Talk:Roy Orbison

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Former featured article Roy Orbison is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article Milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
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This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on December 6, 2005.
A previous version of this article was considered for inclusion in the Wikipedia OmniMusica, but was not selected because of sourcing concerns.
WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia The spoken word version of this article is part of WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia, an attempt to produce recordings of Wikipedia articles. To participate, visit the project page.

Contents

[edit] Inconsitencies/contradictions

This portion: Two misconceptions about Orbison's appearance continue to surface: that he was an albino, and that he wore his trademark dark glasses because he was blind or nearly so. The first is correct, and his poor vision and pink eyes required him to wear thick corrective lenses. From childhood he suffered from a combination of hyperopia, severe astigmatism, anisometropia, and strabismus.

contradicts this: Orbison was born an albino in Vernon, Texas, the second son of Nadine and Orbie Lee. After moving to Fort Worth around 1943 to find work in the munitions and aircraft factories which had expanded due to Second World War, the family moved to the West Texas oil town of Wink in late 1946. Music was an important part of his family life. People made fun of his white hair and pink eyes a lot. So he wore glasses.

Not to mention how poorly-written that second paragraph is. Monkeyfinger 20:22, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

Edited for about an hour and a half

I found this article very poorly written, and I spent about an hour and a half editing the grammar, the syntax, irrelevent passages and other things. After I finished editing this whole thing, I was frustrated to find that I wasted my time; there was a thing on the top saying that the edits didn't take for some reason that I didn't understand. It was a waste of 90 minutes. Slater79 02:17, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Work with John Lennon

Someone added that Roy Orbison recorded with John Lennon. I never heard of that and it is not in any list I could find. Perhaps the person who posted this could provide details....DW

[edit] Date of death

My source records that Roy died while visiting his mother in Hendersonville, not in Nashville Tiles 08:01 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)True,Hendesonville is so close to Nashville sometimes we just call it Nashville.

[edit] Fan club

I think Roy Orbison´s voice is the best that I´ve ever heard. I would know if there exists a Roy Orbison fans club. I´m from Argentina. Un saludo pa´ Chechito que me está mirando.

No biggie, but I was in the supermarket yesterday and they were playing the usual music, I believe the technical term is "horrid 80s caterwauling" when suddenly on came something by Roy from the Travelling Wilburies and I was at peace. Ortolan88 18:26, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Grady Orbison's death

Did Grady Lee Orbison die in Henderson, Tennessee; Henderson County, Tennessee; or Hendersonville, Tennessee? These are three separate places, which do not border each other. Orange Mike Grady Lee was killed in an automobile accident in Hendersonville, TN

[edit] Imported article

I imported the article Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night from Wikinfo. Someone familiar with it might want to add an appropriate link here.—Eloquence 08:54, Feb 22, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Praise from Presley

That Elvis Presley called Orbison "The Greatest Singer in the World" is mentioned twice in this article. The 2nd reference is more informational, IMO...

OK, I used the 2nd reference to replace the 1st one in the paragraph with other artists' compliments.

[edit] Removed material

removed advert for e bay auction from this page Tiles 06:13, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Use of 'In Dreams' by David Lynch

I believe the reference to Lynch using 'In Dreams' in the film Wild At Heart is erroneous - he used it extensively in the film previous to Wild At Heart, which was Blue Velvet. Musicfreeek 17:28, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trademark sunglasses

How about a brief note on how he adopted his trademark sunglasses? Lee M 23:22, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Roy coming to wear the sun glasses was kind of a fluke. He liked wearing his regular glasses on stage, but one day he could not find them before a show. So he wore a pair of sun glasses. Someone on the tour said "That's your look Roy, thats your image!" and the sun glasses was with him from then on. Joe Melson http://www.joemelson.com/ 72.150.120.24 18:21, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Request for references

Hi, I am working to encourage implementation of the goals of the Wikipedia:Verifiability policy. Part of that is to make sure articles cite their sources. This is particularly important for featured articles, since they are a prominent part of Wikipedia. Further reading is not the same thing as proper references. Further reading could list works about the topic that were not ever consulted by the page authors. If some of the works listed in the further reading section were used to add or check material in the article, please list them in a references section instead. The Fact and Reference Check Project has more information. Thank you, and please leave me a message when you have added a few references to the article. - Taxman 17:19, Apr 22, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Editing

I think this article needs to be copy-edited for comma usage (not enough). There are definitely places that seem to need a comma. --Anderal 01:29, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

How about a picture of a younger Roy Orbison from his prime years? http://my.tele2.ee/orbison/orbison/Roy.jpg User:BigBurkey 16:50, 7 June 2006

[edit] FARC

Unless the below objections are adressed, this article will be removed from FA list: Brilliant prose relic. Inadequate lead (see Wikipedia lead). Half of the article are lists. Stub and bulleted 'Achievements' section. Single general reference (see Wikipedia:Cite sources). It wouldn't pass FAC today. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 09:30, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Discography lists moved to Roy Orbison discography Tiles 08:18, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright problem

Uhhh.. I just noticed that the opening two paragraphs of this article are a word for word cut'n'paste of allmusic.com's Roy Orbison biography?! See [1]. Not a good look for a featured article!! Seems this intro was added on October 18 by anon User:71.134.12.160 in this edit. --Stormie 12:23, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

No joke. Sigh... I removed the lines and threw something else up in its place. Pretty sad this made it to the front page! --Fastfission 00:37, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Lack of coverage of musical craft and use of falsetto

I'm concerned at the lack of coverage of Orbison's musical craft in this article. For instance, there is this:

he is revered for his song writing abilities. Master record producer and Orbison fan Don Was, commenting on Orbison's writing skills, said: "he defied the rules of modern composition." Songwriter Bernie Taupin (composer of many lyrics for Elton John) and others, referred to Orbison as far ahead of the times, creating lyrics and music in a manner that broke with all traditions.

However, there is no substantial explanation of why he was so revolutionary and ahead of his time, of how he defied the rules of composition, only, perhaps, reference to his "operatic" voice and singing range. What exactly was special about his vocal abilities? How was his guitar playing? How did he approach songwriting? Related is the absence of any mention of his use of falsetto. The term is not even mentioned, yet it is part of his signature sound. --Tsavage 19:12, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

roy orbison is amazing. but come on folks, there's no support whatsoever given to the assertion that he was "lyrically sophisticated", or "way ahead of his time", or was doing something "unheard of in rock at the time", or that he used "rhythmically advanced melodies", or that he "broke with all tradition." those phrases are either highly suspect (broke with all tradition? that's an absurd claim) or COMPLETELY UNSUBSTANTIATED WITHIN THE WIKI. roy orbison is great. but the "encyclopedic" wiki reads like a typical fluffjob. bottom of the barrel fluffjob, as far as the musical description/analysis goes. encyclopedia, my foot. 128.119.232.218 03:56, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Escott?

The lone footnote to this article simply says, "Escott". What the heck is Escott? - dcljr (talk) 19:48, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

It's a pointer to the book listed in References, (Colin Escott, Roadkill on the Three-Chord Highway. Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0-415-93783-3 — has a chapter devoted to Orbison.) A page number would have certainly been a good idea though. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 20:55, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Another surprise fa

I'm surprised this made it to FA. The article is filled with peacock terms and the "Early Career" section rambles off to international success until his death. I've read above that there was a potential copyvio issue that was addressed only after FA status. Why wasn't this addressed in the peer review or FA candidate process??? --malber 20:38, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

And to head it off at the pass, yes I know that I can improve it. My point is, as a FA, it shouldn't need it. --malber 20:42, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
I believe it's an old one, that got in through the old "Brilliant Prose" route. Perhaps allowing it onto the Front Page is Raul654's way of getting more people interesting in the new Featured Article Review process. Or not; but it might be a nice side effect. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 20:51, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
I hope that wasn't the intention, wouldn't that be dangerously close to WP:POINT? Leithp (talk) 11:25, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

The trivia section states: It is widely believed that he was the physical basis for the Marvel Comics character, Doctor Octopus.

Widely believed by whom? And it would appear that the cited reference for this entire article is one chapter of a book about rock-n-roll. It should not be difficult to find more references on an influence like Roy Orbison, even books specifically about him!

Yet another issue that should have been addressed in the peer review and FA review process. --malber 20:47, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Roy Orbison is one of only two singers to ever simultaneously have two Top 5 albums on the Billboard Charts (the other is Elvis Presley). Wasn't this also achieved by Guns N' Roses with Use Your Illusion 1 & 2? --malber 23:49, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Actually, this has been achieved often. For further solo singers, other album examples include Bruce Springsteen with Human Touch and Lucky Town (#2 and #3 in 1992) [[2]] and most recently, Nelly with Sweat and Suit (#2 and #1 in 2004). And if the statement means singles instead of albums, there are examples there, too (i.e., Mariah Carey with "One Sweet Day" and "Fantasy" in 1995, #1 and #4 respectively). I don't know enough about Orbison to make this correction, nor do I know after reviewing the discography which two albums it is referring to, but I agree that the statement as it appears is wrong. Perhaps it should be changed to "Orbison is one of only a handul of performers to simultaneously have two Top 5 albums on the Billboard Charts?", although I don't know if this is accurate since the two albums are not mentioned nor does it tell which Billboard Chart it refers to (Albums? Singles? Country? Etc.). Either way, the statement needs some clarification and referencing. --Ataricodfish 00:26, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Strike that, since the statement as it appears is obviously false, I'm deleting it. If it's clarified and referenced, or if someone else disagrees with my decision, I have no problem with it being added again. The quote in question is below. --Ataricodfish 00:35, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I agree with references like that are weird. But the model airplane hobby is encyclopedic. I don't see a source for it, but there's no reason to think that it's false and we should be able to verify it if there's a question. -Willmcw 00:23, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Clingfilm

Am I the only one seeing something huge missing from this article? For the generation currently in high school, the first time many have ever heard of Roy Orbison is from http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/karl.htm. I realize that Ulrich Haarbürste never actually existed and that the stories are a joke... But it's a valid bit of trivia, at least.

No, no it isn't. --Jeffrey O. Gustafson - Shazaam! - <*> 20:58, 7 December 2005 (UTC)
Haha, I was wondering the same thing. I'd never heard of him before reading the clingwrap stories... Allie 05:42, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
You will notice that the clingfilm link has just been removed by an anonymous somebody who declared it "disrespectful"! PoV problems here?
Yes, "disrepectful" isn't the right reason to remove it. "Unencyclopedic" and "non-notable" are. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 16:28, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Mummification (BDSM) would be a better place for it, if it goes anywhere.

[edit] Roy's maltese cross

Anybody know why Roy wore a maltese cross? It was his trademark, along with the dark glasses, so a little clarification would be nice. Bold textI Don't think that anyone really knows why Roy Orbison wore an iron cross, but it's deffinatly something I will look into. - DJ Cormier Official Roy Orbison Homepage

[edit] Why the Wilburies are out of print

I've always heard that the reason why the Wilbury's albums are out of print has to do with Mrs Roy Orbison having copyright veto power, since Roy had writing credits. True?

False. In fact, for the last few years or so, the two Wilbury widows have been asserting an upcoming rerelease of the albums in various interviews. Latest word on it seems to be from Olivia Harrison.

[edit] 3 or 4 octave vocal range

In the first paragraph, Orbison is described as being "internationally recognized for his... four-octave vocal range", whereas under "Legacy" it says that "Roy Orbison's vocal range was impressive (three octaves)". This is contradictory - I guess the two sections were written by different people. Anyone know for sure which is correct? I've been under the impression for years that his range was three octaves, but I can't remember the source for that so it may well be wrong.

It is true. The Big O had 3-octave vocal range. Sorry, can't give you a link to confirm my words right now

[edit] Felice and Boudleaux Bryant

Could an Orbison expert please add to the songlist at Felice and Boudleaux Bryant? --Design 09:54, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Old photo is back

I restored a photo of Orbison that was removed in December. It appears that someone tried to replace it with another photo, which didn't actually load. Was there any other reason that the old photo was deleted? Galanskov 22:19, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

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