A Bite of Roy Orbison 🍪
The rocker who helped men find strength in sensitivity
Monday Bites are bite-sized musician spotlights & playlists by Grace Lilly.
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🏆 A top-read post
• 3 min read •
Roy made vulnerability cool
When Roy Orbison came onto the rock scene in the late 1950s, it was all about masculinity, rebellion, and machismo.
Roy changed that.
He sang about feelings, loneliness, grief, weakness, and sensitivity. People loved it. Roy was articulating emotions that resonated with audiences across the world. In fact, one of his most popular songs is about a man crying.
“When [‘Crying’] came out, I don't think anyone had accepted the fact that a man should cry when he wants to cry.”
His vulnerability influenced generations of songwriters like Bob Dylan, who remarked that there was nothing like him on the radio in that era. Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees explained, “He made emotion fashionable, that it was all right to talk about and sing about very emotional things. For men to sing about very emotional things... Before that no one would do it.”
Not only did he express himself beautifully, but he did so with one of the most incredible voices in music history. Elvis Presley said it was the best voice he’d ever heard, Bob Dylan compared it to opera, and Barry Gibb described it as “the voice of God.”
Roy Orbison
The basics
🤝 American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
🤝 b. 1936 (Vernon, Texas) - 1988 (Hendersonville, Tennessee)
🤝 One of the smoothest, most effortless voices in the history
Why you should know him: Paved the way for male performers to express vulnerability in their music; Rolling Stone placed him at No. 37 on their list of the Greatest Artists of All Time
If you like
✨ Johnny Cash
✨ Elvis Presley
✨ The Beach Boys
✨ Traveling Wilburys
✨ Buddy Holly
Known for
🏆 His distinctive and powerful 3-octave voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads
🏆 Conveying vulnerability in his songs at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers projected machismo
🏆 His dark glasses, black clothes, matching dyed black hair, and big smile
🏆 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and 5 other Grammy Awards
🏆 From 1960 to 1966, 22 of Orbison's singles reached the Billboard Top 40
🏆 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame
Bite-sized facts
🍪 During recess at school, he played guitar by himself while the other kids were playing physical games
🍪 At 9 years old, won a radio contest that led to his own radio show where he’d sing the same songs every week
🍪 As a teenager, started a band called The Teen Kings and toured with Johnny Cash
🍪 Became an overnight star thanks to his single “Only the Lonely”
🍪 Toured with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, Patsy Cline, and the Eagles
🍪 A film enthusiast, dedicated time to seeing up to 3 films a day when he wasn’t working
🍪 Co-founded the supergroup Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne in 1988
In film & TV
📺 David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) features Roy’s song “In Dreams” — during filming, Lynch would sit his cast down every few hours and ask them to listen to the song
Songs & dates
♫ 1960 “Only the Lonely” becomes his first top 10 hit, reaches No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the UK and Australia
♫ 1961 “Running Scared” becomes his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Crying” reaches No. 9 in the UK
♫ 1963 “In Dreams,” “Falling,” “Mean Woman Blues,” and “Blue Bayou” all become top 40 hits
♫ 1964 “It's Over” becomes Orbison’s most successful song and is a No. 1 hit in the UK
♫ 1964 “Oh, Pretty Woman” becomes a No. 1 hit, stays on the charts for 14 weeks, sells over 7 million copies
♫ 1989 “You Got It” written with Tom Petty is released one month after Roy’s death, becomes his first hit to reach both the US and UK Top 10 in almost 25 years; from the posthumous album Mystery Girl, which becomes the highest selling album of his career
He said
⭐ “It's a gift, and a blessing, just to have a voice. And I'm proud that people do appreciate it, you know?”
⭐ “To be a songwriter-singer means the songs come from deep within, and you treat them as an artist, with that much respect.”
⭐ “[I] wasn't trying to be weird... I didn't have a manager who told me to dress or how to present myself or anything, but the image developed of a man of mystery and a quiet man in black somewhat of a recluse, although I never was, really.”
We love Roy
Bruce Springsteen
💗 “Most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now, everyone knows that no one sings like Roy Orbison.”
k.d. lang
💗 “It's so hard to explain what Roy's energy was like because he would fill a room with his energy and presence, but not say a word. Being that he was so grounded and so strong and so gentle and quiet. He was just there.”
Peter Watrous, writing for the New York Times
💗 “He has perfected an odd vision of popular music, one in which eccentricity and imagination beat back all the pressures toward conformity.”
My Roy Orbison Playlist
I gathered my fav Roy songs, from me to you with love. Like & save on Spotify and listen all week 💗
Where to start
His signature voice
Hear Roy hit his trademark high notes performing his hit song “Crying” live in 1964
〰️
With Johnny Cash
Roy singing “Oh, Pretty Woman” with Johnny Cash on The Johnny Cash Show in 1969
Down the rabbit hole
If you wanna dive even deeper:
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night (1988)
Filmed in one take at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles, this concert is considered a landmark in Orbison’s career. Featuring appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, k.d. lang and more. Watch on Youtube.
Roy Orbison changed Erin Barnhart’s life
🏆 A top-read essay
Culinary creative Erin Barnhart finally finds her perfect karaoke song — No. 030 - Roy Orbison's “You Got It” changed my life
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Have always liked roy orbison. He died way to soon. Great vocalist.
Oh Roy. What a voice. And you're right- contrasting Roy's sensitivity with Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee (the founding fathers) is startling. Great essay!