Roy Orbison is one of the most "atypical" representatives of rock and roll. However, thanks to his lyrical ballads and unique musical style, he became a legend during his lifetime, becoming a source of inspiration for many generations of musical artists.
Biography and early years
Roy Kelton Orbison was born on April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas, to a working-class family. The future world famous singer received his first guitar as a gift from his father for his sixth birthday, and at the age of 8, Roy wrote his first song "A Vow of Love".
At the age of 13, while studying, he joined the local music group The Wink Westerners. Roy spent his free time from studies and rehearsals playing the guitar and creating new songs. However, realizing that the path to musical fame was not so easy, the members disbanded the group, and Roy entered North Texas State College, where he intended to get his basic education. But already in 1955 he left college, deciding to concentrate entirely on music. With the new group "The Teen Kings" Roy Orbison travels to Memphis, where he signs a contract with the independent record company Sun Records. His song "Ooby Dooby" caught the attention of the label's producer, Sam Phillips.
Musical career
Most of Orbison's recorded songs during those years were produced by Sam Phillips. However, this collaboration did not bring the singer success, and in 1960 he transferred to Monument Records. Fred Foster, the head of the company, encourages him to change his image. Under his leadership, Orbison began to write songs for himself, creating a personal musical style. At the same time, he created the composition "Only the Lonely", which he first proposed for recording to Elvis Presley and "Everly Brothers". Refused, Orbison records the song himself. As a result, the composition took the second place in the Billboard chart. For 5 years, between 1960 and 1965, Roy Orbison recorded 9 songs that entered the top 10 charts, and 10 more songs that entered the top 40.
During these years, Roy Orbison worked hard on his sound, eventually developing a sound that was unique for the music of those years. His songs, which became popular, had nothing to do with the classical composition of the compositions. In this respect, Orbison called himself "lucky", since he did not know "what is allowed and what is not" in music. "Sometimes a song has a chorus at the end of a verse, and sometimes it doesn't, it just goes the way it is … But the main thing is always the fact that when I write a song, it sounds natural to me."
Roy Orbison toured for the first time in 1963 with the famous Rolling Stones. The artist traveled to Australia, where he performed songs known only in North America, such as "Penny Arcade" and "Working for the Man". They immediately went to # 1 on the Australian music charts.
In the same year he took part in the European tour "The Beatles", which was the beginning of a long friendship (especially with John Lennon and George Harrison - with them Orbison later recorded a duet). Impressed by the talent of the group, Orbison persuaded them to attend US concerts. When The Beatles first visited America, they approached Orbison with a request to become their manager, but the singer was forced to turn down the offer due to a busy schedule.
Even as Beatlemania swept America, Roy Orbison's new single "Oh, Pretty Woman" broke the band's record to reach number one on the Billboard charts. The number of sold copies of the song exceeded 7 million, which at that time was more than the total number of all 45-revolution records sold throughout the country.
In 1966, Orbison signed to MGM Records. Also the film studio MGM Studios filmed a musical film in western style "The Fastest Guitar Alive", where Roy Orbison performed some songs from the album of the same name.
Personal life and tragedies
However, after professional success came a streak of personal tragedies. In 1966, Orbison's wife, Claudette, died in a traffic accident. In 1968, while Orbison was on a tour of the UK, his house in Tennessee caught fire. His two youngest sons were burnt in the fire, Roy's parents managed to save only one. In 1973, misfortune struck the family again: Roy's older brother crashed in a car accident while driving to his brother's to celebrate Thanksgiving.
These incidents crippled Orbison, as a result of which he lost the ability to write hits. However, at that time the musical world was going through another revolution, and rock and roll ceased to enjoy its former popularity among young people.
One of his friends recalled that period: “I lived in New York between 1968 and 1971, and even in Manhattan I could not find a single store in which I could find at least one copy of Orbison's new album; I had to order them on purpose."
By the mid-70s, Orbison completely retired from the music show business.
Return to music and later years
In 1980, Orbison accepted an invitation from the Eagles to join the Hotel California tour. In the same year, he again began working with country music, recording a duet with singer Emmylou Harris the song "That Lovin 'You Feeling Again", which brought her a Grammy award. In 1982, Van Halen re-recorded the singer's main hit, "Oh, Pretty Woman," for the film Pretty Woman, bringing back the attention and love of rock and roll fans to Orbison. In the same years, David Lynch used Orbison's composition In Dreams in the film Blue Velvet. This gave the idea to the performer to release a collection of his hits from past years. The album enjoyed moderate success and brought the Roy Orbison name back to the music industry. Soon after, Orbison joined The Traveling Wilburys, which included popular artists such as Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Jeff Lynn.
In 1987, Roy Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the same year, a black and white concert film "Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night" was filmed, which brought the performer a new round of fame and new fans.
Orbison passed away from a heart attack on December 6, 1988. His posthumously released album, Mystery Girl, reached # 5 on the music charts and became the singer's most successful solo album of his career. In 1991, he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award. Despite the fact that at the time of his death he was only 52 years old, Orbison inscribed his name in the history of world music during his lifetime.
