Thursday, December 4, 2008

Mean Woman Blues

Occasionally PBS plays the famous 1988 Concert, “Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night.” The “friends” include Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Brown, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes and Tom Waits, among others. The backup band was Elvis’s band before he died. The concert is filmed entirely in black and white and is meant to look like a 1940s nightclub. In 1989 Virgin Records released the concert on CD. The concert still completely knocks my socks off whenever I see it. My favorite is “Mean Woman Blues”. You have to go a very long way to hear guitar playing like this. And I dare you to sit still while you’re listening to the video.



Are you still sitting down? I'll bet you're not!

16 comments:

KathyB. said...

You're right, you can't sit still and listen ! Hey, maybe listening to Roy Orbison and friends will keep your mind off what is going on in Ottawa ! I saw the news the other night and hope things work out well for our dear neighbors to the North!

Bobbie said...

That's my kind of music! I've seen that concert on PBS and it's great.

VioletSky said...

I watch that concert every time I see it in the listings. I even made a contribution to PBS after the first time seeing it to encourage more showings.

You're welcome.

the walking man said...

I've been listening to Marley since 1:430 am so I'm just about wiggled out...but you got to love Roy O and that six octave voice.

Country Girl said...

And here I thought that some woman at work was being mean to you! I love this show and have seen it several times. We originally loved it because of Bruce (he's our hometown boy, you know, because I'm from the Jersey shore) but we love it because of everything in it. The music is fantastic, and Roy is such a pleasure to watch and listen to. Great one, Jo!!

RiverPoet said...

Who could ever sit still while listening to Roy Orbison? Great video. Thanks for sharing that - D

The Grandpa said...

Great video, Jo. Thanks for posting it.

Anonymous said...

Don't know why Western Canada ranchers suggested she "Eat beef"--opr I guess I know.
But K.D. Laing was a protege of Roy Orbison. And what a talent Orbison helped develop!
And the guy himself. Wow. Grew up with "Only the lonely" And "Crying" which K.D. Laing matched on one of her albums.

Talk about teenage angst and great popular art!
Oh how well articulated!

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Very Nice! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love this concert! Fantastic! And I think this was the first time I became aware of my now favorite singer, k.d. lang.

Sad to think that two days after this performance,
Roy Orbison died of a heart attack.

Leslie: said...

Oh YEAH, baby! Rock on!

Donnetta said...

Always liked old Roy. Very unique sound. Neat. D

Pauline said...

ok, NOW I'm sitting down but while that was playing I was up and dancing! I was a teen when Roy was a big star - we based our 30th high school reunion dance around his tunes :)

Jo said...

Isn't this great, everyone? I wasn't sure if you had heard it. k.d. lang is having so much fun singing backup!

JR's Thumbprints said...

I like that Roy O song used in the movie "Blue Velvet" -- The Candy Colored Clown they call the Sandman, Tips into ...

I'll have to listen to it again to remember the lyrics. I think the song's about Elvis Presley.

Hilary said...

Well darn.. it's too early to have a listen. Everyone else is sleeping at the moment. I'll have to come back and have a listen when the rest of the natives wake up.