Joe Melson

Joe Melson
Born	(1935-05-11)May 11, 1935 Bonham,Fannin County,Texas,United States
Genres	Pop,country,rockabilly
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, singer, musician
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1959–present

Joe Melson(born May 11, 1935) is an Americansingerand aBMIAward-winningsongwriterbest known for his collaborations withRoy Orbison,including "Only the Lonely"and"Crying",which are both in theGrammy Hall of Fameand have both been included inRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Melson was inducted into theNashville Songwriters Hall of Famein 2018.

Life and career

Joe Melson was born inBonham,Fannin County,Texas,United States. He was reared on a farm until he was sixteen. He attendedhigh schoolinGore, Oklahoma,and inChicago,Illinois,before he returned to Texas to study at the two-yearOdessa CollegeinOdessa,the seat ofEctor County.He studied and played music as a teenager and fronted arockabillyband called the Cavaliers.

Beginning in 1959,first at his home inMidland, Texas,and then inNashville, Tennessee,Melson teamed up withRoy Orbison,who had just joinedMonument Records,with whom he would soon write a string of hits. Before their collaboration, Orbison had been solely a rockabilly performer. Although Melson himself was rooted in that music genre, he had begun writingrhythm and bluessongs. Melson recognized the potential in Orbison's voice, encouraging the singer to explore its power through their first collaboration, "Only the Lonely."What resulted on March 25, 1960, was the firstoperaticrock ballad.The song went to No. 2 on theBillboardHot 100chart in the United States,and toNo. 1in theUK Singles Chart,which launched Orbison to international musical stardom.

Not only did that song influence Orbison to write such operatic ballads as "In Dreams,"but a few months later it also induced Orbison's friendElvis Presleyto record "It's Now or Never,"based on the Neapolitan art song"'O sole mio."

Melson and Orbison followed up with similar sounds such as the dramatic "Running Scared"that went toNo. 1in the US.His last hit collaboration with Orbison came in 1963 with the writing of "Blue Bayou,"although some of their cooperative efforts would be recorded in later years. The two got together again between 1971 and 1975.

Their collaboration produced such songs as:

• "Up Town" (1960, #72 Billboard pop chart)
• "Only the Lonely"(1960, #2)
• "Blue Angel"(1960, #9)
• "I'm Hurtin'" (1961, #27)
• "Running Scared"(1961, #1)
• "Crying"(1961, #2)
• "The Crowd" (1962, #26)
• "The Actress" (1962)
• "Lana" (1962)
• "Blue Bayou"(1963, #29)

Between 1960 and 1963, Melson recorded severalsinglesof his own (the best known being "Hey Mister Cupid" ) forHickory Recordsand also throughAcuff-Rose Music,wrote songs for some of that label's other artists includingDan Folger.He then recorded a few songs for EMP Records in 1964 and 1965 that achieved limited success. He was the cowriter of "Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)",which was a #12 Billboard hit forThe Newbeats,released in 1965. Melson cowrote a top-30 country hit forDon Gibsonin 1968 and then cowrote two songs that were top-30 country hits forGlenn Barberin 1972, with a third in 1979.

"Only the Lonely" went to number one on the country charts in 1969 forSonny James."Blue Bayou" was a #3 hit forLinda Ronstadtin 1977 and "Crying" was a top-10 hit forDon McLeanin 1981.

Over the years, Melson continued to perform at rockabilly and nostalgia festivals, and in 2002 he was inducted into the International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame inJackson, Tennessee.

In August 2014, Melson released a triple-A sided single "Last Goodbye" / "Fields of Gold" / "Girl Back on Blue Bayou" with Australian artistDamien Leith.

External links

• Official site