Roy Orbison's Sun Recordings Roy Orbison. Orbison, still in Texas began writing with Joe Melson, who led a group in Midland called the Cavaliers. Together they wrote the hit "Uptown," which sold better than any single since "Ooby Dooby". Looking for a follow-up, Melson showed Orbison a piece of a song he had been working on called "Only the Lonely". This song was the "first song that truly probed the frightening potential of Orbison's voice." In the early sixties Orbison reached his first peak period from 1961-1964. Despite the lack of commercial success Orbison looked back at his time at Sun Records as an
Roy Orbison stated: "The strings were playing and the band had built up and, sure enough, the hair on the back of my neck just all started standing up. It was an incredible physical sensation." Bassist Jerry Scheff, who backed Orbison in his "" concert, wrote about him, "Roy Orbison was like an opera singer. His voice melted out of his mouth into the stratosphere and back. He never seemed like he was trying to sing, he just did it." Orbison's severe stage fright was particularly noticeable in the 1970s and early 1980s. During the first few songs in a concert, the