Roy Orbison -Love Hurts, BBC iPlayer

Sorry Beatles I spelt your name wrong. ?

Watched it, and it was so good. Thanks again Jane.

I have just watched this and feel so sorry for Roy's son, Wesley, who seems to have missed out all round. When Roy married his 2nd wife, Barbara, why on earth didn't they take Wesley too so that he could grow up with his half-brothers?

You could see the "left out child" in him still, even at his age.

That's what I thought Sparklefizz. At one point Roy said Wesley reminded him too much of his mother (the wife that was killed in the motorbike accident). No excuse to set the child aside like that though.

I quite agree "Gonegirl" about no excuse to set him aside, but also I disagree with Roy's opinion that Wesley looked like his mother because I think he's the spitting image of Roy himself.

Well yes! He is! More than the later ones. Perhaps he brought back horrific feelings about the fire. I think Roy wanted to distance himself from what went before. Still unfair on his child though.

Very unfair on poor Wesley.
On a more cheerful note, I loved Baby Roy at the end in his Orbison T shirt strumming the guitar. What a sweetie.

Yes. And he really seemed to know what he was doing. ?

Thank you for recommending this.I would never have noticed it.It was wonderful and to an extent I think I agree about Wesley ,but how lovely to see all the brothers together at the end.And Roy had gone specifically to see Wes and his mother when he died,and did seem a very loving man so although it seems a strange arrangement I think he was most certainly loved by his father.Wesley explained it that to an extent his grandparents felt huge guilt and felt very protective towards him after the fire.And I guess with all the non touring maybe Roy felt it gave him a sort of stability to live with them ,but close by to his house. A lot of the vulnerability in him must have become from losing his two brothers so horrifically.
But it was so good to hear all those songs again.I think I will watch it again !

Washerwoman Wonderful songs! I am going to watch it again too.

I agree with what you have all said about the situation with Wesley. I felt so bad for him when he spoke about when Roy, Barbara and the two younger boys moved to a California but he stayed behind in Nashville. with his grandparents. Perhaps I am being unfair but I did wonder if Barbara was behind the arrangement in some way. She was very young of course but it did seem very insensitive. OK the grandparents didn’t want to be parted from him and he felt he should be with them bless him. but surely they could have built a bigger house and all lived together, money was no object and that’s what I would have done. I felt a bit uneasy when she waved the plans of the new house and kept saying, “my house, my house”.

However, unlike many brothers in the music business, they have a wonderful relationship which is heartwarming to see. I tried to find out more about Wesley, he has some music on You Tube and sounds very like Roy. I hope he has a loving family, all I can find is a picture of him with his daughter.

Regarding the music my favourite is A Love So Beautiful, and I also like Running Scared and only The Lonely but of course they are all wonderful.

Jane43 Yes, I wondered if Barbara didn't want Wesley there. I thought it was heartbreaking when Wesley said that his Dad and Barbara lived in a house nearby but it was over the hill so he couldn't see it! As you say, money was no object. And it was even more heartbreaking when he was left behind when they moved to California. Poor Wesley seemed grateful for "crumbs" when he actually got some attention.

And in one of the interviews, Barbara mentioned Wesley as "our other kid". I really didn't like that.

I must admit that the cynic in me wondered if Barbara had married Roy for who he was. She claimed to have never heard of him, which Roy made much of, but I think that was unlikely at that time. He gave her an amazing lifestyle, but of course a great deal of time he wasn't there and was on the road touring.

I like "Running Scared" too. The lyrics are so poignant. Roy wasn't afraid to write from the underdog's viewpoint, to write what many guys might be thinking but were afraid to say.

I agree that it was great to see the 3 brothers together. Alex and Roy Jr seemed to realise that they were the lucky ones and have drawn Wesley into "the fold" so to speak.

I must watch it again

going to watch this tonight ..

Roy had lost his wife and two sons, the grandparents had lost two grandchildren, perhaps they couldn’t part with the third grandchild.

They were putting their own feelings first, then, Annie?

Possibly Sparkle possibly they thought they were doing the right thing for their grandson. When it comes to grief an shock I will not judge the actions of those struggling with these emotions.

Just watched it on iplayer (didn't want to wait until tonight)
as OP says, have your tissues ready. What lovely lads they all are, and yes little baby Roy bless him.

I cried.
Didn’t think I would, but well.... ???

Thank you all for your insightful comments. Anniebach I’m sure you are correct in that the grandparents’ grief and guilt resulted in them wanting to stay close to Wesley but in my view that could have happened if they had all lived together in an even bigger house. It was heartbreaking that it was close but Wesley couldn’t see the other house because of a hill - so near and yet so far. The most amazing thing in this story is that all three boys adored their father, love each other and, as so often is the case, sibling rivalry has not reared its ugly head.

Thanks Jane for this recommendation, I loved it, and probably would never have found it but for you. I initially searched Roy Orbison and 2 programmes came up, not this one. Then I add Love, and there it was.

I've seen other RO programmes before, but this was different. Seeing his son Wes talking was so sad (and he is the image of his Dad) . He was only 1 when his Mum died, then 3 years old when he lost his 2 brothers in the fire.

So then he was left in a temporary motel for 6 months with his Grandparents whilst RO went touring, and he never went back to live with his Dad. I really felt for him, especially when he asked his Dad about his Mum, and didn't get much information.

Then eventually Roy got a new wife and family, and Wes still seemed to be left out. We don't know all the story of course, but I hope he had a happy life eventually.

Roy did seem a very loving Dad when he was there. It was great to see him joking with his sons and being normal.