America is a melting pot, and so is our music. Country came from a mixing of many styles, including Gospel, Appalachian hill music, and western "Cowboy" music. This morphed into Honky-Tonk, which became (with a smattering of Blues) the kernel of Rock 'n Roll. The early days of Rock saw a lot of crossover artists - part Country, part Rock.
Roy Orbison was one of those artists. This was one of his first songs that hit the Billboard charts. It was influenced by the work he did with the "Nashville Sound" of Patsy Cline, but still has clear Honky Tonk roots. I can imagine what this would have sounded like with Hank Senior singing it.
I get a kick out of how Bruce Springsteen looks with admiration at Roy Orbison. I think I read that Elvis Presley thought Roy Orbison was the best singer.
ReplyDeleteThat Video : "Roy Orbison, Black and White" is a favorite. What a performance!
ReplyDeleteWhen music was really, really good ..... sigh.
ReplyDelete