With (Roy Orbison), it was all about fat and blood - Bob Dylan, "Chronicles Volume One."
From the Traveling Wilburys' official website:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROY
Roy Orbison was born on April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas. For his sixth birthday, Roy asked for a harmonica, but fortunately his daddy gave him a guitar.
Originally signed to Sun Records in 1956, Roy would eventually have a string of hit singles with Monument Records, including “Only The Lonely” and “Blue Bayou.” This became an unbroken string of Top 40 hits that lasted for four years. During this time, Roy became the top selling American artist and one of the world's biggest names.
In May 1963, Roy accepted an invitation to tour England on a bill with The Beatles. The tour was sold-out in one afternoon. On the first night, Roy did fourteen encores before The Beatles could get on stage. There, a friendship was developed between Roy and the Beatles, one that would lead to a highly successful collaboration over two and a half decades later.
"Oh Pretty Woman" was written by Roy together with his new writing partner Bill Dees and in 1964 it became Roy's biggest hit, going to number one in almost every country of the world. Over the years Roy would find great success as both a singer and songwriter.
In 1988 Roy began collaborating with Jeff Lynne, who had just produced George Harrison's Cloud Nine album. That led to a fateful afternoon that found George, Jeff, Roy, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan writing and recording a b-side for George’s latest single. That track, “Handle With Care” never made it to the b-side of a single, but rather became a top 10 single on it’s own from the Traveling Wilburys.
Two short months after the release of Traveling Wilburys Vol 1, Roy died of a heart attack at age 52, but his legacy and music live on.
Bob Dylan (a.k.a. Lucky Wilbury, later Boo Wilbury) wrote about his former band mate Orbison (Lefty Wilbury) in Chronicles, Volume One (Simon & Schuster). In the chapter entitled "The Lost Land", Dylan had this to say:
from "Chronicles, Volume One", read by Sean Penn
Orbison . . . transcended all genres . . . His stuff mixed all the styles and some that hadn't even been invented yet . . . you didn't know if you were listening to mariachi or opera . . . (For his single, "Running Scared") He was now singing his compositions in three or four octaves . . . he sang like a professional criminal. . . His voice could jar a corpse, always leaving you muttering to yourself something like, "Man, I don't believe it" . His songs had songs within songs. They shifted from major to minor keys without any logic. . . There wasn't anything else on the radio like him.
Dylan with The Byrds at a Roy Orbison tribute concert.
On February 24, 1990, there was a Roy Orbison Tribute to Benefit the Homeless, at the Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles. It was videotaped for a Showtime 90 minute special, according to inBaseline. The highlight was a reunited version of the Byrds, featuring Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman, with Bob Dylan joining them for three songs - "Mr. Tambourine Man", "He Was A Friend Of Mine", and the group finale, "Only The Lonely".
The finale, featuring Cindy Bullens, Gary Busey, Bob Dylan, Joe Ely, Chris Frantz, John Fogerty, Larry Gatlin, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Harrison, Levon Helm, John Hiatt, John Lee Hooker, Chris Isaak, Booker T, B. B. King, Al Kooper, Michael McDonald, Slim Jim Phantom, Iggy Pop, Bonnie Raitt, Lee Rocker, Brian Setzer, Ricky Skaggs, Harry Dean Stanton, Syd Straw, Don Was, David Was, Tina Weymouth, Dwight Yoakam and others, including The Byrds: Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman , with John Jorgenson and Steve Duncan .
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