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"I knew his voice was pure gold," Sam Phillips, founder of the pioneer rock label Sun Records, once said of Roy Orbison. "I also knew if anyone got a look at him he'd be dead inside of a minute."
Dumpy, with a chinless, sappily grinning countenance, his nightowl eyes perpetually hidden by sunglasses, Roy Orbison always has been our most unlikely rock star. But at 9 p.m. Sunday on Cinemax, you can look at him for an hour on Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night, and you'll love what you see.
Shot entirely on 35mm black-and-white film, this latest of the cable company's "Cinemax Sessions" is an edited version of a concert that Orbison gave Sept. 30 at Los Angeles' Coconut Grove nightclub. The concert turned into a pop event when many of the contemporary rockers most influenced by Orbison signed on to accompany him. Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, T Bone Burnett and songwriter-singer J.D. Souther assist Orbison's band, while Jennifer Warnes, Bonnie Raitt and K.D. Lang sing backup.
What counts most, however, is Orbison himself. Orbison's singing is as beautiful and unsettling as ever. His ringing tenor regularly ascends to a keening falsetto on songs such as "Leah," "Only the Lonely" and "Crying."
Orbison sings every song during Roy Orbison and Friends; this isn't one of those schlocky "tributes" so common to television, in which stars interpret their favorite songs as the honoree stands around looking awkward.
This is not to say, however, that Orbison's presence makes the rest of the performers fade into the woodwork. It's enthralling to watch Springsteen, in part because he is commonly thought to be the music's reigning star, and yet here he plays a modest supporting role.
By contrast, Costello's profound knowledge of Orbison's music raises him, for a few brief moments Sunday night, to star status. Costello, who plays guitar, harmonica and keyboards with equal dexterity, helps to provide the concert's high point when he presses his elbow down on an electric piano to hold a note during the bluesy "Down the Line." It's a classic rock 'n' roll gesture, summoning up memories of Jerry Lee Lewis playing the piano by hammering at it with the heel of his boot. Orbison and Springsteen crowd around Costello as he lifts his arm from the keyboard, and the audience cheers. It's a great moment.
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