On September 30, 1987, Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Jennifer Warnes came together at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles to backup one of their idols, Roy Orbison.
The show went on to become a CD and TV special, Roy Orbison & Friends: Black & White Night, which played on Cinemax and eventually became a pledge drive staple on PBS.
Just over a year later, Roy Orbison was gone.
Black & White Night brought together this high-end band performing many of the songs for which Orbison was best known including Oh Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely and In Dreams.
On February 24, Legacy Recordings and Roy’s Boys LLC will release and expanded version of Black & White Night in celebration of its 30th anniversary, including alternate versions of six songs from the show and the addition of Blue Angel to the accompanying DVD.
Five of the alternate versions came from a post-show performance that the group did where crews let the film go until it ran out in the middle of Uptown. This is the first time that this music has been available. Buyers of the CD will receive a code to download the secret concert audio.
As for the DVD, Black & White Night 30 is NOT a reissue. Because the concert had been shot using seven separate cameras, there were hundreds of hours of footage that went unused and unseen. Roy’s youngest son Alex Orbison and his co-editor Luke Chalk have gone back and re-edited the entire performance so that while the look will be familiar to those that have seen the original version, the vast majority of footage in Black & White Night 30 has never been seen before by the public.
Furthermore, the program has been restored to reflect the correct set order, so that viewers can see Roy, brilliantly backed by Elvis Presley’s TCB Band (James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Jerry Scheff, Ron Tutt), blast through massive Orbison hits such as Only the Lonely, In Dreams and Crying just as the live audience witnessed them on that very night.
Also included is a brand new 33-minute mini-documentary consisting of rehearsal footage and pre and post show interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne from that night. Absolutely none of this content has ever been released commercially, and until recently, has only been rumored to exist.
Black & White Night 30’s bonus features are capped with a montage consisting of twenty still photos from the show and new photos of show memorabilia, mostly unused and unseen in any context. Liner notes written by son Roy Orbison Jr. are included in the brand new, yet thematically consistent, packaging.
Black & White Night 30 will also be featured on PBS during the month of March.
The track list for the DVD/Blu-Ray:
Only the Lonely
Leah
In Dreams
Crying
Uptown
The Comedians
Blue Angel
It’s Over
Running Scared
Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
Mean Woman Blues
Candy Man
Ooby Dooby
Blue Bayou
Go Go Go (Down the Line)
(All I Can Do Is) Dream You
Claudette
Oh, Pretty Woman (ALT Version)
Oh, Pretty Woman
Secret Post Show
(All I Can Do Is) Dream You (Alternate Version)
The Comedians (Alternate Version)
Candy Man (Alternate Version)
Claudette (Alternate Version)
Uptown (Alternate Version)
