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

Oh Pretty Woman

In Dreams

Crying (with kd lang)

California Blue

Handle With Care

End of the Line

His last hit, You Got It.

For a complete biography, visit : www.royorbison.citymusicnetworks.com