Reflections On Media: Roy Orbison - A Black And White Night

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Roy Orbison - A Black And White Night

Roy Orbison was a unique talent...he wrote great simple songs that told stories, and had a voice of amazing range...I think I heard him once described as the "Pavarotti of Rockabilly" or words to that effect. This is from the "Black & White Night" originally done for Cinemax in 1988. Among the all-stars on this video are Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Tom Waits, and a female backing trio of Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes and K.D. Lang, if you can believe that one. The band with Orbison here is Elvis's long-time backing band, led by James Burton, who basically explains how to play rock guitar with his part of the solo duel with Bruce Springsteen in this video. Bruce isn't at that level...but he has a lot of fun here. This is now available on DVD on other advanced video and audio formats - a great find.

"Pretty Woman"

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Background

Tom Meek is the author of "About & Out", a weekly column discussing live music and musicians in Greater Los Angeles. From 2000-2007, he authored "Another Day In Cyberville", a weekly column for The Gainesville Sun, Gainesville, Florida and the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. He has also written for magazines and television for more than thirty years concerning music, video, high-tech, new media, the Internet, computers, television and multimedia.

He first started in media at age 11 or 12, riding his bike several miles at night to the studios of WIOT-FM, which was then an "underground" station located in a cornfield in Berkey, Ohio. "I got to pick records, or program, for the late night DJ, Dorian Paster, because I asked if I could and he was kind enough to consent", Meek explained.

He then handled sound and lights for the Catacombs Coffee House in Sylvania, Ohio, where he got to play hundreds of records at very loud volume levels for hundreds of often-stoned teens on a weekly basis, and heard the best of local bands, one of which grew up to be The Bears, touring and recording with noted guitarist Adrian Belew. While still in high school he began producing a weekly quiz show for WSPD-TV, Toledo.

In the mid-1970's, Meek was an import and cut-out buyer for the Peaches Records chain in Columbus, Ohio, and first had the opprtunity to meet dozens of musicians, now totalling in the hundreds. He then moved to Boston for a year before moving to attend the University Of Florida and working at WUFT-TV in Gainesville, Florida.

From there Meek went on to write, edit and produce hundreds of television programs and thousands of program segments for WFTV-TV and WOFL-TV in Orlando, including news, politics, documentaries, music and information. A documentary on HMO's won an award at the New York International Film and Television Festival. Among the people Meek has interviewed are legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, Senator Charles Grassley, Wynton Marsalis, Joan Lunden, Waylon Jennings, George Benson, and dozens of others in the fields of music, politics, sports and media.

Meek has also owned a consulting business since 1987 under the flag of TVCCS in the areas of broad areas media and computers, and is an expert witness certified by the United States Supreme Court in media issues. His work was repeatedly cited by the Court in the landmark case "Turner Broadcasting v. FCC", decided in 1997.

In the year 2000, Meek began writing for The Gainesville Sun, a member of the New York Times regional group. Areas he writes about include high-tech, new media, computers, the Internet, music and others. To date Meek has published in excess of 500 columns and features in magazines and newspapers on computers, the Internet, New Media, music, automobiles and other topics.

Reflections On Media

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Roy Orbison - A Black And White Night

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