Elvis and Roy Orbison
Elvis and Roy Orbison – Elvis said of Roy Orbison, he was “the greatest singer in the world. A look at some Elvis/Orbison links.
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Elvis and Roy Orbison
Elvis had the utmost respect for Roy Orbison. Elvis is quoted as saying, Roy Orbison had “the most perfect voice” and also that he’s “the greatest singer in the world”
Orbison went to Elvis shows from 1954 to 1976.
Orbison’s 1st band, The Wink Westerners, played That’s All Right (Mama) – at early shows.
The Wink Westerners went on to become The Teen Kings and recorded a single on JE-WEL, Trying to Get to You c/w Ooby Dooby.
Trying to Get to You was a track on Elvis’s 1956 album Elvis Presley.
Sam Phillips heard Roy Orbison’s Ooby Dooby and invited him to re-record it at Sun Records. Phillips wanted Orbison to sing it in an R&B style but this was not Roy Orbison’s style.
After a handful of singles at Sun, Orbison followed in Elvis’s footsteps and moved to RCA but found no success there.
Roy Orbison was a prolific songwriter. He co-wrote Only the Lonely and offered it to Elvis and the Everly Brothers. They both turned it down.
He moved to Monument, recorded it himself and scored his first chart success.
This marked the beginning of Roy Orbison’s rise to international stardom.
