Continuing our Roy Orbison double bill, here are some clips from the concert film A Black and White Night.
Broadcast in January 1988 (Orbison died in December the same year), in A Black and White Night the Big O performed with a remarkable line-up of guest stars, including Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Tom Waits, kd lang, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, JD Souther, T Bone Burnett, Steven Soles, and Jennifer Warnes. Enjoy!
Plenty more here.
sad life, great voice and what a line-up!
1960 was a rotten year for pop music with post-army Presley seemingly having lost the pre-army ability to make the listener gasp, having opted instead for utter mediocrity with ‘Stuck on You’; Paul Anka was wailing on about ‘Puppy Love’; Duane Eddy was twanging his way through ‘Because they’re Young’, and, God knows why, Connie Stevens was giving us ‘Sixteen Reasons’. I could have given her sixteen more but she wouldn’t have taken any notice. Then Roy Orbison arrived with ‘Only the Lonely’ and suddenly the world made more sense. It was a moment similar to Presley announcing himself with ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, and The Beatles with ‘Love Me Do’. As has often been stated: Orbison was a unique talent.
One test of Orbison’s greatness and that of some of his songs is the ability to withstand glorious piss-taking and still sound wonderful immediately afterwards; this is quite a good example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjF7GMP28X8