Bill Haley introduced Rock 'n Roll to the UK and popular music was never the same again.
My friends and I spent our pocket money on records by Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and The Everly Brothers, and learned to jive to the electrifying sounds of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
Towards the end of the 1950's, however, a new voice emerged to captivate me.
Roy Orbison bridged the gap between the raucous music of my teenage years and that of the pure operatic tenors, whose voices graced my childhood home: John McCormack, Beniamino Gigli and Enrico Caruso.
Even today, a quarter of a century since his early death, Roy's fans are legion and each one has a favourite Orbison song. Mine is A Love So Beautiful. A perfect Desert Island choice. Click on the link below to listen.
THE BIG O
A rich voice, almost operatic:
cool as a shiny Cadillac.
The outfit, idiosyncratic:
black shirt,
black jeans,
everything black.
Behind big shades, stone-faced, he stands,
his eyes concealed.
That voice, those clothes,
are richly dark.
Admiring fans,
we each imagine that he knows
the thing we feel: a raw heartbreak,
undefined.
When he starts to sing
his voice recalls an endless ache
for some unfindable, lost thing.
Brings back memories of a friends dad, he was always listening to the 'Big O'
ReplyDeleteOne of the greats. Marvellous voice. Thanks for the comment, Yasmin.
ReplyDelete