Roy Orbison was one of a kind

Gene Triplett

Published: October 15, 2008

His multi-octave voice could soar to angelic altitudes, while the power of his delivery often plumbed depths of human emotion no other singer in rock could hope to reach — or even dare to try. No less than Elvis Presley once called Roy Orbison "the greatest singer in the world.”

He was an early rockabilly son of Sam Phillips’ Sun Records along with Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, but the bespectacled Wink, Texas, native lacked the good looks and charisma to match their hepcat appeal, and his quavering tenor was better suited to ballads. He went on to invent an operatic, melodramatic style all his own and spawned a whole new breed of pop-rock crooners such as Gene Pitney and Del Shannon, who could capably imitate but never duplicate the heart-wrenching power of hits such as "Only the Lonely” and "Running Scared.”

But after an initial run of fabulous success that lasted well into the peak of the British invasion with the uncharacteristically hard-rocking "Oh, Pretty Woman,” tragedy struck Orbison with the death of his ex-wife, Claudette, in a motorcycle accident in 1966, and the deaths of two of his sons in a house fire two years after that. Orbison, then 32, had only just begun to recover his footing when he met 17-year-old Barbara Wellhonen in a northern England nightclub.

"He was really outgoing with me,” she recalled in a recent phone interview. "He was super-intelligent and had a great sense of humor. And so sweet. You know, he had that Texan sweetness. He was just the easiest guy to talk with.”

Their marriage lasted 20 years, during which Orbison’s career made a slow recovery as newer artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Don McLean and Van Halen started covering his songs and making hits out of them all over again. Barbara became his manager and helped hurry his comeback with rereleases and rerecordings of her husband’s smash singles. Bruce Springsteen became one of his most vocal fans, and inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Then Orbison was tapped to record and tour with The Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup that included George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Bob Dylan.

And at the height of his resurgence as a superstar, the heart that had been so full of sweet emotion gave out at 52. Now, as the 20th anniversary of his death nears, Orbison’s wife, manager and custodian has overseen the release of a four-disc retrospective, covering some of the best and least-known works of his musical life. The aptly titled "Soul of Rock and Roll” package proves, without a doubt, that the King’s admiration was justified.

"Yes, they were close,” Barbara said. "When you are that young together, it really binds you.”

(Excerpt from Gene Triplett’s column published Oct. 10)

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