From Slate.com:
According to Roy Orbison, when he was first asked by Brian Epstein to tour England with the Beatles, he responded, “What’s a Beatle?” Orbison was fresh off hits like “Only the Lonely,” “Crying,” and “In Dreams,” and his popularity was rising fast in the U.K., but he wasn’t yet used to Mersey Beat bands with such goofy names. It was his first U.K. tour, and, as Orbison later recalled, he didn’t know what to expect. But the president of the Roy Orbison Fan Club wrote him a letter, explaining that touring with the Beatles would be terrific for him. They were No. 1 in England, Orbison’s fan explained, and would get him more exposure. There was, at first, no doubt about who the headliner would be.
The Beatles certainly knew who Orbison was. He was one of their greatest idols, and Lennon had modeled their first No. 1 on “Only the Lonely.” Later, when the Beatles were photographed with Orbison, Ringo, in particular, looked more than a little excited to be with him.
Nonetheless, by the time Orbison arrived in the U.K., his one-time opener had surpassed him in popularity. In a concession to audience demand, Orbison graciously agreed to share co-billing, and to let the Beatles close out each night.
Not that Roy Orbison would let himself simply be upstaged. Though he was greeted each night with a roar of screaming Beatles fans, clamoring to see their favorite band, he countered, rather ingeniously, by telling his band to play the first song pianissimo (as Spencer Leigh tells it), so that the audience had to hush in order to hear him. Once the crowd had quieted down, Orbison had no trouble transporting them with a few ballads. […]
The band would set up behind Orbison as he finished, hidden behind a curtain, and Harrison remembers listening to him do encore after encore and thinking, “How are we going to following this?” Ringo put it more bluntly: “It was terrible, following Roy. He’d slay them and they’d scream for more.” […]
The competition between the two groups spilled over to the tour bus. Paul later remembered how at the back of the bus Orbison would be writing songs like “Pretty Woman,” and it would just about make them jealous: “He would play us his song,” Paul said, “and we’d say, ‘Oh, it’s great, Roy. Have you just written that?’ But we’d be thinking, ‘We have to have something as good.’ ” As would later happen with groups like the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones, their competitiveness with Orbison inspired them to produce some of their best work. For his part, McCartney was writing such songs as “All My Loving,” which he began composing on the tour bus and worked out on the piano at one of the venues.
The Beatles pose with Roy Orbison and Gerry And The Pacemakers backstage in their dressing room during a UK tour, L-R: Paul McCartney, Freddie Marsden (behind), George Harrison, Gerry Marsden, Ringo Starr (back), Les Maguire (back), John Lennon, John Chadwick (back), Roy Orbison, 1 May 1963
Crédits : V&A Images
United Kingdom • Slough • Adelphi Cinema
May 18, 1963
United Kingdom • Stoke-on-Trent • Gaumont Cinema
May 19, 1963
United Kingdom • Southampton • Gaumont Cinema
May 20, 1963
United Kingdom • Ipswich • Gaumont Cinema
May 22, 1963
United Kingdom • Nottingham • Odeon Cinema
May 23, 1963
United Kingdom • Walthamstow • Granada
May 24, 1963 • There is 1 album covering this show
United Kingdom • Sheffield • City Hall
May 25, 1963
United Kingdom • Liverpool • Empire Theatre
May 26, 1963
United Kingdom • Cardiff • Capitol Theatre
May 27, 1963
United Kingdom • Worcester • Gaumont
May 28, 1963
United Kingdom • York • Rialto
May 29, 1963
United Kingdom • Manchester • Odeon Cinema
May 30, 1963
United Kingdom • Southend-on-Sea • Odeon Cinema
May 31, 1963
United Kingdom • Tooting • Granada Cinema
Jun 01, 1963
United Kingdom • Brighton • Brighton Hippodrome
Jun 02, 1963
United Kingdom • Woolwich • Granada Cinema
Jun 03, 1963
United Kingdom • Birmingham • Town Hall
Jun 04, 1963
United Kingdom • Leeds • Odeon Cinema
Jun 05, 1963
United Kingdom • Glasgow • Odeon Cinema
Jun 07, 1963
United Kingdom • Newcastle upon Tyne • Newcastle City Hall
Jun 08, 1963
United Kingdom • Blackburn • King George's Hall
Jun 09, 1963
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