Joe Melson
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Joe Melson (born May 1935) is an American
singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
and a BMI Award-winning
songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
.


Life and career

Joe Melson was born in Bonham, Fannin County,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, United States. He was reared on a farm until he was sixteen. He attended
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in
Gore, Oklahoma Gore is a town in western Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 977 at the 2010 census, an increase of 15 percent over the figure of 850 recorde ...
, and in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, before he returned to Texas to study at the two-year
Odessa College Odessa College is a public junior college in Odessa, Texas. The college serves the people of Ector County and the Permian Basin. It was established in 1946 and enrolle8,024 studentsin Fall 2021 and 7,679 students in Spring 2022 in its universi ...
in
Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, the seat of
Ector County Ector County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In the 2020 census, its population was 165,171. Its county seat is Odessa. The county was founded in 1887 and organized in 1891. It is named for Mathew Ector, a Confederate genera ...
. He studied and played music as a teenager and fronted a
rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...
band called the Cavaliers. Beginning in 1959, first at his home in
Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...
, and then in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, Melson teamed up with a
Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
who had just joined Monument 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 writing
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
songs. Melson recognized the potential in Orbison's voice, encouraging the singer to explore its power through their first collaboration, "
Only the Lonely "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Orbison's recording of the song, produced by Fred Foster for Monument Records, was the first major hit for the singer. It was described by ''The Ne ...
." What resulted on March 25, 1960, was the first
operatic Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...
rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cu ...
in the history of
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
. The song went to No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the United States, and to No. 1 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, 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 friend
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
to record " It's Now or Never," based on the Neapolitan art song "
'O Sole Mio "O sole mio" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title transl ...
." Melson and Orbison followed up with similar sounds such as the dramatic " Running Scared" that went to No. 1 in the US.


Melson and Orbison

The result of their collaborative efforts produced such songs as: *"Uptown" (1960) *"
Only the Lonely "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Orbison's recording of the song, produced by Fred Foster for Monument Records, was the first major hit for the singer. It was described by ''The Ne ...
" (1960) *"Blue Angel" (1960) *"I'm Hurtin'" (1961) *" Running Scared" (1961) *"
Crying Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secretom ...
" (1961) *"The Crowd" (1962) *"The Actress" (1962) *"Gigolette" (1962) *"
Blue Bayou "Blue Bayou" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. It was originally sung and recorded by Orbison, who had an international hit with his version in 1963. It later became Linda Ronstadt's signature song, with which she scored a Top 5 h ...
" (1963) *"Blue Avenue" (1961) *"Lana" (1962) *"Harlem Woman" (1972) "Lana" was also recorded by Virgil Johnson's
the Velvets The Velvets were an United States, American doo-wop group from Odessa, Texas, United States. They were formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, a high-school English language, English teacher, with four of his students. Roy Orbison heard the group and ...
, based in Odessa. Orbison released the song on his second Monument album, ''
Crying Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secretom ...
''. Between 1960 and 1963, Melson recorded several
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
s of his own (the best known being "Hey Mister Cupid") for
Hickory Records Hickory Records is an American record label founded in 1954 by Acuff-Rose Music, which operated the label up to 1979. Sony Music Publishing (then Sony/ATV) revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, and functioning as an independe ...
and also through
Acuff-Rose Music Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other music publishing firms ...
, wrote songs for some of that label's other artists including Dan Folger. He then recorded a few songs for EMP Records in 1964 and 1965 that achieved limited success. His last hit collaboration with Orbison came in 1963 with the writing of "
Blue Bayou "Blue Bayou" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. It was originally sung and recorded by Orbison, who had an international hit with his version in 1963. It later became Linda Ronstadt's signature song, with which she scored a Top 5 h ...
," although some of their cooperative efforts would be recorded in later years. The two got together again between 1971 and 1975, but while the venture did not yield the commercial success their collaboration once had, it brought such songs as "Harlem Woman". 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 in
Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...
. In August 2014, Melson released a triple-A sided single "Last Goodbye" / "Fields of Gold" / "Girl Back on Blue Bayou" with Australian artist
Damien Leith Damien Leo Leith (born 18 January 1976, in Dublin) is an Irish-Australian singer–songwriter. He was the winner of the Network Ten music contest ''Australian Idol 2006''. Since winning the title, Leith has released nine studio albums, four of wh ...
.


References


External links


Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melson, Joe 1935 births Living people American male singers American country songwriters American male songwriters American rockabilly musicians People from Bonham, Texas People from Midland, Texas People from Gore, Oklahoma Roy Orbison Songwriters from Texas