Roy Orbison
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
September 25, 1976

JEMS 2017 Transfer: Low (first?) generation reel > Pioneer RT-909 > Sound Devices USBPre 2 capture (24/96) > iZotope RX and Ozone > MBIT+ convert to 16/44.1 > Peak Pro XT (pitch adjustment / volume smoothing / edit / index) > xACT 2.35 > FLAC

01 Introduction
02 Only The Lonely
03 Crying
04 Dream Baby
05 In Dreams
06 Mean Woman Blues
07 Leah
08 Lana
09 Blue Bayou
10 Candy Man
11 Blue Angel
12 Land Of A Thousand Dances
13 Falling
14 Ooby Dooby
15 Running Scared
16 Working For The Man
17 It's Over
18 Oh Pretty Woman

Known Faults:
None

This is a very obscure recording, even by JEMS standards, and it was given to us as a gift by a friend who knew we were interested in "rare live tapes." Indeed we are. The provenance of the recording is that it was made by a taper who recorded frequently in the Hamilton, ON area in the mid-'70s. We have at least one other equally offbeat artist captured by him we'll post at another time.

Oh that voice, that voice...

The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock And Roll describes Roy's songs as "his love, his life, and, indeed, the whole world (seem) to be coming to an end-not with a whimper but with agonized, beautiful bang".
Dwight Yoakum described his voice as sounding like "the cry of an angel falling backwards out an open window".
Dylan sited Roy as a specific influence saying "he was now singing his compositions in three or four octaves that made you want to drive your car over a cliff. He sang like a professional criminal... His voice could jar a corpse, always leave you muttering to yourself something like, 'Man, I don't believe it'. Mick Jagger noted the opening chords of "Oh, Pretty Woman" were a direct influence on the opening of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".

He didn't have the striking good looks of his contemporaries, a bit of stage fright and his performances were motionless affairs but that voice soared.

The 1970's can only be described as a second career for Roy, by the early 1970's his new music was selling poorly and he began to doubt his own talent. He dropped from sight after releasing an LP on Mercury in 1972 that did rather poorly. Then the genius of his songwriting took front and center, Sonny James had a No. 1 hit on the country charts with "Only The Lonely". Other artists covered Orbison's compositions and he soon found himself opening for the Eagles and riding a bit of a resurgence which included a compilation that hit the top of the charts in the UK.

Which brings us to this show, in addition to a fine performance of mostly hits, the recording includes some entertaining commentary from the host, including an update of the score of a Hamilton Tiger Cats CFL football game (they beat the Toronto Argonauts 29-14).

Considering the era, the venue and the obscurity of any Rob Orbison recordings from this period, the results are quite listenable. Because of the low-grade tape stock, we transferred this one using our lovely Pioneer RT-909 reel to reel, which deals better with failing tapes than our Otari.

We'll give the last word to the master of words Bruce Springsteen inducting Roy into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame when speaking about recording 'Born To Run' said "I wanted a record with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector - but, most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now, everyone knows that no one sings like Roy Orbison".

We couldn't agree more...

JEMS

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