Ebook207 pages4 hours
Roy Orbison: Invention Of An Alternative Rock Masculinity
By Peter Lehman
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this ebook
Roy Orbison's music—whether heard in his own recordings or in cover versions of his songs—is a significant part of contemporary American culture despite the fact that he died almost a generation ago. Few of today's listeners know or remember how startlingly unique he seemed at the height of his career in the early 1960s. In this book, Peter Lehman looks at the long span of Orbison's career and probes into the uniqueness of his songs, singing, and performance style, arguing that singer/songwriters no less than filmmakers can be considered as auteurs.Unlike other pop stars, Orbison was a constant presence on the Top 40, but virtually invisible in the media during his heyday. Ignoring the conventions of pop music, he wrote complex songs and sang them with a startling vocal range and power. Wearing black clothes and glasses and standing motionless on stage, he rejected the macho self confidence and strutting that characterized the male rockers of his time. He sang about a man lost in a world of loneliness and fear, one who cried in the dark or escaped into a dream world, the only place his desires could be fulfilled. This was a man who reveled in passivity, pain, and loss.Lehman traces Orbison's development of this alternative masculinity and the use of his music in films by Wim Wenders and David Lynch. Widely admired by fellow musicians from Elvis to Jagger, Springsteen and Bono, Orbison still attracts new listeners. As a devoted fan and insightful scholar, Lehman gives us a fascinating account of "the greatest white singer on the planet," and a new approach to understanding individual singer/songwriters.
Related to Roy Orbison
Related ebooks
Sounds So Good to Me: The Bluesman's Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Star: The Roy Orbison Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Backstage & Beyond Vol. 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSoul Citizen - Tales & Travels from the Dawn of the Soul Era to the Internet Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpringsteen: A Notion Deep Inside Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonesome Melodies: The Lives and Music of the Stanley Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Portraits in Jazz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Avid's Guide to Sixties Songwriters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJanis: Her Life and Music Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wherever the Sound Takes You: Heroics and Heartbreak in Music Making Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bob Gibson: I Come for to Sing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Blame Morrissey: My Adventures with Indie-Pop and Emotional Disaster Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What Are the Chances: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dream Brother: The Lives & Music of Jeff & Tim Buckley Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Young Soul Rebels: A Personal History of Northern Soul Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Baron Wolman: The Rolling Stone Years Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTransformer: A Story of Glitter, Glam Rock, and Loving Lou Reed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaking Tracks: A Record Producer’s Southern Roots Music Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll or Nothing: The Story of Steve Marriott Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorn In A Small Town: John Mellencamp, The Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why AC/DC Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5They Rocked Hard and Died Young: Pop Gallery eBooks, #8 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLegends of Rock & Roll: The Grateful Dead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLong Promised Road: Carl Wilson, Soul of the Beach Boys The Biography Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jimmy Page in Brazil Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Search for John Lennon: The Life, Loves, and Death of a Rock Star Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemories of John Lennon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTouched By Grace: My time with Jeff Buckley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLove, Janis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Social Science For You
The Art of Witty Banter: Be Clever, Quick, & Magnetic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Secret Garden: Women's Sexual Fantasies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Come As You Are: Revised and Updated: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition: The Power of Radical Self-Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan to Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The January 6th Report Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Human Condition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Selection) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Roy Orbison
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Roy Orbison - Peter Lehman
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1