Customer Reviews

Black & White Night

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It could so easily have been a disaster. A band full of egos. A Roy Orbison in fragile health, carrying too much weight and without a major success for more than twenty years in the US (although he'd retained his following in the UK and Australasia). The opening track, "Only the Lonely" seems to bear out the predictions. The audience is quiet. Orbison seems to be using the microphone to aid rather than to transmit. And then he hits that high note. The audience applauds. And somehow, the album just gets better and better. Backed by Elvis's Las Vegas band, he launches into his strongest song "In Dreams" and displays a quality that the recording in the 1960's never had, legendary though it was.

This Cd illustrates the range of the Orbison repertoire. Listen to him rock in "Candy Man" and "Move on Down the Line", and your feet'll be tapping. Listen to the high notes - perfectly pitched - in "Crying", "It's Over" and "The Comedians", and it's easy to forgive him the weakness of his enunciation.

The whole thing is one very special event. It has a quality that most live recordings can only dream of. This album should be up there with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Rumours" for every rock fan's 'must-have' list.

Now it's here for everyone to hear(and see). After purchasing a Laser Disc player years ago, I stumbled onto the LD of this great concert buried on the "clearance" shelf of a video store(idiots). At the time I was not a big Roy fan...just bought the Disc because it was cheap and I was curious.

The performances are spectacular and the audio mix is one of the best I've heard for a live performance.

Even though I can play it at will, I get hooked evertime one of the local PBS stations airs it as a fund raiser. Also, it's the only audio tape I carry in my car. Don't just buy the CD, buy the video tape..a real bargin. Hopefully a DVD is forthcoming??

I remember it well; I watched it in awe on cable and taped it. I still have the tape. I have the cassette version of this CD. When PBS trots it out during a fund raiser, I watch it again. It is very special to me. Nobody has to tell you about the vocal powers of Roy Orbison. The show was no doubt shot in black and white to conceal Roy's less-than-striking physical qualities. People magazine had a picture of him with a reference to his being an "antique rocker". But when the lights came up, Roy showed us all that he still had it. As other reviewers have noted, accomplished musicians with their own fan bases were on hand in backup roles to provide excellent support without displaying any ego of their own. They were there to support their hero. This is one of the best filmed concerts I have ever seen and highly recommend you get the DVD as well. In the filmed version, as the cameras pull back after the concert, Kris Kristofferson can be seen in the audience, playing to the camera and grinning his approval. This is one item you are bound to treasure. This is music history made more significant by Roy's sudden death just months later.

After seeing the video of this one-time performance, it was clear there were no egos on this stage. All the performers were there to support brother-rocker, Roy Orbison. While listening to the CD over and over, the magic can be relived always! Roy may be gone, but the tributes paid to him by his fellow musicians can be felt in this great jam session! It's a great top-down, wind in the hair CD!

I am going to recede into the background on this review. I have to. Roy brought so many well-known and expert musicians to this wonderous event and they all had the good sense to stay out of the spotlight. Well, after all, it is the remarkable Roy Orbison. And I'm sure that he taught them all a thing or two about music through the years. It is about human courtesy and respect. And believe me, Roy deserved it all.
This music is like silk gliding across a glistening ocean. So impeccably done and every note here is essential. No excess-no shortage. Everything in proper balance under the sun and moon. God Bless Roy for sharing his genius while he was with us.
I suppose what strikes me so much about Roy's tunes is his honesty. He was master at writing about heartache and loss - especially in love. But with this comes the fact that men, do indeed, cry. In loneliness- in desperation - and in love, men do cry. And, mind you, all this expressed in a vocal range that was nothing less than staggering. His was a land inhabited by wishes, dreams, hopes, fear and sorrow. And no one sang this with more dedication or emotion than Roy did.
This live outing treats us to an array of his best tunes; "Only the Lonely","Crying","Pretty Woman", "Blue Bayou" and much, much more. The beauty of live sound is never more evident than it is here. Crisp, moving, and Roy's vocals wrapping you in a warm embrace throughout.
If you really want to experience one of the very best (and essential) artists that America ever produced - listen to Roy Orbison. A true original and irreplaceable.
Very high marks for this gem. To miss it is like missing a part of the soul of life. Yes. It's that good.

Thanks Roy for coloring our lives with your songs..........Metamorpho

This concert by Roy Orbison was recorded in September of 1987. The core musicians here were in Elvis Presley's band in the 1970s, interestingly. They are supplemented by several well known performers who were admirers of Roy. But guys like Bruce Springsteen don't try to steal the spotlight from Roy. They just let Roy do what he does best, which is sing with that amazing voice of his. Roy does sound a bit older than he did back in his heyday, but he can still hit those high notes. Roy and friends run through most of his classic hits, plus a new song written by Elvis Costello, "The Comedians", which later was included on his last album. It's truly a wonderful concert, and I would recommend it to any fan of Roy.

This music invokes a person to ride through the streets with the top down and the sound turned up. You can actually feel the high his "back-up group" felt as they accompany him through a choice cross section of his all time greats. I'll listen to this till I'm 90!

What a dvd this is. The legend that was Roy Orbison performing his greatest songs with a band of all stars. Bruce Springsteen spends the whole time staring in awe at Orbison and the singing from the three ladies (warnes, Raitt and Lang) is nothing short of heavenly.

The sound quality is second to none, Waits is great, the boss is great - you just can't go wrong.

Must buy this as KD Lang says 'he didn't sing songs - he sang epics'

saw the video on pbs and it blew me away. never realized what a true talent the man behind the shades was until now! i went directly to my music store and found the cd on sale. the best 9.99 i've spend on any music, ever.

What could be better than Roy Orbison and those who have worshipped and emulated him over the years? The mingling of voices and instruments brings such joy to the listener that you want to play it over and over.

For Orbison fans, it is one of the best CD's to get.