FUCK IT THEN. DON'T SMILE.

I just came across a live cut of Flying Burrito Brothers (Gram Parsons era) doing a cover of Roy Orbison's "Sweet Dreams Baby". It was recorded in 1969 at Winterland, so you know the place was packed with hippies and heads. A Roy Orbison cover might seen out of place, but that was the same year they covered Dave Dudley when they opened for the Stones at Altamont. That is a juxtaposition I like. A truck driving song an hour or so before Mick Jagger comes out and starts his prancing around. No wonder weird stuff happened at that show.

In looking for Orbison's original, I ran into him doing the song on TV in 1972 with some pretty funny dancers that are period perfect lame. I also ran into someone's tribute cover with the performer's identity literally kept in the dark. Just weird enough to force feed to you. You're welcome.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Sweet Dreams Baby (live) mp3 at Amoeba.com
Roy Orbison - Sweet Dreams Baby (streaming) at YouTube
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Christine's Tune (Devil in Disguise) mp3 at Rocky-52.net
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Wheels mp3 at Rocky-52.net
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Wild Horses mp3 at Beat Surrender
A live set:
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Seattle Pop Festival 1969 at The Big O
Video:
Roy Orbison - Sweet Dreams Baby at YouTube Because dancers are cheaper than musicians
Not Roy Orbison - Sweet Dreams Baby at YouTube Strange tribute cover

THE ORB RODE

When I saw that photo above, I thought it was photoshopped. Roy Orbison on a dirt bike? C'mon. He didn't seem like a grease under the fingernails sorta guy. Maybe it's his voice, it's so...smooth I guess is the word. Rich. Even on his early Sun stuff his voice had more polish than was typical of the label. So, curious, I went looking and found this caption: "Roy Orbison America singer March 1966 riding on a scramble bike at Hawkstone Park Shropshire." I'll be dipped in shit, turns out that he was a bike fiend, as was his wife Claudette. (She was killed in a motorcycle accident while the two were on a ride.)

Here's a mess of the biker's early stuff, a Coke commercial he did, and a later clip of him doing the song he wrote about his wife, backed by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen, amongst others.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

Roy Orbison - Rock House mp3 at Rocky 52
Roy Orbison - Ooby Dooby mp3 at Rocky 52
Roy Orbison - Go Go Go mp3 at Rocky 52
Roy Orbison - Domino mp3 at Retrolicious
Roy Orbison - Mean Little Mama mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Roy Orbison - Dream Baby mp3 at MP3 Rockabilly

Roy Orbison - Coke commercial mp3 at The Podcast Place
Video:
Roy Orbison - Claudette at YouTube Live, with Tome Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and others

ORBISON HAS A POSSE

Yesterday I was down at the beach catching up with fellow locals, many of which I've never run into anywhere else. Some surf, some never get in the water at all. Some live out of their car, some bus in from somewhere and then head out on that last bus run out of town, and some own their own home somewhere in the neighborhood. You know, all walks of life, and all that jazz. I don't know where they go when they leave, or where they live. It doesn't matter.

Roy Orbison on a go kart. That's right. King of the party.

One guy who is down there nearly every time I'm down there is Larry, known to many around here as "the guitar guy". Larry has been sitting on the same rock, or the bench directly across from it, for years. Decades. Playing fragments of his own songs, interspersed with breaks, sometimes listening to whatever game is on, with his transistor radio held up to his ear. When he is playing, I rarely interrupt him to exchange greetings, because Larry is a Christian, and his self penned songs are his missionary work, unintelligible as they often are. Hey, if that's his thing, who am I to interrupt? But yesterday, he stopped as I was walking by, After I apologized and said he didn't need to stop, he told me that it was okay, he was just playing "Ooby Dooby". Well, shit, I've known Larry for years and never heard him mention someone else's song. So I asked him who's version, expecting him to say Creedence's. He said "Roy Orbison's", and his tone said "of course". Oh yeah. Now I'm dumbfounded. Larry doesn't follow popular culture, or current events. What was he like when he first heard it? Was he around when it was released? He could be that old. All I know is that from here on, every time I hear the song, I'll think of Larry. And that's how that happens.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Roy Orbison - Ooby Dooby mp3 at Ace Terrier (?)
Roy Orbison - Go, Go, Go mp3 at Rocky 52
Roy Orbison - Domino mp3 at Retrolicious
Roy Orbison - Coke commercial mp3 at The Podcast Place
Bonus:
Janis Martin - Ooby Dooby mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly

DON GARLITS? NEVER HEARD OF HIM.

I couldn't pass up a photo of the Orb on a go kart. No way. Not to mention the happening terry cloth shirt. He must be on his way to a pool party. What a rock star. Here's a soundtrack to his stealth coolness, a couple early Sun era cuts and a Coke commercial that sounds like the Yardbirds are backing him.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Roy Orbison - Go, Go, Go mp3 at Rocky 52
Roy Orbison - Domino mp3 at Retrolicious
Roy Orbison - Coke commercial mp3 at The Podcast Place

VERY FUNNY. GIVE 'EM BACK.

Blame it on the oddballs. I ran into Roy Orbison doing a Coke commercial yesterday, and today I ran in to a song sung in German. Reason enough to revisit some of his early stuff. You know as well as I, early almost always wins.

I'm just going to go ahead and get this out of the way: Roy Orbison-vocals, guitar; Johnny Wilson-guitar; James Marrow-electric mandolin; Jack Kennelly-bass; Billy Pat Ellis-drums. That's the line-up for Roy Orbison and the Teen Kings' "Go, Go, Go", a 1956 Sun release. You'll be curious after hearing it. I'm just saving you the trouble of tracking down who was responsible for this compact slab of genius. Of particular note is the guitar, which is insanely tight. ¡Es lo mejor, Jerry! ¡Lo mejor!

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

Roy Orbison - Go, Go, Go mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Roy Orbison - Ooby Dooby mp3 at Iaan Hughes (?)
Roy Orbison - Claudette mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Roy Orbison - Hey Miss Fanny mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Roy Orbison - Rock House mp3 at Drop box(?)
Oddballs:
Roy Orbison - Mama (German version) mp3 at Haywood NYC
Roy Orbison - Coke commercial mp3 at Motor City Radio Flashbacks

DENNIS HOPPER 1936 - 2010

The dude seemed everywhere. For the last several decades, he was always lurking somewhere. In a movie, at an art opening, Cannes, taking photos, hobnobbing with A-list artists, Venice... Even though he was known primarily as an actor, he really was one of us, and by that I mean culture junkies. The difference was that he created and digested. He never really stopped either. Even when he wasn't working on a film, Dennis Hopper was taking pictures, making art, or hanging out with like-minded friends.

"There are moments that I've had some real brilliance, you know. But I think they are moments. And sometimes, in a career, moments are enough. I never felt I played the great part. I never felt that I directed the great movie. And I can't say that it's anybody's fault but my own ... I am just a middle-class farm boy from Dodge City and my grandparents were wheat farmers. I thought painting, acting, directing and photography was all part of being an artist. I have made my money that way and I have had some fun. It's not been a bad life."

He really did just about everything...but music. Which made it hard to justify this post, on a music blog. But, my hesitation was quickly overridden when I found an mp3 of my favorite line from "Blue Velvet" (see link below).

Dennis Hopper (re: beverages) mp3 sound bite, from "Blue Velvet"
(I would turn this one up all the way, so the whole office can hear it.)
The Byrds - Wasn't Born to Follow mp3 (from "Easy Rider") at Groovers Paradise
(NOTE: The quote above was lifted from Groovers Paradise)
Roy Orbison - In Dreams mp3 (from "Blue Velvet") at Fuck Yeah, Go Team
Steppenwolf - The Pusher mp3 (from "Easy Rider") at KinoSport
More Blue Velvet soundbites at LynchNet
Dennis Hopper : Photographs 1961 - 1967 at Taschen Books
(Check the index to skip to his photography)
Dennis Hopper article at the N.Y. Times
Dennis Hopper obituary at the N. Y. Times