ONLY THE LONELY: Roy Orbison's Life and Legacy

by Alan Clayson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1989

Fans of legendary rock stat Roy Orbison will find little information about the personal life of their hero in this biography by Englishman Clayson. Part of the problem may be that Orbison was a fairly colorless personality offstage, taciturn and, as he himself admitted, almost ""totally anonymous."" Because of this perhaps, Clayson concentrates just about exclusively on Orbison's professional life--recording sessions, personal appearances, contractual arrangements, compositions, and chart positions--and also provides mini-reviews of scores of Orbison's records. Raised in West Texas, the son of a music-loving mechanic, Orbison, with his receding chin, jug-handle ears, and hamster-jowls, was an unlikely candidate for rock idolatry. Nonetheless, he appeared at a young age on local radio and eventually headed a high-school group that played for dances and at roadhouses. It was Orbison's soaring tenor voice, not his looks, that caught his audiences' attention (he was never more than an adequate guitarist). Making his mark in Nashville as a songwriter in the 1950's, Orbison eventually went on to write and record 22 Top-Forty hits between 1960 and 1966. Though Elvis called him the ""greatest singer in the world,"" however, and he became an international celebrity, his life was marred by tragedy. His first wife died in a motorcycle accident; two sons were killed in a fire. With the arrival of younger talents such as the Beatles, his career declined. Still, he struggled--with little success--to regain his earlier prominence. Orbison died of a heart attack at age 52, in 1987. Of greatest appeal to those interested in the business side of the rock-music biz. An excellent discography is included, along with 16 pages of b&w photographs--not seen.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION