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It was all so effortless for this musical genius, who also
wrote songs as well as he could sing them.
But, for the Big O, life was not easy. He lost his wife
in a motorcycle accident in 1966 and two of his sons died
during a housefire in 1968.
His early successes were high, then his career dived, but
he recovered and by the time he died in 1988, he was back
at the top of the heap.
As one of the Travelling Wilburys - with George Harrison,
Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty - Orbison staged a mighty
comeback. He had three massive-selling albums in the two years
before he died.
The big comeback began when musician fans of Orbison got
together in 1987, under the guidance of Elvis Costello, and
organised a session with their idol. Roy Orbison: Black
& White Night is that show and what a beauty it is.
It has a very nightclubby atmosphere, with lots of fuzzy,
low-light and high-contrast images of the audience, and candid
shots of the terrific list of performers. The who's who of
music includes Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and
Jackson Browne. The line-up is so good that the backing singers
are Bonnie Raitt, Jennifier Warnes and … believe it … kd lang.
Sensational!
There are 17 songs played during the show and the outstanding
ones - to this chap's ear - are the obvious favourites for
many. Only the Lonely, Blue Bayou, Ooby Dooby,
Leah, Crying, It's Over and Pretty
Woman.
The musos, particularly Springsteen, really get into the
performance and you can tell they are having a marvellous
time. Fans of excellent music will also get right in to what
is the only commercial film footage of Roy Orbison live.
The transfer on to DVD is up and down, but that is mainly
due the high-contrast nature of a live performance. The sound
is terrific and will enable thousands of fans, old and new,
to listen to what was one of the greatest voices of all time.
Roy Orbison, the operatic rockabilly, will live on.
Conclusion: Rating: 90%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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