Roy Orbison Death Anniversary Now Been 20 Years Ago

[A 94Z Fan]

I would think alot of you do remeber Roy Orbison from his songs (Pretty Woman) (You Got It) I just can't believe he has been dead almost 20 years now . Can some of yal remeber when he died Dec 6 1988 at 11:54 PM of a Heart Attack? He was one of my favorite oldie singer of all time. Shades Of Roy Orbison.

 

[LowTideNumber6]

I remember that I heard the news of his death on the radio at work that night around 1 in the morning. I was very stunned and saddened. A real shame, especially with his then-current/recent successes with the solo "Mystery Girl" LP and his work on "The Traveling Wilburys".

 

[hornet61]

I'm not sure, if there has ever been a more beautiful voice than the Big "O"'s. Recently I listened to the Roy Orbison and the magnificent KD Lang's re-make of "Crying", my god, it just knocks you out.

Every Time I watch the Roy Orbison DVD in black and white with all those super stars singing along with the Big "O", It'a almost better than .... oh well, lets leave it at that.

I still remember the day as a High School freshman when I heard "Blue Angel", I didn't think anything could be more beautiful than "Only The Lonely", then came I'm Hurting, Running Scared, Crying, Dream Baby, In Dreams and on and on . All, in that magnificent Monument Records Stereo, who along with MGM always had the best stereo sounds. Yes, it was a sad day for us indeed, when we lost the Big "O".

 

[GridLeakBias]

I'm not sure, if there has ever been a more beautiful voice than the Big "O"'s. Recently I listened to the Roy Orbison and the magnificent KD Lang's re-make of "Crying", my god, it just knocks you out.

Every Time I watch the Roy Orbison DVD in black and white with all those super stars singing along with the Big "O", It'a almost better than .... oh well, lets leave it at that.

I still remember the day as a High School freshman when I heard "Blue Angel", I didn't think anything could be more beautiful than "Only The Lonely", then came I'm Hurting, Running Scared, Crying, Dream Baby, In Dreams and on and on . All, in that magnificent Monument Records Stereo, who along with MGM always had the best stereo sounds. Yes, it was a sad day for us indeed, when we lost the Big "O".

If you’re a true Orbison junky as I happen to be, I can recommend two 4 CD box sets you should own. Both these box sets include booklets with extensive liner notes, photographs and comments. If one has to choose between these two, the second one would be my selection, due to inclusion of so many of his unknown works.

#1: “The Legendary Roy Orbison”, A4K CBS Special Products (Produced in 1990). 75 cuts on four CDs. This is an excellent collection of Orbison’ s best.

#2: “Roy Orbison, The Soul Of Rock And Roll”. This definitive collection includes 107 original Orbison recordings from his first in 1955 (Ooby Dooby with the Teen Kings, not to be confused with the 1956 studio recording at Sun, which is also on this CD) to the last recording he made just two days before his untimely death in 1988. (A live in-concert version of “It’s Over”, Dec 4, 1988 in Akron, Ohio.) This box set also includes numerous previously unreleased masters, demos and live performances. Barbara Orbison was executive producer for this monumental work.

BTW – The “Roy Orbison and Friends, Black And White Night” performance at the Coconut Grove on September 30, 1987 is by far the most brilliant and notable of Orbison’s live performances, aided of course by some of the best artists in the field, i.e., Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, k.d.lang, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Waits. The DVD of this performance is a must have.

 

[hornet61]

Amen, Brother ............. I've got the black and white DVD.....and The Legendary Roy Orbison Box. There is a huge Bear Family Box available..........but sometimes the Bear Family product is poor quality and more times than not, mono.

Other great voices of that era

Guys:
Steve Lawrence
Jimmy Beaumont (Skyliners)
Lee Andrews (Hearts)
Jay Black (Americans)
Johnny Maestro (Crests)
Lenny CoCo(Chimes)
Joey Van (Duprees)
Mel Carter

Ladies:
Connie Francis
Janet Vogle (Skyliners)
Joni James
Dinah Washington
Sarah Vaughn
Lavern Baker

 

[TheFonz]

Amen, Brother ............. I've got the black and white DVD.....and The Legendary Roy Orbison Box. There is a huge Bear Family Box available..........but sometimes the Bear Family product is poor quality and more times than not, mono.

I was surprised to see your comments about Bear Family. They strive to use the original master recordings, not vinyl dubs or remakes. And remember that Roy's early recordings on Sun were recorded in mono in the 1950s,before stereo was born.

 

[hornet61]

Bear Family product is always top quality packaging, massive booklets, outstanding Bio's and pictures, my negative comments (which were not properly stated) refers only to the sound quality, and the mono releases. I own A Bear Family 8CD Connie Francis box and the sound quality is poor, and my earlier comments stated that MGM always had a nice sound whether It was stereo or mono.

My experience is that ACE UK has a better overall sound than Bear Family..... again, sound only, I reiterate , Bear Family packaging is great. If you want the defiitive works of an artist, Bear Family is the way to go, they take no prisoners , when It come to quantity.....Thanks for bringing this up, and allowing me to re-address my comments. It's always a pleasure to hear from folks that know their music.

 

[GridLeakBias]

Amen, Brother ............. I've got the black and white DVD.....and The Legendary Roy Orbison Box. There is a huge Bear Family Box available..........but sometimes the Bear Family product is poor quality and more times than not, mono.

Other great voices of that era

Guys:
Steve Lawrence
Jimmy Beaumont (Skyliners)
Lee Andrews (Hearts)
Jay Black (Americans)
Johnny Maestro (Crests)
Lenny CoCo(Chimes)
Joey Van (Duprees)
Mel Carter

Ladies:
Connie Francis
Janet Vogle (Skyliners)
Joni James
Dinah Washington
Sarah Vaughn
Lavern Baker

I second your votes on Jimmy Beaumont, Johnny Maestro, Dinah, Sarah, and LaVern.

Some of Dinah Washington’s best works came after her 1959 Mercury recording, “What A Diff’rence a Day Made”, and she was teamed with Brook Benton, which turned out to be a short-lived duet combination. The two of them became as two wet-cats tied together when not recording, but they proved to be professionals when tape was rolling. Listen to “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” and Dinah’s sassy reproach, “You’re getting in my spot again.” to Brook, who kept coming in at the wrong spots during the recording session. Dinah repeated her caution to Brook during the fade out on “A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around And Fall In Love)”. Needless to say, the duo never worked together again after this recording session. Such a shame, their two voices blended so well together.

 

[hornet61]

I should have included Brooke Benton in my list of guy singers... he had as powerful a voice as Billy Eckstine and at the same time as gentle as Nat Cole. He and Dinah were magic together.
Dinahs "what A Difference" and Laverns "I cried a tear" still send a chill down my spine to this day.

I have a killer version of "It's a Rockin' Good Way" By english duo of Shakin' Stevens (Green Door,#1 in the UK) and Bonnie Tyler (Its a Heartache).

Speaking of Sarah Vaughn she did a great song called "make yourself comfortable" and Andy Griffith did a comedy answer, that is just hillarious. Has anyone heard it, beside me ????