Roy Orbison Part 3: The Road Ahead

How lack of distribution and promotion affects exposure of a hit record; the music industry needs to be aware of an artist's enduring appeal to his audience; how badly the press treated Elvis until his death; Roy looks ahead to the next step in his career. Recorded in Vancouver, July 1978 Roy Orbison was one of the original Sun Recording stars, but his long stay with Monument Records brought his greatest success. By the time we booked Roy into Vancouver his list of top sellers was most impressive: memorable songs like "Uptown", "Only The Lonely", "Blue Angel", "I'm Hurtin'", the classic "Running Scared", "Crying" and "Candy Man". Roy Orbison charted 29 hits, establishing him as one of the biggest chartbusters of the early Sixties. Friend and business partner Les Vogt and I became good friends with Roy over the years and he appeared in Vancouver many times. When we were not the promoters we always found time to get together during his visits. Les became his de facto manager during a period when Roy was without a record contract. Roy was not alone at that particular time as the record business was going through some major changes. The artists who started rock and roll suddenly found themselves out of favor. Les suggested Roy move from Nashville to Los Angeles. He did and his shows in and around the L. A. area were sold out. After the first show backstage, Roy was surprised to find people like Linda Ronstadt and others in the industry praising his talent. This gave him a new lease on life and he began his creative process all over again. From this “second wind” came his collaborative effort with the Traveling Wilburys and his new hits like I Drove All Night and You Got It. When Les and I were planning the acts for EXPO 86 we thought our old friend Roy Orbison would be a great headliner. Roy was on the comeback trail with the Traveling Wilburys and his Mystery Girl CD was enjoying success. He agreed without hesitation, saying “I will cancel some appearances and work with you, as you and Les were the only people to give me a bonus in my entire career.” Roy Orbison was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 by Bruce Springsteen. He died of a heart attack on December 6, 1988, at the peak of his renewed popularity. Roy gets my vote as the nicest performer I ever met. He was a wonderful, honourable guy. We miss him and his music.