Orbison, Nelson & Vee

All photos copyright John Lindquist.
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x x Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band appeared as the closing act of the second Buddy Holly Tribute Concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on February 2, 1980. Getting on stage very late, Rick and the band – which included John Beland on lead guitar – put on a great show that was worth the wait. In my humble opinion, Rick was his best at the piano. At the end, he shook hands with each of the several dozen people gathered around the stage.

x With many of his contemporaries having mellowed out beyond repair, Bobby Vee continues to prove his rockability on his continuous tour throughout the Americas and overseas. Through most of his show, he reprises his hits from the '60s (sounding just like the records – how does he do that?), yet he readily embraces and improves upon more recent material such as the Bodeans' "Good Work." When the beachballs come out, you know it's time for "Rubber Ball." In this grainy action photo from the Surf Ballroom taken February 4, 1995, Bobby (center) launches one as another is incoming. (The legendary Ar Stevens is at Bobby's immediate right.) Continuing to record and perform with his sons (The Vees), he will be delighting and astonishing his audiences for decades to come.

x Fresh from an English tour with the Beatles and his Ed Sullivan Show debut, Roy Orbison and the Candymen performed two shows at Regis High School in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on the night of November 11, 1964. The first show was in the auditorium. Then it was decided to move to the gym to accomodate the growing audience-to-be for the second show. The move went quickly and easily, as equipment was minimal; notice the small amps. Note also the presence of a reel-to-reel tape recorder at the bottom of the second image; a slight enlargement is shown here. (One wonders what happened to that tape.) Moving effortlessly from one song to another, Roy performed his current smash "Oh, Pretty Woman," dipped back to his first chart hit (the '56 Sun Records single "Ooby Dooby") and covered numerous highlights from throughout his career to date.
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  • One of probably many Roy Orbison 75th
    Birthday radio specials is detailed here.
  • The Official Roy Orbison Website.
  • E-mail me at jlindquist001 @ gmail.com.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison