cover image Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story

Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story

Ellis Amburn. Carol Publishing Corporation, $18.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-8184-0518-1

From his rockabilly roots in West Texas, Roy Orbison perfected the operatic rock ballad (``Only the Lonely,'' ``Crying'') delivered in a quavering voice that could ``scream away the pain of heartbreak.'' And there was heartache aplenty to sing about: his teenage first wife, whom he began dating when she was 14, died in a motorcycle accident in 1966; two years later, two of his sons died in a fire that destroyed the family home. Already addicted to sleeping pills, amphetamines and fast motorcycles, according to this account, Orbison married a German teenager in 1969 as his personal life spun out of control and his career fell into near-total eclipse. His comeback, cresting in a collaborative album with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and George Harrison, was cut short by his death in 1988. This well-researched bio provides vivid glimpses of the workaholic rocker's early years with Sun Records, his tours with the Beatles, his self-destructive tendencies. Amburn has collaborated on autobiographies with Shelley Winters and Priscilla Presley. Photos. (May)