April 23
Today is the birthday of Roy Orbison. He would be 90 today.
Roy Kelton Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas on April 23, 1936, and grew up in West Texas oil towns — Wink and Odessa. He had an operatic tenor voice in a land of honky-tonk. He started recording in Clovis, New Mexico with Norman Petty — the same producer who worked with Buddy Holly — and had early rockabilly records that didn’t go anywhere. Then he moved to Monument Records in Nashville and found his real register: the dramatic, tormented love ballad.
The Darkness That Was Also Radio Gold
“Only the Lonely” hit No. 2 in 1960. “Crying” hit No. 2 in 1961. “In Dreams” in 1963. “Oh, Pretty Woman” went to No. 1 in 1964 and became one of the best-selling singles of the decade. Orbison lost his wife and two sons in separate tragedies in 1966 and 1968. He kept recording. In 1988, he joined the Traveling Wilburys alongside Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne — and held his own on every track. He died December 6, 1988, nine days after the Wilburys’ debut album. The sunglasses were his armor. The voice needed none. Learn more at the Texas State Historical Association.