The Texan Star

June/July/August Edition, 1980

You don’t often find a concert opening act that has had more hits than the headliner. That’s especially true if the headliner is the Eagles, probably the biggest selling rock group of the 70s but Roy Orbison who will be with The Eagles tonight through Tuesday at the Inglewood Forum, is no regular opening act.

One of the most respected figures of pre-Beatles rock, Orbison started off recording in the Memphis rockabilly era with Elvis Presley. He is best known, however, as the master of the epic rock ballad. Amongst his 22 top 40 hits are “Running Scared”, “Crying” and “Oh, Pretty Woman”.

The song most indentified with Orbison is “Only the Lonely”, the lyrics alone don’t seem enough to earn it a place in rock history, the power of the record was in Orbison’s voice. Not only does he have a purity and range that has lead him to be called “Caruso of Rock” but he conveys with haunting authenticity and delicateness and ache of dissolved romance.

Extremely shy, Orbison isn’t a flashy performer. Dressed in either all white or all black he stands expressionless behind the ever present dark glasses, at the microphone and just sings, but that voice is enough, but absolutely chilling at times.