Roy Orbison

The Last Concert (Roy’s Boys/Sony Legacy)

Roy Orbison

Black & White Night (Roy’s Boys/Sony Legacy)

From a company founded by his sons to preserve the legacy of rock’s greatest operatic talent comes a pair of releases from the end of Roy Orbison’s timeline (1936-88). The self-explanatory Last Concert CD/DVD package remasters the sights and sounds of an Orbison performance two days before he died of a heart attack at 52. In contrast to the fine audio of Orbison’s last hour onstage, plus an interview from the same night and early-Eighties concert footage, there’s the incredible Black & White Night. Beautifully filmed for television in (yes) black & white, it captures Elvis Presley’s TCB Band and an all-star cast including Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and k.d. lang giving the Vernon native spirited and affectionate backing. It plays as a cinematic work, heightening the drama inherent in Big O nuggets like “Running Scared” and “It’s Over,” and making these guest stars (especially an overjoyed Springsteen) look like unabashed fans and thus making everyone appear all the more human.

This article appears in December 13 • 2013.

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Tim Stegall contributed to The Austin Chronicle 1991-1995, and was a staff writer 1995-1997. He returned as a contributor in 2013. He has also freelanced for publications ranging from Flipside to Alternative Press to Guitar World. He plays punk rock guitar and sings in the Hormones.