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# Only the lonely... # | 0:00:02 | 0:00:04 | |
People that are completely unique, you don't so much admire them as marvel at them. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:10 | |
# Only the lonely... # | 0:00:10 | 0:00:12 | |
I was sitting in the living room with my mum and my auntie and he came on the radio. | 0:00:12 | 0:00:19 | |
What a voice, yeah, fantastic. I always liked his stuff, bought his records. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:25 | |
My mum and my auntie were going, "Oh, he's too sexy!" | 0:00:25 | 0:00:29 | |
# I remember that you said | 0:00:29 | 0:00:32 | |
# Goodbye... # | 0:00:32 | 0:00:36 | |
All of us in studying the craft of making a good record | 0:00:37 | 0:00:42 | |
had studied Roy's work. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
In many ways, my whole life has been fashioned subconsciously by him. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:51 | |
The way he was and the way he sang made him dead cool. | 0:00:56 | 0:01:00 | |
Pretty difficult to find in Glasgow, when you look about shops and want a pair of roll-ups and sunglasses. | 0:01:01 | 0:01:07 | |
# Golden days before they end... # | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
I think Roy and England had a love affair. I mean, Roy loved the British and the British loved Roy. | 0:01:10 | 0:01:17 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
INTRO TO "Pretty Woman" | 0:01:25 | 0:01:27 | |
# Pretty woman, walkin' down the street... # | 0:01:40 | 0:01:44 | |
By the 1980s, Roy Orbison's status as a living legend was well and truly confirmed | 0:01:44 | 0:01:50 | |
when some big names in music queued up to be in the backing band for his Black And White Night concert. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:58 | |
Roy and I talked about doing a show that would be a performance show for Roy. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:05 | |
So we set a time finally, | 0:02:05 | 0:02:07 | |
September 1987. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:11 | |
# I couldn't help but see, pretty woman... # | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
It had been a while since people had focused on Roy's music in this way. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:20 | |
A lot of care was taken to do the songs justice, as the show does. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:26 | |
# W-w-wow... # | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
I'm being asked all the time how this wonderful cast came together. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:36 | |
Everybody just seemed to be available at that particular time. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:40 | |
If we had done it a month before or later, I don't think everybody could have been there. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:47 | |
I don't think the entire ensemble was put together until we were all on the set at the Coconut Grove. | 0:02:52 | 0:03:00 | |
'I know Bruce Springsteen arrived at the very last minute.' | 0:03:00 | 0:03:04 | |
-How did you end there? -'My big memory of that night' | 0:03:04 | 0:03:08 | |
was Bruce arriving for the sound check and then realising | 0:03:08 | 0:03:12 | |
that his memory of the songs was not the same as the ability to play them. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:17 | |
-# Sweet dream, baby... # -And then you go... | 0:03:17 | 0:03:21 | |
# Sweet dream... # | 0:03:21 | 0:03:23 | |
'When he looked at the charts and realised there were odd counts in some of the songs...' | 0:03:23 | 0:03:29 | |
I have an image of him sitting with his guitar with the head... like a cassette Walkman, | 0:03:29 | 0:03:35 | |
comparing what he had obviously memorised over a couple of decades since the records came out | 0:03:35 | 0:03:42 | |
to what was written on the page and closing the distance between the two things to play on these songs. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:49 | |
It's the measure of how much he loved Roy cos he was really dedicated. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:54 | |
# Sweet dreams, baby | 0:03:54 | 0:03:57 | |
# Oh, how long must I dream? # | 0:03:58 | 0:04:04 | |
OK. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:07 | |
# Sweet dreams, baby... # | 0:04:07 | 0:04:10 | |
Orbison clearly inspired anyone who was anyone in music, but where did all the raw talent come from? | 0:04:12 | 0:04:19 | |
Born in 1936 in the small town of Vernon, Texas, | 0:04:21 | 0:04:25 | |
from an early age, Roy was single-minded in his pursuit of a career in music. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:31 | |
My mom and dad gave me a guitar when I was six years old. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:35 | |
I always wanted to be a singer. My father asked me, when I was about six or seven, | 0:04:35 | 0:04:41 | |
maybe even earlier, I don't know if I was playing the guitar or not, | 0:04:41 | 0:04:46 | |
but he said, "What will you be when you grow up?" I said, "A singer." | 0:04:46 | 0:04:51 | |
I was able to get on a radio show when I was eight years old. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:57 | |
An "Amateur Hour", and I showed up so often that they made me a part of the show. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:03 | |
When I was 14, I think, I had moved to West Texas. And I formed a group. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:09 | |
We were from Wink, Texas, so we were The Wink Westerners. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
When we got more popular, we became The Teen Kings. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
# We'll hang out and raise some fun We'll stay out till after one... # | 0:05:17 | 0:05:22 | |
I met him the first time in Odessa, Texas. He had a group that played on TV there and the song was Ooby Dooby. | 0:05:22 | 0:05:30 | |
# Ooby dooby, ooby dooby | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
# Ooby dooby, ooby dooby, ooby dooby... # | 0:05:32 | 0:05:36 | |
I made a demonstration record called Ooby Dooby. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:40 | |
And I sent that to Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:44 | |
He asked me, could I be there in three days? | 0:05:44 | 0:05:48 | |
So I grabbed my group together and we made the record. | 0:05:48 | 0:05:52 | |
I dropped out of the university, the junior college I was attending, | 0:05:52 | 0:05:57 | |
and went on the road within two or three months. | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
What I thought at the time was the smallest voice was Roy Orbison. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:07 | |
Sam Phillips said he had to put the microphone down his throat to pick him up, | 0:06:07 | 0:06:13 | |
but I think Sam had the wrong kind of microphone | 0:06:13 | 0:06:17 | |
because his later records prove that he has not only got a great, strong voice, | 0:06:17 | 0:06:24 | |
but he is one of the greatest singers in our business. He saw his own potential, as did others, | 0:06:24 | 0:06:30 | |
and he moved to a bigger label and had bigger records. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
# Pretty woman, walkin' down the street | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
# Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet | 0:06:37 | 0:06:41 | |
# Pretty woman... # | 0:06:41 | 0:06:43 | |
Searching for ways to fulfil that potential, | 0:06:43 | 0:06:47 | |
Roy looked across the Atlantic to an early '60s music culture in Britain, ready to embrace something new. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:54 | |
# Mercy... # | 0:06:54 | 0:06:56 | |
In the early '60s, I worked for Decca | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
as a promotion man, and my job, | 0:07:00 | 0:07:05 | |
apart from promoting records, was to look after American artists in London. I was 21. It was a dream job. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:12 | |
# Are you lonely just like me? | 0:07:12 | 0:07:18 | |
# W-w-wow... | 0:07:19 | 0:07:21 | |
# Pretty woman, stop awhile | 0:07:24 | 0:07:28 | |
# Pretty woman... # | 0:07:28 | 0:07:30 | |
Very American, southern, polite, and that was my initial impression of Roy. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:36 | |
Very softly spoken, polite, appreciative. He was a gentleman. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:41 | |
A real gentleman actually. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
It was that kind of rather sweet, southern states of America charm that he had. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:51 | |
# Pretty paper | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
# Pretty ribbons of blue | 0:07:53 | 0:07:58 | |
# Wrap your presents | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
# To your darling from you | 0:08:01 | 0:08:06 | |
# Pretty pencils | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
# To write... # | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
He would invariably come with his wife Claudette and his boys. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:16 | |
They'd have a little apartment. | 0:08:16 | 0:08:18 | |
I would spend a lot of time with them as a family cos they were very family. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:24 | |
And he loved having the boys around, he loved having Claudette around. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:30 | |
And so I became part of their family. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:34 | |
# Downtown shoppers | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
# Christmas is nigh... # | 0:08:37 | 0:08:42 | |
He always reminded me of like a preacher. He was so gentle. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:48 | |
Very sweet. Loved his family. He was just a lovely guy. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:52 | |
We were all mental. We were young and mad. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:56 | |
Roy was a very polite American. He was very sweet. | 0:08:56 | 0:09:00 | |
We were Scousers, hard cases, nutters. He was a gentleman. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:05 | |
We were idolising Americans at this point. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:10 | |
We had Cliff and we had Tommy Steele, but... | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
We were just kids from Liverpool who knew nothing, following Roy Orbison, a massive star, | 0:09:13 | 0:09:20 | |
whose songs we had sung for years. We were there with him - a dream! | 0:09:20 | 0:09:24 | |
# Well, I got a woman mean as she can be | 0:09:24 | 0:09:29 | |
# Some-a-times I think she's almost mean as me... # | 0:09:29 | 0:09:35 | |
The Brits were so enamoured | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
of American rock'n'roll. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
They possibly appreciated them more than the Americans did. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:46 | |
The songs seemed more hip, the performances were more hip. That's what we were all about. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:53 | |
I think any British recording artist from that period would probably tell you the same thing. | 0:09:53 | 0:10:00 | |
# So ple-e-e-ease... # | 0:10:00 | 0:10:04 | |
Though Britain was hungry for all things American, | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
Roy's first UK tour would be an unexpected test of how loyal his British fans might be. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:14 | |
An all-English musical phenomenon was sweeping the country and Roy had to share the bill with The Beatles. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:21 | |
From what George told me, | 0:10:21 | 0:10:24 | |
they were so starved of rock'n'roll and waited for records to come out. | 0:10:24 | 0:10:29 | |
They knew this thing was going on in America, so it was just something that they were really hungry for. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:36 | |
The Beatles responded to Roy with total admiration. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:41 | |
I can't emphasise how much American artists were the thing to admire. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:48 | |
And all things American. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:51 | |
Before I joined The Stones, I thought he was fantastic. | 0:10:51 | 0:10:55 | |
Then he toured with The Beatles in '63. | 0:10:55 | 0:10:58 | |
The Beatles were on the tour with us - ourselves and Roy. Massive tour. | 0:10:59 | 0:11:05 | |
1963 was a great time for me. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
It was my first record, first No.1 | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
and my first tour with Mr Roy Orbison who became a very dear friend. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:17 | |
And such a lovely guy. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:20 | |
# Well, I got a woman Yeah, I got a woman | 0:11:20 | 0:11:24 | |
# Yeah, I got a woman... # | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
George told me they followed Roy and they would stand in the wings listening to this big ending | 0:11:27 | 0:11:34 | |
and they'd be just trembling, thinking, "How are we gonna go out and follow this?" | 0:11:34 | 0:11:40 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:11:40 | 0:11:42 | |
And his last note was 47 miles high in the sky. The kids went, "Whoa!" | 0:11:48 | 0:11:54 | |
In spite of the fact that The Beatles were getting this huge acclaim | 0:11:54 | 0:12:00 | |
from the British public, | 0:12:00 | 0:12:03 | |
right from the word go really, from Love Me Do, it started... | 0:12:03 | 0:12:08 | |
When Roy came on stage, | 0:12:09 | 0:12:11 | |
he still had the goods to... top them. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:17 | |
# Just before the dawn... # | 0:12:17 | 0:12:22 | |
He just stood there... | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
And sang. That's all he did. He didn't do anything else. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:31 | |
I don't remember him putting one foot to the left or right. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:35 | |
# I can't help it | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
# I can't help it... # | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
That was what the impact was. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
It was that he had the nerve... to do that. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:49 | |
To just stand there and let his voice do the work. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:53 | |
# It's too bad that all these things... # | 0:12:56 | 0:13:03 | |
Some people just give off this aura. They don't have to move about. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:08 | |
I've been trying to do it for 30 years, but it doesn't happen with me, so I stay in the shadows. | 0:13:08 | 0:13:15 | |
# Only in dreams... # | 0:13:15 | 0:13:23 | |
In my case, when you see me perform, | 0:13:23 | 0:13:27 | |
what happens is that I sing and the audience watches me do that. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
# Some-a-times I think she's almost mean as me... # | 0:13:31 | 0:13:36 | |
On opening night, I had between seven to 15, 20 encores. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
Paul and John grabbed me by the arms and said, "Yankee, go home!" | 0:13:40 | 0:13:45 | |
They wouldn't let me take my last curtain call but it was in good fun. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:50 | |
And that voice, my God! It used to annoy me, it was so good. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:54 | |
# Each place we go | 0:13:54 | 0:14:00 | |
# So afraid... # | 0:14:00 | 0:14:05 | |
He'd sing Runnin' Scared and his mouth would go... # Just runnin' scared... # | 0:14:05 | 0:14:11 | |
Like this, this tiny little movement of the mouth. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
And he'd get to the end of that song where it goes up and up and up and his mouth still wasn't moving! | 0:14:15 | 0:14:22 | |
Not a lot. Not like, "I'm really gonna give it the full whack." | 0:14:22 | 0:14:27 | |
He'd still stand there and his mouth would open slightly more. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:31 | |
Then out would come this incredible note and I think that was what was so thrilling. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:37 | |
His modesty, in combination with his vocal prowess, was quite something to see. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:45 | |
# You loved him so... # | 0:14:45 | 0:14:51 | |
He sounded different from what we'd ever heard before. Elvis didn't do that. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:57 | |
And just a difference in sound that man made, that's why he was so popular. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:03 | |
# If he came back | 0:15:03 | 0:15:07 | |
# Which one would you choose? # | 0:15:07 | 0:15:12 | |
I never had any formal training. I think maybe it's just that I might be a baritone | 0:15:12 | 0:15:18 | |
with a real high range, two and a half octaves or so, but I never checked it. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:24 | |
# His head in the air | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
# Oh, my heart was breaking Which one would it be? | 0:15:29 | 0:15:34 | |
# You turned around | 0:15:34 | 0:15:37 | |
# And walked away with me. # | 0:15:37 | 0:15:43 | |
I started singing this way because I was writing songs | 0:15:43 | 0:15:47 | |
and I wrote the melody that I heard in my head | 0:15:47 | 0:15:52 | |
and then I had to sing those notes as well. I didn't know how high or low you were supposed to go! | 0:15:52 | 0:15:59 | |
# I could smile for a while... # | 0:15:59 | 0:16:05 | |
when I tried to sing along with it, of course, | 0:16:05 | 0:16:09 | |
it sounded like a wounded duck! | 0:16:09 | 0:16:12 | |
Because of his range. | 0:16:12 | 0:16:15 | |
And it was something to sing along with to learn how to sing. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:22 | |
# ..couldn't tell | 0:16:22 | 0:16:24 | |
# That I'd been cry-y-ying... # | 0:16:24 | 0:16:30 | |
If you could sing along with it, | 0:16:30 | 0:16:33 | |
you became aware of how to make your voice do things | 0:16:33 | 0:16:39 | |
that we might not have understood. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:43 | |
# Left me standing all alone Alone and crying... # | 0:16:45 | 0:16:51 | |
There was something in Roy's voice | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
that was completely unique to him, | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
which was obviously a good thing because it was hard to emulate. | 0:16:57 | 0:17:01 | |
It had a crying sound to it. It almost was like a controlled cry. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:07 | |
His performance would just tear your heart out. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:13 | |
He could... | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
He could express all that emotion. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
And, uh... | 0:17:21 | 0:17:23 | |
He was really different. Really different than anybody else. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:29 | |
# I love you even more than I did before | 0:17:29 | 0:17:37 | |
# But, darling, what can I do-o-o? | 0:17:37 | 0:17:43 | |
# For you don't love me | 0:17:43 | 0:17:48 | |
# And I'll always be | 0:17:49 | 0:17:54 | |
# Cry-y-y-ying over you... # | 0:17:54 | 0:18:00 | |
I think Roy's voice is like an opera voice, only sexy. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:04 | |
Opera voices... To me they're not sexy because of the music they're singing. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:11 | |
But Roy doing rock'n'roll and blues and blue notes, with that kind of opera voice, | 0:18:11 | 0:18:17 | |
that made it really different and put an opera slant on a rock'n'roll track. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:22 | |
It's wonderful and it's sad at the same time | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
because that's the inflection he puts into the soulfulness of his voice. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:32 | |
He's got marvellous soul. He was probably a soul singer before any of them. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:38 | |
# Crying | 0:18:38 | 0:18:44 | |
# O-o-o-o-o-o... | 0:18:44 | 0:18:49 | |
..ver you-u-u! # | 0:18:49 | 0:18:59 | |
Like Elvis said, "The best singer in the world right there, Roy Orbison." | 0:18:59 | 0:19:05 | |
He was the best singer of all. | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
# Golden days before they end... # | 0:19:08 | 0:19:12 | |
Roy's entry into the British music scene had been a triumph | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
with It's Over topping the UK charts in 1964, | 0:19:16 | 0:19:20 | |
but personal tragedy would soon threaten to end Roy's career. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:25 | |
In 1966, his wife Claudette was killed in a motorbike accident | 0:19:25 | 0:19:30 | |
and there was even more heartbreak to come. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:34 | |
He had this beautiful boy called Roy DeWayne. I used to take him to the zoo. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:40 | |
I loved his company. He was a really sweet kid. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:44 | |
I remember once I came back to the promotion offices, the Decca offices, | 0:19:44 | 0:19:49 | |
and Roy DeWayne, I'd exhausted him. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
He must have been about six or seven. He wasn't a baby. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:56 | |
And I'd had to carry him back to the office. He was so exhausted, he fell asleep. | 0:19:56 | 0:20:02 | |
I remember his little head on my shoulder. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:06 | |
# But, oh, what will you do? # | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
And then he got... burnt to death in that fire. | 0:20:11 | 0:20:15 | |
# We're through... # | 0:20:15 | 0:20:19 | |
We'd been playing the Birmingham theatre for a week. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:24 | |
It was September, '68. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
The following day we were going to do a last performance, a concert in Bournemouth. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:33 | |
Then he was flying back to the US. That was the end of the tour. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:37 | |
I got a call at 3am, local time in England. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:41 | |
# Send falling stars that seem to cry... # | 0:20:43 | 0:20:48 | |
He was on tour in England and got the news that his house had burned and he'd lost two of his boys. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:55 | |
I remember thinking, "How is that... | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
"..man gonna cope with that?" | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
# It breaks your heart in two... # | 0:21:03 | 0:21:08 | |
He stayed in seclusion for quite a while. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:12 | |
We made contact and let him know we cared and were concerned | 0:21:12 | 0:21:16 | |
and...it was a long time until I saw Roy | 0:21:16 | 0:21:21 | |
because it wasn't something that he was wanting to talk about. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:27 | |
To be quite honest, I really thought at that particular point in time that he... | 0:21:27 | 0:21:34 | |
..that we would never see him again. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:37 | |
He had not really worked since Claudette had died. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:42 | |
However, I did get another call saying that he was coming back. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:47 | |
To a large extent, Roy's return had been made possible by someone he had fallen in love with before the fire. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:54 | |
We started dating and six weeks later the house fire happened in Hendersonville. | 0:21:54 | 0:22:00 | |
I think it was such a gift for him to have fallen in love with me before, | 0:22:00 | 0:22:06 | |
so he did have a focus. It gave him a chance to create a life that he really wanted | 0:22:06 | 0:22:13 | |
and that was one of a real stable family and to have more kids. | 0:22:13 | 0:22:19 | |
You know, Roy had just such an incredible gentle strength. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
He scaled the heights and the lows. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
# Lonely rivers sigh... # | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
I arrived in December of '68 | 0:22:31 | 0:22:35 | |
in Tennessee. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:38 | |
And then we travelled in America and we got married in March. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:42 | |
We had Roy Kelton Junior, who was born in 1970, and Alex in '74, | 0:22:44 | 0:22:50 | |
and we had Wesley from the marriage with Claudette. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:54 | |
If you would have seen Roy with the kids, you'd never have suspected that he'd lost two kids | 0:22:54 | 0:23:01 | |
in a house fire while he was touring in England. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:05 | |
# Time goes by... # | 0:23:11 | 0:23:16 | |
He came through it in a really great way, a very surprising way. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:21 | |
He came back stronger than ever after this terrible loss of his two boys. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:27 | |
He came back with all of the determination and the will | 0:23:27 | 0:23:32 | |
to go ahead and be the great artist he is. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:37 | |
INTRO TO "Pretty Woman" | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
As the '70s dawned, a new-look Roy returned again and again to tour for his UK fans. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:48 | |
And, of course, the Orbison family went, too. | 0:23:48 | 0:23:52 | |
# Pretty woman walking down the street... # | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
When it was tour time, we all went. Nannies, everybody just went... out on the road. | 0:23:56 | 0:24:03 | |
Baby formulas, baby cribs, perambulators, whatever it took. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:09 | |
You know? | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
Mercy! | 0:24:12 | 0:24:14 | |
We would be, tours or no tours, probably four or five months out of the year in London. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:20 | |
We practically lived here in the '70s, and loved it. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:24 | |
# Pretty woman | 0:24:24 | 0:24:27 | |
# You look lovely as can be... # | 0:24:27 | 0:24:30 | |
He loved England. He loved the British people. Something about them Roy liked. | 0:24:30 | 0:24:37 | |
I think it was a love affair. Roy loved England. | 0:24:37 | 0:24:41 | |
He loved everything about it. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:43 | |
He loved the food - and that was tough to love in the '60s! | 0:24:43 | 0:24:47 | |
He came up to my house in the Midlands | 0:24:47 | 0:24:51 | |
and he brought with him, | 0:24:51 | 0:24:54 | |
he showed me in his trunk. "Look what I've brought!" | 0:24:54 | 0:24:59 | |
And he'd got, like, four sets of pie and mash. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
You know, for everybody. Brought from London. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:07 | |
# Pretty woman, say you'll stay... # | 0:25:07 | 0:25:11 | |
Roy, I think, just loved the English way of life. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:15 | |
He would love to listen to accents, see places in Scotland, visit castles. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:21 | |
And walk the hills. Nut case! | 0:25:21 | 0:25:25 | |
We were in bed, he was walking the hills! He just loved Britain. And we loved him. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:30 | |
# Pretty woman... # | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
He was very real. He wasn't slick and he wasn't showbizzy. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
He didn't have a patter. He didn't... He wasn't a schmoozy kind of guy. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:45 | |
Thank you. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:47 | |
Thank you very much. | 0:25:47 | 0:25:49 | |
I appreciate you coming tonight, very much. We're happy to be here. Hope you are. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:56 | |
He was that same person, onstage and offstage. | 0:25:56 | 0:26:00 | |
It was never about ego. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:02 | |
You know, it was just about being himself. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:06 | |
# Only the lonely | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
# Know the way I feel tonight... # | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
It's inherent in the British nature | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
to admire modesty, | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
especially when it's accompanied with a great talent. | 0:26:22 | 0:26:27 | |
# There goes my baby... # | 0:26:27 | 0:26:30 | |
He was a shy man, | 0:26:31 | 0:26:33 | |
a family man, a quiet man. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:38 | |
Who he was was just as much a part of everything as what he was singing. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:46 | |
# Know why-y-y | 0:26:46 | 0:26:49 | |
# I cry... # | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
By the time we got married, all that was important was to have a great relationship | 0:26:52 | 0:26:59 | |
and to live life | 0:26:59 | 0:27:01 | |
and to sort of mend those incredible painful times | 0:27:01 | 0:27:06 | |
and to really enjoy life and do what he felt he was called on this earth for. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:12 | |
# Yeah, a woman.. # | 0:27:14 | 0:27:17 | |
He said, "For that I'll go anywhere. Smallest club, biggest arenas." | 0:27:17 | 0:27:21 | |
THRASHING GUITARS | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
Though Roy still had a loyal following, the mid-'70s saw a change in the British music scene. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:46 | |
The rejection of the mainstream and the stripped-down instrumentation of punk rock seemed, at first glance, | 0:27:46 | 0:27:52 | |
to leave little room for The Big O. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
# Pretty woman Won't you pardon me? | 0:28:03 | 0:28:07 | |
# Pretty woman I couldn't help but see | 0:28:07 | 0:28:11 | |
# Pretty woman, you look lovely... # See, I can't get up there! | 0:28:11 | 0:28:16 | |
When I was in the Sex Pistols, if you were a closet music fan, like myself, | 0:28:16 | 0:28:22 | |
there were loads of bands I'd have got hung for if it had gotten out that I liked them. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:29 | |
Would he come under that umbrella that it's old hat and you shouldn't be liking them? | 0:28:29 | 0:28:35 | |
We were against all that nonsense. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:38 | |
I don't think that is the case. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:40 | |
I don't think he ever fell into that bag of being out of flavour. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:46 | |
When I was growing up in the '70s, Roy was kind of an anachronism. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:51 | |
He was completely out of kilter with the times and, em... | 0:28:53 | 0:28:58 | |
People I was hanging out with didn't have Roy Orbison albums. They just didn't. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:04 | |
He was from a different era. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:07 | |
But then as the '70s begat punk rock, | 0:29:07 | 0:29:13 | |
there became an interest in the '50s. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:18 | |
I think punk rock was a '50s thing, in a way. A rebel without a cause. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:27 | |
The short haircuts, the stance of Elvis, stripping things down to the bone. | 0:29:27 | 0:29:33 | |
So it was through the door that punk rock opens that Roy Orbison walks into my life. | 0:29:33 | 0:29:40 | |
You have to remember, Roy didn't get to be Roy Orbison by being... like anything but outside the norm. | 0:29:40 | 0:29:48 | |
Those guys in Memphis, when they created rockabilly, | 0:29:48 | 0:29:54 | |
they didn't create rockabilly by being the boy next door. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:58 | |
# Just running scared | 0:29:58 | 0:30:03 | |
# Feeling low... # | 0:30:05 | 0:30:07 | |
Although he was right in there at the very beginning with Jerry Lee and Elvis, | 0:30:07 | 0:30:13 | |
I think because he was so unique, his particular type of singing, | 0:30:13 | 0:30:19 | |
he didn't really come in or out of fashion. | 0:30:19 | 0:30:23 | |
And when rock'n'roll came to England, and then English music went back to America, | 0:30:23 | 0:30:29 | |
Roy was sort of outside of that. | 0:30:29 | 0:30:32 | |
# If he came back | 0:30:32 | 0:30:36 | |
# Which one would you choose? # | 0:30:37 | 0:30:41 | |
I think birds liked his music more than blokes. But he wasn't a pansy, | 0:30:41 | 0:30:47 | |
singing songs about being hurt by some bird and his feelings, you know? | 0:30:47 | 0:30:52 | |
# His head in the air | 0:30:52 | 0:30:57 | |
# My heart was breaking Which one... # | 0:30:59 | 0:31:03 | |
It's not a sissy thing for a man to sing about emotions. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:08 | |
It's real. And I think everybody can relate to that. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:13 | |
He does it in such a way that is so open, he opens his heart completely. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:18 | |
Not being a wimp. | 0:31:18 | 0:31:21 | |
I think that was the magnificent part about the singer and the songwriter Roy Orbison. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:28 | |
He turned something that could have been a weakness into a strength. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:33 | |
It was very unusual at the time. Since then, everybody's crying like a tart. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:38 | |
But in them days it was quite bold to say he cried. | 0:31:38 | 0:31:42 | |
He was one of the first Top 40 artists | 0:31:42 | 0:31:48 | |
to take away or veer off from the traditional way of saying things. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:53 | |
Which he did in those classic songs. | 0:31:55 | 0:31:57 | |
I had to write the songs that I wanted to sing because no one else really would at the time. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:04 | |
Then I thought since I wrote them I might sing them better than the next person. It goes like that. | 0:32:04 | 0:32:11 | |
What the style is is basically me and my personal taste. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:16 | |
Roy the singer, people talk about all the time. Everybody curtsies to the voice and so they should. | 0:32:16 | 0:32:22 | |
The thing people don't talk about enough, as far as I'm concerned, | 0:32:22 | 0:32:27 | |
is how innovative this music was, how radical in terms of its songwriting. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:33 | |
I don't think in terms of two verses and a chorus | 0:32:33 | 0:32:37 | |
or the accepted method of songwriting. Wherever I want to go, that's where I go. | 0:32:37 | 0:32:43 | |
# In dreams I walk... # | 0:32:44 | 0:32:49 | |
The classic pop structure is, you know, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, | 0:32:49 | 0:32:54 | |
middle eight, chorus, end. I mean most pop songs in the world are like that. | 0:32:54 | 0:33:00 | |
And then you hear In Dreams. | 0:33:00 | 0:33:03 | |
# In dreams you're mine | 0:33:04 | 0:33:09 | |
# All of... # | 0:33:09 | 0:33:11 | |
I can't remember the structure, but it's like A, B, C, D, E, F, G! I mean, nothing repeats! | 0:33:11 | 0:33:17 | |
From those odd proportions comes the tension and from that comes the emotional impact | 0:33:17 | 0:33:24 | |
that takes you somewhere unexpected. | 0:33:24 | 0:33:27 | |
# But just before the dawn... # | 0:33:27 | 0:33:32 | |
He slowly built it from nothing and into this huge climax | 0:33:35 | 0:33:39 | |
and then it went into another part which was even better. That's what I liked about his songs. | 0:33:39 | 0:33:45 | |
# I can't help it I can't help it if I cry... # | 0:33:45 | 0:33:52 | |
And that's really hard to do as a songwriter. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:58 | |
The ability to just have the music flow with the storyline. | 0:33:58 | 0:34:03 | |
Very few people could do that. | 0:34:06 | 0:34:09 | |
# ..all these things Can only happen... # | 0:34:09 | 0:34:15 | |
What you end up with is a pop song that broke every rule. | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
And...and won. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:22 | |
It's like a classical composition. | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
# Only in dreams | 0:34:25 | 0:34:33 | |
# In beautiful dreams. # | 0:34:34 | 0:34:43 | |
I was at a classical concert one night | 0:34:43 | 0:34:47 | |
and this Schumann song started that was in the programme. | 0:34:47 | 0:34:52 | |
And I said, "This is the actual melody of a Roy Orbison song!" | 0:34:52 | 0:34:57 | |
# You know I can't help myself | 0:34:57 | 0:35:02 | |
# And now I'm crawling back... # | 0:35:02 | 0:35:08 | |
Roy's song goes... # Only you and you alone Can keep me crawling back | 0:35:08 | 0:35:15 | |
# After all you've done to me The way you've turned me down | 0:35:15 | 0:35:21 | |
# I still will be your clown Because I love you... | 0:35:21 | 0:35:26 | |
# I still will be your clown Because I love you... # | 0:35:26 | 0:35:34 | |
And the Schumann song goes... HUMS THE SAME MELODY | 0:35:34 | 0:35:39 | |
It has a very similar shape, you know. | 0:35:39 | 0:35:43 | |
# You know I would die for you.. # | 0:35:44 | 0:35:50 | |
I suppose like anybody of his age, he could have turned on the radio and heard some gracious melodies. | 0:35:50 | 0:35:57 | |
It doesn't fit in with the other things about his music, as I understand it. | 0:35:57 | 0:36:02 | |
And those early records on Sun were of their time and good records, but they were rock'n'roll records | 0:36:02 | 0:36:09 | |
and at a certain point he started writing these ballads that are not like anything else. | 0:36:09 | 0:36:16 | |
# Crawling back to you... # | 0:36:19 | 0:36:22 | |
Roy was the real thing. In a time when very few people wrote their own material. | 0:36:22 | 0:36:31 | |
There was so much soul in that music and mystery. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:35 | |
And it was. It was mystery music. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:39 | |
They were very dramatic songs and he was kind of dramatic, too. | 0:36:39 | 0:36:43 | |
He was very dark and always in black and the glasses. | 0:36:43 | 0:36:47 | |
# Wild hearts run out of time | 0:36:47 | 0:36:51 | |
# And you'll need a love like mine | 0:36:52 | 0:36:56 | |
# To show you hope is there... # | 0:36:56 | 0:37:00 | |
I never knew why he wore the shades. I think he thought he had weak eyes, or something. | 0:37:00 | 0:37:06 | |
# Wild hearts run out of time. # | 0:37:06 | 0:37:09 | |
I simply left my clear pair on the aeroplane when I toured with The Beatles in '63. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:17 | |
By the time the pictures came back and he'd played a couple of nights, | 0:37:17 | 0:37:22 | |
he never changed. He always wore sunglasses every night he played for the rest of his life. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:28 | |
# Don't let the bright lights burn you... # | 0:37:28 | 0:37:32 | |
Buddy Holly made it OK to wear prescription glasses onstage. | 0:37:32 | 0:37:39 | |
And then Roy made it cool to wear prescription sunglasses. They're still cool today. | 0:37:39 | 0:37:46 | |
# Wild hearts run out of time | 0:37:47 | 0:37:51 | |
# When you're up against the night... # | 0:37:51 | 0:37:54 | |
It's very common for people to wear dark glasses on TV now, but I can't remember anybody before him. | 0:37:54 | 0:38:00 | |
There was a reason why he did it, but it gave him a mysteriousness and they played that up quite a bit. | 0:38:00 | 0:38:07 | |
The image and music together, it went together. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:11 | |
Black sunglasses and mystery. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:14 | |
# You'll need a love like mine... # | 0:38:14 | 0:38:16 | |
There was certainly something dark and a little bit... It was menacing, in an odd sort of way. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:23 | |
# A candy-coloured clown they call the Sandman | 0:38:23 | 0:38:28 | |
# Tiptoes to my room every night... # | 0:38:28 | 0:38:32 | |
Roy's records suddenly started to appear in movies | 0:38:32 | 0:38:36 | |
in the early '80s. Most notably in Blue Velvet. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:40 | |
The shock of hearing a song like that in a different context, juxtaposed with this very dark scene, | 0:38:40 | 0:38:47 | |
it heightened what was already in there, this mysterious, slightly unsettling quality the songs have. | 0:38:47 | 0:38:55 | |
# I softly say | 0:38:55 | 0:39:00 | |
# A silent prayer... # | 0:39:01 | 0:39:04 | |
Things like Running Scared and In Dreams were so dense and evocative and dark and cinematic. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:11 | |
It just had a stranglehold on the dark side of life. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:15 | |
"Candy-coloured clown they call the Sandman". Where does that come from? | 0:39:15 | 0:39:21 | |
# In dreams I walk with you... # | 0:39:21 | 0:39:26 | |
I was thinking all along that it was Crying that would be in Blue Velvet | 0:39:29 | 0:39:34 | |
and I needed to get the record cos I heard it on the radio. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:39 | |
So I got Roy's Greatest Hits. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:42 | |
And... | 0:39:42 | 0:39:44 | |
So I put it on and I was going through it and In Dreams came up | 0:39:44 | 0:39:50 | |
and I completely forgot about Crying and In Dreams was just, you know, perfect. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:56 | |
# A candy-coloured clown they call the Sandman | 0:39:58 | 0:40:02 | |
# Tiptoes to my room every night | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
# Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper, "Go to sleep..." # | 0:40:05 | 0:40:11 | |
Dennis Hopper was supposed to sing it and so I got him the music and told him to learn the lyrics | 0:40:11 | 0:40:18 | |
and practise. And I thought he was memorising it. | 0:40:18 | 0:40:23 | |
And, uh, Dean Stockwell is a good friend of Dennis's, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:29 | |
He said he would work with Dennis, so I pictured the two of them going and Dennis having it down. | 0:40:29 | 0:40:35 | |
And in the process, you know, Dennis had kind of... | 0:40:35 | 0:40:41 | |
burned himself pretty bad from his past living and wasn't able to memorise these things. | 0:40:41 | 0:40:48 | |
# ..of you | 0:40:48 | 0:40:51 | |
# In dreams I walk with you... # | 0:40:51 | 0:40:56 | |
But Dean memorised it, so when we started rehearsing the scene, | 0:40:56 | 0:41:02 | |
where the song was supposed to be, at a certain point | 0:41:02 | 0:41:06 | |
the two of them were sort of singing and Dennis just dropped out and was just watching Dean. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:12 | |
And Dean was letter perfect. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:15 | |
And it just was so obvious what was supposed to happen. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:20 | |
All right. Let's hit the road! | 0:41:22 | 0:41:25 | |
I heard rumours that after the film was released | 0:41:25 | 0:41:30 | |
Roy saw it and was upset about... | 0:41:30 | 0:41:34 | |
That song meant something to Roy and it didn't mean what it was in the film. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:40 | |
There was such a... sexual conflict going on in his songs. | 0:41:40 | 0:41:47 | |
They weren't about holding hands. | 0:41:47 | 0:41:50 | |
They were about... There was a grind to them. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:54 | |
There was a sweatiness, a longing, an anxiousness about them. They were basically songs about sex. | 0:41:54 | 0:42:02 | |
# It's too bad... # | 0:42:02 | 0:42:06 | |
Then he saw it again and changed his mind and appreciated it from a different point of view. | 0:42:06 | 0:42:13 | |
So by the time I met Roy, he was pretty happy about Blue Velvet. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:21 | |
# Only in dreams | 0:42:21 | 0:42:28 | |
# In beautiful dreams... # | 0:42:29 | 0:42:37 | |
I'd had David Lynch's soundtrack to Blue Velvet | 0:42:37 | 0:42:41 | |
and I had it on repeat. It was going round and round. | 0:42:41 | 0:42:46 | |
And it kept stopping, appropriately, on In Dreams. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:50 | |
I couldn't sleep and this song was going through my head. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:54 | |
When I woke up the next day, I had a song in my head, which I presumed was another Roy Orbison song. | 0:42:54 | 0:43:00 | |
I looked for it and couldn't find it. | 0:43:00 | 0:43:03 | |
Maybe...maybe I'd just written it! | 0:43:03 | 0:43:07 | |
So I took it down to the soundcheck and I played the tune to the rest of the band. They really liked it. | 0:43:07 | 0:43:13 | |
I said, "It's like a Roy Orbison song. Is it?" | 0:43:13 | 0:43:17 | |
They said, "Yeah, yeah." And we played the concert, | 0:43:17 | 0:43:22 | |
then after the show I was sitting with the guitar again, trying to finish the song. | 0:43:22 | 0:43:28 | |
They said, "You really are going on about this song." I said, "It's really in my head. Mystery Girl." | 0:43:28 | 0:43:35 | |
I was trying to finish it. And this sounds like horseshit, but there was a knock at the door | 0:43:35 | 0:43:41 | |
and John, our security guy, said, "There's Roy Orbison and his wife, Barbara, outside. | 0:43:41 | 0:43:47 | |
"Can I bring them in? They'd really like to meet you." | 0:43:50 | 0:43:54 | |
So the band looked at me like... | 0:43:54 | 0:43:57 | |
I'd either been winding them up or I had some voodoo in me. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:02 | |
My wife and kiddies had been to see U2, | 0:44:02 | 0:44:06 | |
and told me about them. I hadn't heard them or seen them. | 0:44:06 | 0:44:11 | |
I went to one of their concerts in London when I was there | 0:44:11 | 0:44:15 | |
with fresh ears and... | 0:44:15 | 0:44:18 | |
I wasn't expecting anything. I just went with an open mind. | 0:44:20 | 0:44:24 | |
He said in his very quiet voice, "Really liked the show. Can't tell you why I liked it, but I did. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:32 | |
"You wouldn't have a song for me? Or shall we write a song together? I'm just into what you're doing." | 0:44:32 | 0:44:39 | |
So everyone's falling round. No one could quite believe their ears. | 0:44:39 | 0:44:44 | |
And I played him there and then this song, She's A Mystery To Me. | 0:44:44 | 0:44:49 | |
In 1988, Roy was working on his album Mystery Girl with producer Jeff Lynne, | 0:44:51 | 0:44:57 | |
who had also worked with George Harrison. During long hours in the studio, George and Jeff often talked | 0:44:57 | 0:45:03 | |
about the line-up of their dream group. As Lefty Wilbury, Roy Orbison was about to become | 0:45:03 | 0:45:09 | |
the ultimate musician's musician. | 0:45:09 | 0:45:12 | |
When George and Jeff were in the studio working together | 0:45:13 | 0:45:18 | |
they sometimes had this thing, "We could have a band." | 0:45:18 | 0:45:23 | |
George would say, "We should have a group." I'd go, "Yeah, that'd be good. Let's have a group." | 0:45:23 | 0:45:30 | |
And it was, literally, "Who do you want in it?" I said, "I'd love Roy Orbison." | 0:45:30 | 0:45:36 | |
He said, "I want Bob Dylan in it." And it was just like that, like a pair of schoolkids. | 0:45:36 | 0:45:42 | |
It wasn't a contrived thing that happened. They weren't out to make a band. | 0:45:42 | 0:45:48 | |
It just happened. One event led to another. | 0:45:48 | 0:45:52 | |
I was working with Tom at the time and George knew Tom by then. | 0:45:52 | 0:45:57 | |
We said, "Let's have Tom!" All that remained was for George to ask them to be in it. | 0:45:57 | 0:46:02 | |
They all did. The one we had to convince last was Roy. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:07 | |
We went to see Roy in concert out in Anaheim somewhere. We all piled in a car. | 0:46:07 | 0:46:13 | |
# Don't relax I want elbows and backs I wanna see everybody from behind | 0:46:13 | 0:46:21 | |
# Cos you're working for the man... # | 0:46:21 | 0:46:25 | |
It was a brilliant show. All the people were going mad. | 0:46:25 | 0:46:30 | |
We were all going mad. Like, "Yeah! Give it some!" | 0:46:30 | 0:46:34 | |
And George was so keen. It was exciting. It was the first time I'd ever seen Roy perform. | 0:46:34 | 0:46:40 | |
We went back and George said to him, "Do you wanna be in our group?" | 0:46:40 | 0:46:45 | |
It was kinda like a proposal. I think George even got down on his knee! | 0:46:45 | 0:46:51 | |
And he sort of went, "Yeah, I suppose. I suppose so. Yeah." | 0:46:51 | 0:46:56 | |
And he offered to join there and then. So he was in the Traveling Wilburys then, | 0:46:56 | 0:47:03 | |
from that moment. | 0:47:03 | 0:47:06 | |
# Reputation's changeable | 0:47:07 | 0:47:11 | |
# Situation's tolerable | 0:47:11 | 0:47:14 | |
# But, baby, you're adorable | 0:47:16 | 0:47:19 | |
# Handle me with care | 0:47:19 | 0:47:23 | |
# I'm so tired of being lonely | 0:47:23 | 0:47:28 | |
# I still have some love to give | 0:47:28 | 0:47:32 | |
# Won't you show me that you really care? | 0:47:32 | 0:47:38 | |
# Everybody's got somebody to lean on... # | 0:47:39 | 0:47:47 | |
Sometimes we sing the same song just to see who sounded good. That was a lot of fun. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:54 | |
And George would kind of audition us, which was really intimidating | 0:47:54 | 0:47:58 | |
because Roy Orbison would sing the song and then they'd send you out to sing it. | 0:47:58 | 0:48:04 | |
Damn! That's really intimidating. | 0:48:04 | 0:48:06 | |
# Last night | 0:48:06 | 0:48:09 | |
# Thinking 'bout last night... # | 0:48:10 | 0:48:12 | |
They had a lot of fun, but they didn't goof around. It wasn't just one big party. | 0:48:12 | 0:48:19 | |
They were working. | 0:48:19 | 0:48:22 | |
There wasn't a lot of deciding what to do, not a lot of time spent planning out anything. | 0:48:22 | 0:48:29 | |
We just wrote the best songs we could write and sang them as best we could. | 0:48:29 | 0:48:34 | |
-She was long and tall. -Or short and fat. | 0:48:35 | 0:48:39 | |
-She was dressed to kill. -That's good. -She was out to give me a thrill. | 0:48:39 | 0:48:44 | |
Whichever way I looked around there was some conspiracy! | 0:48:47 | 0:48:52 | |
'And he was funny. That was the thing George enjoyed about him the most.' | 0:48:52 | 0:48:59 | |
He seemed to be a tragic figure or there was tragedy attached or projected to Roy, | 0:48:59 | 0:49:05 | |
but in reality he was very funny and... | 0:49:05 | 0:49:10 | |
and that was the sort of secret Roy that he loved to be around. | 0:49:10 | 0:49:15 | |
Sometimes Roy would have George and the guys in hysterics. | 0:49:15 | 0:49:20 | |
He loved Monty Python. That was his favourite comedy stuff | 0:49:20 | 0:49:25 | |
and he could do all the sketches on his own. | 0:49:25 | 0:49:28 | |
He had a slightly southern lilt and yet he would recite lines from Monty Python. | 0:49:28 | 0:49:36 | |
He'd break into a sketch of one of Python's routines, playing all the parts, | 0:49:36 | 0:49:42 | |
and end up giggling like a maniac and we'd all start giggling. | 0:49:42 | 0:49:47 | |
# I'm so tired of being lonely... # | 0:49:47 | 0:49:50 | |
He was surrounded by all the friends he really loved | 0:49:50 | 0:49:55 | |
and they really loved him. The basis of the Wilbury record was lots of laughter | 0:49:55 | 0:50:01 | |
and just lots of fun and incredible creativity. | 0:50:01 | 0:50:05 | |
# Every time I look into your lovely eyes... # | 0:50:05 | 0:50:11 | |
And so it came towards '88, Thanksgiving, | 0:50:13 | 0:50:18 | |
and we had all decided that we would go to George and Olivia's house in England | 0:50:18 | 0:50:23 | |
and spend Thanksgiving with them. | 0:50:23 | 0:50:26 | |
# I drift away | 0:50:26 | 0:50:29 | |
# I pray that you... # | 0:50:30 | 0:50:33 | |
Roy and I got stuck in Paris and never made it. | 0:50:33 | 0:50:38 | |
And Roy flew back to America because he had to fulfil two shows he had booked in Boston | 0:50:38 | 0:50:45 | |
and in Ohio. And those shows were like long-time booked. | 0:50:45 | 0:50:51 | |
# Baby... # | 0:50:51 | 0:50:54 | |
And I decided to stay in Europe. | 0:50:55 | 0:50:58 | |
# Every time I hold you I begin to understand... # | 0:50:58 | 0:51:03 | |
The last thing I heard from Roy was a message on my answer phone | 0:51:03 | 0:51:08 | |
saying, "Hey, Jeff, sorry I couldn't see you this trip, but I'm all Wilburied out." | 0:51:08 | 0:51:14 | |
He was really tired from doing all the interviews and he had his own album coming out. | 0:51:14 | 0:51:20 | |
He said, "I'll see you when I get back over in a few weeks." | 0:51:20 | 0:51:24 | |
# No one can do the things you do... # | 0:51:24 | 0:51:31 | |
I got a call one night from Roy that basically said | 0:51:31 | 0:51:36 | |
he had given in to come back to England. George had asked over and over for a second Wilbury video. | 0:51:36 | 0:51:44 | |
And I said, "Are you really sure?" | 0:51:44 | 0:51:47 | |
He said, "When I get off that plane, I know your smiling green eyes will be waiting for me. | 0:51:47 | 0:51:53 | |
"For that I will do anything." | 0:51:53 | 0:51:56 | |
So that was the last time I ever talked with him. | 0:51:56 | 0:52:00 | |
# Pretty ribbons of blue... # | 0:52:00 | 0:52:04 | |
The next thing, there was a phone call, a terrible phone call. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:10 | |
I picked the phone up at 6am. | 0:52:10 | 0:52:13 | |
# Pretty pencils to write... # | 0:52:13 | 0:52:17 | |
The phone call that you always dread getting | 0:52:17 | 0:52:20 | |
was one of those early morning phone calls to say Roy had died. | 0:52:20 | 0:52:25 | |
# Pretty ribbons of blue. # | 0:52:25 | 0:52:30 | |
Roy Orbison, one of the first and greatest rock performers, | 0:52:31 | 0:52:35 | |
has died from a heart attack. He was 52. In his prime, he topped bills above The Beatles | 0:52:35 | 0:52:41 | |
and this year was in the charts again in a supergroup with George Harrison and Bob Dylan. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:46 | |
Roy would have liked us to have continued to do The End of The Line. It's a very optimistic song. | 0:52:46 | 0:52:52 | |
We love Roy and life flows on within you and without you. | 0:52:52 | 0:52:57 | |
He's around, you know, in his astral body. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:01 | |
# Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays... # We played it like he was there. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:07 | |
We'd all look at the armchair and there would be Lefty and it was just his guitar. | 0:53:07 | 0:53:14 | |
# Well, it's all right If you got someone to love | 0:53:14 | 0:53:19 | |
# Well, it's all right Everything will work out fine... # | 0:53:19 | 0:53:25 | |
If Roy had been giving you the interview today, and you asked him about his songs, | 0:53:25 | 0:53:31 | |
what was his best song ever, he'd have said, "I haven't written it yet." | 0:53:31 | 0:53:37 | |
# I'm just glad to be here Happy to be alive... # | 0:53:39 | 0:53:43 | |
The artists today that have come along in the last 20 years | 0:53:43 | 0:53:49 | |
probably don't remember the Wilburys in '88 had a number one album. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:53 | |
# It's all right Even if you're old and grey... # | 0:53:53 | 0:53:59 | |
My favourite Roy Orbison song has got to be Crying. | 0:53:59 | 0:54:04 | |
It's something I want to put on | 0:54:04 | 0:54:07 | |
when I'm feeling bad about something, some heartache. | 0:54:07 | 0:54:11 | |
He just touches me with his voice. | 0:54:11 | 0:54:14 | |
# I thought that I was over you... # | 0:54:17 | 0:54:21 | |
One of the things I like about his songwriting and his lyrics | 0:54:21 | 0:54:25 | |
is that I think, ultimately, | 0:54:25 | 0:54:28 | |
he's letting his guard down. | 0:54:28 | 0:54:31 | |
All his songs, I think... I'd be made up to write any song like that. | 0:54:31 | 0:54:37 | |
But it would have to be my favourite, Crying. I'd love to have written that song. Amazing. | 0:54:37 | 0:54:44 | |
# For you don't love me... # | 0:54:44 | 0:54:49 | |
That made a lot of sense to me, writing songs. Let your personality out. | 0:54:49 | 0:54:55 | |
That's been quite a strong influence on myself. | 0:54:55 | 0:55:00 | |
# Crying over you... # | 0:55:00 | 0:55:03 | |
I'm totally amazed that so many artists today | 0:55:03 | 0:55:07 | |
still use Roy as their inspiration. | 0:55:07 | 0:55:11 | |
Well, I guess... | 0:55:11 | 0:55:14 | |
Rarrrr! | 0:55:14 | 0:55:16 | |
# Pretty woman, stop a while | 0:55:20 | 0:55:23 | |
# Pretty woman, talk a while... # | 0:55:23 | 0:55:27 | |
The way he was and the way he sang made him dead cool. | 0:55:27 | 0:55:31 | |
He was cool, all right. He was very cool. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:35 | |
My lasting memory of Roy will be him walking down the stairs coming to dinner. | 0:55:35 | 0:55:42 | |
All of us were already down. | 0:55:42 | 0:55:46 | |
So looking at Roy in his black shirt, black trousers and his dark glasses. | 0:55:46 | 0:55:50 | |
We all watched Roy coming down the staircase. | 0:55:50 | 0:55:54 | |
It was like, "Wow!" You know, The Big O. | 0:55:54 | 0:55:59 | |
# Only the lonely | 0:55:59 | 0:56:02 | |
# Know the way I feel... # | 0:56:02 | 0:56:05 | |
At the very end, when he was asked how he wanted to be remembered, | 0:56:05 | 0:56:12 | |
he paused for a minute and he said, | 0:56:12 | 0:56:14 | |
"Hm. I just would like to be remembered." | 0:56:14 | 0:56:18 | |
# There goes my baby | 0:56:20 | 0:56:22 | |
# There goes my heart... # | 0:56:24 | 0:56:27 | |
Rock'n'roll has this image | 0:56:28 | 0:56:32 | |
of...of rebel music. | 0:56:32 | 0:56:35 | |
And, er... | 0:56:35 | 0:56:38 | |
And in some sort of juvenile quarters, in which I'd include myself, | 0:56:38 | 0:56:44 | |
we often... that's often a licence for rudeness. | 0:56:44 | 0:56:48 | |
You know? Or egocentric behaviour, you know? | 0:56:48 | 0:56:53 | |
But actually the real rebels to me always had manners. | 0:56:56 | 0:57:01 | |
This man who had written such extraordinary songs | 0:57:07 | 0:57:11 | |
and a real innovator in popular music, | 0:57:11 | 0:57:15 | |
and, you know, truly a great, great singer, | 0:57:15 | 0:57:20 | |
would be, you know, humble. | 0:57:22 | 0:57:25 | |
# I'm going back some day Gonna stay on Blue Bayou... # | 0:57:25 | 0:57:33 | |
I will always try to do the same, but I doubt | 0:57:33 | 0:57:37 | |
if I could match his courteous self. | 0:57:37 | 0:57:42 | |
# Ah, that girl of mine by my side | 0:57:42 | 0:57:47 | |
# Silver moon and the evening tide... # | 0:57:47 | 0:57:51 | |
A simple guy who had incredible talent who just worked at his craft. | 0:57:51 | 0:57:59 | |
If I even get remotely close to his legacy, I'd be a happy guy. | 0:57:59 | 0:58:05 | |
# ..happen in my dreams | 0:58:05 | 0:58:09 | |
# Only in dreams | 0:58:11 | 0:58:18 | |
# In beautiful dreams. | 0:58:20 | 0:58:28 | |
# Still missing you California Blue | 0:58:29 | 0:58:37 | |
# Still missing you | 0:58:38 | 0:58:42 | |
# California Blue | 0:58:42 | 0:58:46 | |
# Still missing you | 0:58:47 | 0:58:50 | |
# California Blue! # | 0:58:51 | 0:58:56 |