There is a biopic about to start shooting. The subject is a deceased singer who recorded in more than one genre whose peak was a number of decades ago wherein he had a couple big crossover hits. His biggest hit was a song of regret that referenced a woman’s attractiveness. He had hits throughout his career in the main genre he was associated with.
The singer was a naturally talented musician with a powerful voice and was tall and handsome to boot. Unfortunately, he was plagued by alcoholism his whole life. One famous public drunken incident was at a televised annual event.
It was always assumed that this was why at one point he just stopped recording and touring and in the following decade and a half until his death only recorded one more record.
But the real reason he stopped recording and touring was he didn’t need to. An old friend had started a company that everyone knows and patronizes. The singer helped his friend out financially at the beginning and was a big shareholder in the company which made him extremely wealthy despite his dissolute lifestyle.
The singer was a naturally talented musician with a powerful voice and was tall and handsome to boot. Unfortunately, he was plagued by alcoholism his whole life. One famous public drunken incident was at a televised annual event.
It was always assumed that this was why at one point he just stopped recording and touring and in the following decade and a half until his death only recorded one more record.
But the real reason he stopped recording and touring was he didn’t need to. An old friend had started a company that everyone knows and patronizes. The singer helped his friend out financially at the beginning and was a big shareholder in the company which made him extremely wealthy despite his dissolute lifestyle.
Ray Orbison?
ReplyDeletePretty Woman....
DeleteI thought Orbison as well, but he was neither tall nor good-looking. Elvis famously said one time he was glad Roy wasn't handsome because he (Roy) was so-o-o talented.
ReplyDeleteIkr...idk what people are thinking with Roy Orbison here not on any planet was he tall and handsome ..I'm guessing an older country singer
DeleteBecause the "Queen" of this website has a pathetic existence and has to be first regardless if the answer makes any sense! She must be a total loser in life tbh.
DeleteYawn ^
DeleteThe Big O had a number of hits with the Traveling Wilberrys right up until his death. And didn't he lose a wife and kid to a car crash or something?
ReplyDeleteDon't think it him.
Eric Clapton?
ReplyDeleteHave you murdered Clapton and didn't send in a blind for it? ..2nd paragraph 13th word of the blind sets deceased ..
DeletePer https://screenrant.com/music-movie-biopics-upcoming/tldr/1, upcoming biopics include ones on Elvis, John Lennon, Teddy Pendergrass, Bob Marley, David Bowie, and Bill Monroe.
ReplyDeleteThose Elvis bio pics have been done to death..
DeleteLove Roy but not in any stretch would I consider him handsome. He was a very talented musician though.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Rich; The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.
ReplyDeleteConway Twitty
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking this...sounds like an older country singer with maybe gospel crossovers
DeleteIndeed.
ReplyDeleteDrunk Charlie Rich lit the paper with the name of the Entertainer of the Year on fire at the 1975 CMA awards....he said John Denver wasn't country enough....
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ReplyDeleteOrbison was not an alcoholic, it's Charlie Rich.
ReplyDelete+1 Charlie Rich guesses
ReplyDelete"For over a decade, Rich was silent, living off his investments in semi-retirement and only playing occasional concerts."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Rich#Decline_in_activity_and_semiretirement
"Rich's destructive personal behavior famously culminated at the CMA awards ceremony for 1975,[1] when he presented the award for Entertainer of the Year, while visibly intoxicated."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Rich#CMA_awards_1975
Charlie Rich and Walmart?
ReplyDeleteRich and Wendy's Burgers.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/163-dear-charlie
"Sy had set Charlie up financially by investing in the Wendy’s hamburger chain. Money would never be a problem again. "
Wow the things you learn! Had no clue Charlie Rich was a rich man due to Wendy's!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like this StarkGirl88 got it with Charlie Rich
ReplyDeleteFascinating blind, thanks, Reader!
Charlie Rich- Warren Buffett for friend berkshire hathoway for company
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely Charlie Rich. Everyone remember "Hey did you happen to see the most beautiful girl who walked out on me.........." Charlie Rich had at least two crossover hits I remember. The Most Beautiful Girl and Behind Closed Doors. I own both songs and I am NOT a C&W fan. I also own a handful of Dolly Parton songs for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of c&w, but Dolly is a gem.
DeleteRoy Orbison was recording with Traveling Wilburys around the time he died, right? So he might not be the subject of this blind.
ReplyDeleteAny possibility that this could be about Willy DeVille?
ReplyDeleteI was kind of hoping this would be Dean Martin - I'd like to see a biopic made about him.
ReplyDeleteOrbison was a kind & lovely man with a generous heart, as well as extremely talented. Glad I had the pleasure of knowing him. RIP Roy.
ReplyDeleteOrbison's career started to falter when he left Monument Records and signed with MGM for what was supposed to be a very lucrative contract that included films. He never found a producer who knew how to play to his strengths like Fred Foster could, he stopped working with his cowriter Joe Melson, and his divorce, then the death of Claudette (that he had remarried) and two of his sons in separate accidents were a huge blow to him.
ReplyDeleteBut he kept on recording and touring during the sixties and seventies, it's just that he had a huge dry spell.
The stories I've read on him confirm what SnarkyAngel said. During a flight, he would discuss with the people seated next to him, who had no idea who he was, and talk about his hobbies such as model airplanes, or how happy he was because of his kids and never during the entire flight he would mention that he was a professional singer.
His comeback was due to David Lynch, who used "In Dreams" on a VERY memorable scene from Blue Velvet. At this point, nobody could buy his hits, because Monument Records had gone bankrupt. So, he had to rerecord the whole collection to be sure that the songs would be preserved.
The comeback also allowed him to perform a really outstanding TV special, "A Black and White Night", where he's supported by people such as Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, and Elvis' live band from the seventies. The latest version, released two years ago is the one to get. It was entirely reedited from the original film rushes (and it works much better with this new edit) and it has the whole show.
After that, he was a guest on a Tom Petty solo album produced by Jeff Lynne (from E.L.O.). When George Harrison tried to record a B-side for another single of his own album (produced by Lynne), he used Bob Dylan's home studio and invited Orbison, then Petty, as Harrison had to borrow a guitar from him. That's how the Traveling Wilburys started. They gelled together in the studio, they wrote a song on the spot, and everybody agreed that the B-side, "Handle with Care" was too good for a B-side.
Then, everybody but Dylan (who was on tour) came back to contribute to Orbison's own comeback album, for which he had also got songs from U2 or Elvis Costello. Just before the album was supposed to be release, he had a diet to lose some weight, which was probably the reason for his heart attack (he also had heart surgery before, and he was a heavy smoker). "You Got It" was from that album.
Coincidentally, Tom Petty's final work was to produce a new solo album by Chris Hillman (The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, The Desert Rose Band) called "Bidin' My Time". This is also a great album that features some of the best work by Hillman and the Heartbreakers.
I love that Yummy mentioned Willy DeVille
ReplyDeleteThanks, Angela for the additional info. Of course I remember Pretty Woman, but I watched a movie in which he starred a few months ago. The whole thing wasn't good, but it spurred me to research him.
ReplyDeleteSome of what I recall, he was so nervous when singing and that is why his vibrato was so fast. He did gain and lose weight often.
He was a real talent and a decent man.
Neil Diamond - oil
ReplyDeleteThanks Angela for the great educational post. I'm a lifetime fan of Orbison. I own one of the original copies of A Black and White Night. I'll have to pick up the newer version. So many greats playing and sitting in the audience on that video. There will never be another voice like Roy Orbison's.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Michael
ReplyDelete