An undated Clovis tape box contains one version of 'A True Love Goodbye' with the superb 'Cat Called Domino' which has been heavily bootlegged in the past decade and is surely Roy's best ever rocker.
 
    An Alternative 'Cat Called Domino' exists but falls apart at one point in the instrumental break. It is otherwise superior to the bootlegged Clovis version.
    The Bootleg album 'Roy Orbison - Collectors Edition' (Encore 3688) claims to use 'A True Love Goodbye' and 'An Empty Cup' from an acetate dated August 8th 1957. This is improbable as Norman Petty was with The Crickets in New York on that date. I saw these two titles on an undated Clovis tape box; both have The Roses on backing vocals.
    John Pickering has admitted that Petty told The Picks to get as close to The Roses' sound as possible when they overdubbed The Crickets' cover version of 'An Empty Cup'.

    Peanuts Wilson recorded 'Paper Boy' in Clovis some six months before Orbison recorded the version which was released on Monument with credit to Roy as sole composer.
    'I Was A Fool' was logged on an undated Nor-Va-Jak publishing contract as an Orbison/Petty composition. I found no trace of any Clovis recording but this is presumably the song Ken Cook and Roy cut in Memphis for Phillips International (3534) on Sept 4th 1958 and which credited only RoyOrbison as composer. According to Sun Compiler 'Ding Dong', the version used on the Charly -Sun Lp ' Rockabilly Tunes' (1026) is an alternate, cut in the period March 29th -April 2nd 1957. This is three weeks before Easter (Good Friday was April 19th 1957) when Robert Linville recalls going to Clovis with Roy.

The above mentioned Peanuts Wilson tracks 'I've Had It', 'My Heartbeat' and 'Paper Boy', together with the Wilson composition 'You've Got Everything', are scheduled to get their long  overdue issue on an Ace CD of Norman Pettyproduced rockers planned for release in early 1999.

    The issued versions of  'Cast Iron Arm' and 'You've got Love' will also be on the CD.

Perhaps Barbara Orbison will eventually get together with the Petty Estate to allow enthusiasts to hear some of Roy Orbison's best ever recordings.

    The information on Chester and Acia Oliver's musical activities is based on an article written for the now defunct 'Roll St. Journal' Issue 11 (Spring 1985). The tape box and publishing contract details were catalogued by Jerry MacNeish and myself when we were in Clovis as guests of Vi Petty.
    Web did not have the opportunity of checking every tape in the Petty empire and it is very possible that other unissued recordings by Roy Orbison (and Buddy Holly) are amongst the hundreds of unsorted tapes which have probably not been checked since Jerry and I were last there.

Mick Perry's excellent liner notes to The Teen Kings' Rollercoaster CD 'Are You Ready?' (RCCD 3012) give a very comprehensive account  of Roy Orbison's early Career.
 

Article taken from Now Dig This December 1998 Issue 189
                        
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