I take back every rotten thing I've ever said or thought about Springsteen

[lblanchard]

...because he turns into a fawning fangrrl when he talks about Roy Orbison.

This is as good a time as any to confess that I just spent Too Much Money on You Know Who at Amazon.

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I TOLD you! He does indeed.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Yabbut...dammit, he invaded my personal space and interrupted my Very Important Girl Talk with his publicist!

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

No one is perfect. You can HEAR the influence Roy O had on Bruce Springsteen.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Then I'd have to listen to him. And I usually don't do rock. I make an exception for Mr. Orbison because of the unique quality of his voice.

(Did you check out the two YouTube videos -- one of Pavarotti and one of Orbison -- that I posted links to in an edit of my "summation" post? Even my Roy, who pronounces himself "orbisoned-out", allowed as how that was remarkable.)

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

but but but...remember kd lang at the end of B&WNight? He doesn't do songs, he does epics.

Tell me the titles of the biographies, please?

Off to check out the YOUTUBE

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

k.d.lang cuts no mustard with Roy Blanchard. To him, Roy Orbison is just a 60s singer with an annoying vibrato.

There are three biographies of Orbison, of which I'm aware. Two of them can be purchased used from ABE Books -- the third, which is the one that interests me, can not. It's a little pricey for a paperback but I sprang for it.

Roy Orbison: Invention Of An Alternative Rock Masculinity, by Peter Lehman. This is the one that is more about the music and its impact on popular culture than about Orbison's life. It's the one I ordered.

Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story, by Ellis Amburn. This one dishes some dirt, according to reviews I've read, and I am not at all sure I want to take Amburn's contentions at face value.

Only the Lonely: The Roy Orbison Story by Alan Clayson. This was badly reviewed by reviewers on Amazon.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

well, everyone has shortcomings, even your husband.

Thanks. A lot. BTW, John Fogarty does a very credible version of 'Ooby Dooby'.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Yes, I stumbled on the Fogarty the other day.

Parts of the Lehman book are online from Google, so you can sample before chasing down a copy to see if it's something you'd want.