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Tribute to the Big "O",
renown impersonator
to sing Saturday

12/04/2003

There are not a lot of Roy Orbison imitators out in the world for several reasons, but the main stumbling block is probably that Orbison's high, lonesome tenor is hard for most singers to replicate faithfully.

But Brian McCullough discovered - albeit accidentally - that his voice could climb the soaring heights that Orbison achieved. Now he has his own tribute show dedicated to the late crooner of songs such as "Oh, Pretty Woman!" and "Crying."

McCullough will bring a special version of his Orbison tribute act to the Waterfront in Holyoke on Saturday at 8 p.m.

"Not many people do Roy. There are maybe 12 or 13 of us worldwide, compared to about 95 million Elvises," McCullough said with a laugh.

Yet McCullough, who has now taken his show everywhere from Atlantic City and Canada to the Caribbean, probably wouldn't have ventured into doing the tribute if not for a chance occurrence 11 years ago.

"It was a bizarre twist of fate," McCullough said. "I went to a karaoke night at the suggestion of a friend, and someone said that I sounded like Roy. Then I started winning karaoke contests and it went from there."

The odd thing is that before starting down this road, McCullough wasn't a huge Orbison fan.

"I liked his songs and knew the big hits, but doing this act has made me really appreciate the man, and some of the more obscure songs," he said. "I've developed a real appreciation for him."

Saturday's show will be special for Orbison fans, as the date marks the 15th anniversary of the singers untimely demise. Orbison was only 52 when he died in 1988.

McCullough said his show is loosely based on the "Black and White Night" film about Orbison. That concert, featuring an all-star band of musicians such as Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits, was originally broadcast on Showtime in 1987. Thus Saturday's show is called "ORBISONIA: A Black and White Night."

"We try to create what he may have done if he had survived after 1988," McCullough said.

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