Old-Time Rock ‘n’ Roll:
How The 1980s Embraced 1950s and 1960s Oldies Music
Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and the Other Wilbury Brothers
Roy Orbison made a very gradual comeback through the 1980s. Orbison’s biggest hits, such as Only the Lonely
and Pretty Woman
occurred in the early 60’s. Orbison had a great voice and a unique look; he dressed in black and wore sunglasses. Between the late sixties and 1980, Orbison’s popularity in America greatly declined, although his popularity overseas had a more gradual descent. However, artist like Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles touted him as a legend. In 1977, Linda Ronstadt redid Orbison’s Blue Bayou,
bringing the rendition to number one. Orbison opened a few shows for the Eagles before they broke up in 1980. He and Emmylou Harris won in 1980 a Grammy for their duet That Loving You Feeling Again.
In 1982, Van Halen covered Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Woman,
with their guitar-wrenching Interlude
serving as an introduction to Orbison’s 1964 hit. Van Halen’s video for the song was banned from MTV airplay due to scenes in which two shorter than average men are inappropriately grabbing at their hostage, a restrained pretty woman in white. It’s a horrendous video. However, the song peaked at number twelve on the Billboard chart that April, giving Van Halen their biggest hit at the time. The song introduced Roy Orbison to Gen X. This remake also made older generations value the original version.
Roy Orbison received additional exposure to a younger hip audience thanks to Hollywood director, screenwriter David Lynch. Lynch’s 1986 move Blue Velvet, a dark mystery, featured two memorable scenes in which characters played by Dennis Hooper and Dean Stockwell lip sync to Orbison’s In Dreams.
Orbison didn’t want Lynch to use the song, but relented, which benefited Orbison.
Many opportunities opened for Roy Orbison during the late eighties. Such high demand for his work overwhelmed him. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in January 1987. A few months later, he re-recorded his greatest hits. With In Dreams
in vogue at the time, Virgin Records, whom offered Orbison a recording contract after Blue Velvet’s release, titled the album In Dreams: The Greatest Hits. To promote the album, Virgin had him tape a performance. Sticking to the cool-noir aura he possessed at the time, Orbison had his 1987 tribute performance at Los Angeles’s Coconut Grove nightclub filmed in black and white. An all-star cast joined him on stage, including Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Pratt, and k.d lang. This invitation only event included spectators, such as Billy Idol, Dennis Quaid, and Kris Kristofferson. The concert, titled A Black and White Night, aired on Cinemax in 1988, and received praise for its high quality.
During 1988, Roy Orbison worked on his last solo album Mystery Girl. Bono of U2 had recently discovered Orbison due to the Blue Velvet soundtrack and, with his colleague The Edge, wrote a song tilted She’s a Mystery for Me.
Elvis Costello also got involved, contributing a song titled Comedian,
Jeff Lynne, formerly of the Electric Light Orchestra, and Tom Petty contributed the biggest hit of the album, titled You Got It.
Jeff Lynne and Orbison started work on some songs beginning in 1985. The relationship with Lynne, and later Petty, led not only to recording Mystery Girl, but also to the creation of The Traveling Wilburys.
Photo: "George Harrison -Celebrities-with-their-Cameras-002" by urcameras is licensed under CC PDM 1.0
According to George Harrison, the Traveling Wilburys took shape due to Harrison’s need for a B side of his single This is Love.
Harrison, known as the quiet Beatle, resurrected his solo career, with Jeff Lynne’s assistance, by having a hot 1987 album titled Cloud Nine. I’ve Got My Mind Set on You,
was a number one hit and had a popular video with two versions. During a dinner with Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison, Harrison reportedly recruited the two musicians to assist him the next day with the B side. They asked legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan to let them use his home studio, and he agreed. Tom Petty decided to tag along when Harrison stopped by the Petty residence to pick up his guitar, which he supposedly left there by mistake. The five rockers created Handle with Care,
a song sung mainly by Harrison about a rocker ready to clean up his act, with Orbison singing the lyrics of the song’s bridge, stating that he’s done being lonely and still can love, and Dylan, Petty, and Lynne singing the chorus about everyone needing someone dependable. Harrison claimed that when he delivered the final version to record executives, they told him it’s too good to hide on a B side.
According to Tom Petty, George Harrison already had the band members picked out before the Handle with Care
recording. Harrison worked with Lynne to make it happen. It didn’t happen by chance.
The five legends decided to do an album together. Orbison put aside his work on Mystery Girl. They all managed to discretely work together for over a week to record The Traveling Wilburys, Volume 1, a fun, don’t take us too seriously album. Harrison and Lynne mixed the album in England and added journeyman drummer Jim Keltmer to the band. Orbison took the name of Lefty Willbury in honor of his idol country singer Lefty Frizzell. Jeff Lynne renamed himself Otis Wilbury. Tom Petty called his character Charlie T. George Harrison took Nelson Wilbury and Bob Dylan became Lucky Wilbury.
The album has a mix of sounds. Last Night
possesses a reggae baseline. End of the Line
is an upbeat, positive rhythm and blues tune. Rattled,
sung by Jeff Lynne, has a late fifties, early sixties rockabilly vibe. Orbison’s solo tune titled Not Alone,
has an early sixties Orbison flavor. Although only two singles made it into the Hot 100, the album as a whole did much better, peaking at #3 on Billboard. A million copies sold within a year, and over five million copies have sold since 1988. Volume 1 gave Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan a needed boost. Bob Dylan constantly toured during the eighties, including a tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as his band. Like Orbison, popular artists of the time, such as Bono and Bruce Springsteen, touted Dylan to their younger fans. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted Dylan in 1988. However, Bob Dylan’s solo albums of the decade did not sell. Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 helped Dylan end the decade on a high note. The Traveling Wilburys released another album in 1990 called Volume 3, even though it was therir second album. Lefty Wilbury didn’t live long enough to rejoin his brothers to record that album.
In addition to his work on The Traveling Wilburys, Volume 1 and finishing up Mystery Girl, Roy Orbison toured throughout 1988, cashing in on his comeback. Unfortunately the 52 year old was in poor health. Orbison biographer John Kruth held the opinion that Orbison ate poorly, exercised little, and smoked heavily. Ellis Amburn reported in his unauthorized Orbison biography that Orbison had cocaine and amphetamines issues, in addition to being a smoker. Family tragedies also took a toll on Orbison. His first wife lost her life in a motorcycle accident in 1966. Two of his sons perished in a 1968 house fire. He had triple bypass surgery in the late 1970s. His body could not take the demands of a popular musician. Roy Orbison died 6 December 1988 of a massive heart attack during a family visit in Tennessee. He, unfortunately, did not live to experience the success of Mystery Girl, which was released a month after his death. Roy Orbison became the first singer since Elvis to have two albums on the Billboard Top 5 at the same time.