Roy Orbison passed away December 6th, 1988. That's twenty-eight years ago. Can't be. Below is something I wrote in 2014. He was a special performer.I got to see him. At this time of year give a listen to his "Pretty Paper." He does not just sing it, he delivers it..... with postage. LA ============================================= Just some thoughts: He truly was one of a kind, Roy Orbison. This past weekend I was able to pick-up a very rare cd of Roy Orbison’s last performance. It was the last show he did on December 4, 1988, twenty-six years ago.He did his last show at a theater in Akron, Ohio, and two days later he died here in Nashville, Tennessee of a heart attack. Driving this morning to my get-up-early morning coffee place, I was playing that last performance and thinking about Orbison. He was a man who knew sadness in his life; his wife was killed in a motorcycle accident and he lost his two children in a house fire. His music still lives on today even with folks who are not from that time. Anyone who hears the opening licks to “Pretty Woman” knows what’s coming next. |
grew up in the late fifties. He was so different than most other
rock-n’-rollers of that time. I remember the first time I saw Orbison
was about 1959-60. He walked on stage and I thought, “There’s nothin’
cool about this guy.” True, he was not cool in the manner of Elvis or
Rick Nelson. He dressed in black most of the time he appeared on stage
and he wore thick, and I mean thick, prescription sunglasses all the
time. Yet he was cool because of his music. Some folks sing songs, and
a few others “deliver” a song. I’ve stood close to the stage and seen
him do songs like, “Crying” or “Runnin’ Scared.” It was as if he had
sent me a personal letter C.O.D about sadness. No one in my opinion
could do the Christmas classic, “Pretty Paper,” like him. Okay, Willie
isn’t bad, but no one could sing those lyrics like Orbison. “Should
you stop, better not, much too busy. And in the midst of the laughter he
cries.” Wow. And then there’s this song:
“Only the Lonely”
Only the lonely know the way I feel tonight
Only the lonely know that this feeling ain’t right
There goes my baby, there goes my heart
They’re gone forever, so far apart
But only the lonely know why I cry, only the lonely
Only the lonely know the heartache I’ve been through
Only the lonely know I cry and cry for you
Maybe tomorrow a new romance, no more sorrow
But that’s the chance you gotta take
If your heart breaks….only the lonely
(You can add in your dum-dum-dum-dumdy, do-wah)
He spoke the emotions of teenagers in the late fifties, but really he
addressed the thoughts and emotions that spoke to all generations. I
know personally he had spoken to my times in the fifties, but even
twenty-six years after his passing, his music still speaks to me. You?
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March 17, 2014
Keep on,
Larry Adamson