Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are in a serious situation, but I need a break from the gloom, doom and bullying by way of hoarding. Music has always been my refuge and watching those beautiful Italians singing to each other from their balconies reaffirmed my belief that music is the answer. So until the old normal returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

When Bruce Springsteen was inducting today’s singer into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987, he said, “I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now, everybody knows that nobody sings like Roy Orbison.”  If there was ever one voice so completely recognizable from the very first note he sang, it was Orbison’s.  It sounded almost operatic with his smooth and rich delivery, earning him the nickname “the Caruso of Rock”.  Even when he was singing with the likes of Bob Dylan, George Harrison and the other Traveling Wilburys in the late 1980’s, Orbison’s sound took center stage.  Springsteen has covered today’s song many times as an encore in his own concerts, and Orbison re-recorded it himself as a duet with k.d. lang in 1987.  It was very nicely done, but I prefer the original recording from 1961.

Roy Orbison circa 1964 (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Roy Orbison:  “Crying” (1961, written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.