981 - Roy Orbison Crying 1961

Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter and musician, well known for his complex compositions and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly / country & western band in high school until he was signed with Sun Records in Memphis.
Orbison was initiated into the second class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, initiated by longtime admirer Bruce Springsteen. The same year he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
"Crying" is a rock and roll ballad written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison. The song contains "a vivid combination of hurtful romantic longing combined with near operatic vocals". It is remarkable in that Roy Orbison begins singing the climactic, final note slightly flat, sliding up by the end of the note to just under the correct pitch. That this was done for effect and this was confirmed in a live performance, Live at Austin City Limits, as well as on the 1987 re-recording from the album In Dreams: The Greatest Hits, on which he sang that note perfectly on key.