video, End of the Line, which shows them playing sitting in a circle in a moving caboose, was made after Roy died; when they get to his vocal, they show a rocking rocking chair with his guitar sitting upright in it completing the circle...:
Always loved George's description of the Wilburys: "Five lead singers who all play rhythm guitar."
And here's that first video, as well, with some of Roy's spookiest-ever vocals:
The Travelling Wilburys were one of the most incredible pop/rock projects ever - and it all happened because of a complete chance meeting...
"...he's not alone anymore."
No - he's not - four-fifths of the Million Dollar Quintet are probably jamming together Up There right now.
And Mister Sam is twisting the knobs...
(Commander Cody - The Home of Rock and Roll, on Let's Rock.)
There's a great quote from Roy in 'Shakey' about being at a party and this guy came over and sat at his feet and grilled him for hours about all the songs. Asked questions about tunes that Roy didn't even remember. It was Neil Young, another uber fan. "I Drove All Night" is one more great song from the 80s that he completely made his own - check Cindy Lauper's version (which I think was first) to hear what a titan he was. I can remember hearing the Big Hits as a kid and seeing movies in my mind on every one. Thanks for letting us know about the box, Terry.
Oops - somehow i pasted the wrong link above - here's the video for End of the Line:
Still remember the tears that flowed after seeing the above video for the very first time.
This review definately will have an effect on the wallet this year to get that box set. Well done Terry.
:=)