Happy Birthday, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison was born on this day in 1936, in Vernon, Texas. For his sixth birthday, Roy asked for a harmonica, but his father Orbie Lee gave him a guitar. And the rest is history.
The main thing that contributed to Roy’s success, aside from his tenor voice, was that his songs were completely original in structure, sound, and style. He was an innovator. Roy was a pioneer in rock and roll, and his career spanned more than four decades. He got his start in Memphis at Sun Records, with the other music pioneers: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
His hits include Only the Lonely, Crying, Blue Angel, Running Scared, Dream Baby, In Dreams, Blue Bayou, You Got It, and his biggest hit Oh Pretty Woman.
Late in his career, he joined Bob Dylan, George Harrison (Beatles), Jeff Lynne (ELO), and Tom Petty to form the supergroup Traveling Wilburys. Their hits include Last Night, Handle With Care, Tweeter and The Monkey Man, Heading For The Light, and End of the Line.
Roy died at the age of 52 in Dec. 1988. The Traveling Wilburys won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Group in 1990. For more on the Traveling Wilburys click here.
Let’s watch some of his performances.
We’ll start with a 1960 performance of Only The Lonely.
Roy on The Johnny Cash Show in 1969 singing Crying
Crying (with kd lang)
His last hit, You Got It.
For a complete biography, visit : www.royorbison.citymusicnetworks.com
Important Music Events of 1957
1957 was a big year in music. Probably the most important event of the year was the birth of American Bandstand. On August 5th, American Bandstand began its 30-year run on TV. Dick Clark helped launched the careers of many starts and got America dancing.
In 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis and Patsy Cline started their musical careers. Here’s Jerry performing Great Balls of Fire. And here’s Patsy crooning her classic I Fall To Pieces.
Also, in 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met in Liverpool, and Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel started out as the duo Tom and Jerry with their first song Hey, Schoolgirl. And on March 19 of that year, Elvis Presley purchased a mansion in Memphis and called it Graceland, the place where fans would flock to for years after his death.
Top Songs of 1957
The No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit during this time in 1957 was All Shook Up.
Other notable songs of 1957 include:
Diana by Paul Anka
Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley
Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis
At The Hop by Danny & The Juniors
Adeli's Music Blog 
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