Editing Roy Orbison (section)

===1949–1955: Wink Westerners===
In 1949, Orbison (then 13 years old) formed the band "Wink Westerners"<ref name=offbio/> with school friends Billy Pat Ellis on drums, Slob Evans on bass fiddle, Richard West on piano, and James Morrow on electric mandolin.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p16}} They played country and western swing standards and [[Glenn Miller]] jazz swing songs at local [[honky-tonk]] bars, and had a weekly morning radio show on [[KERB (AM)|KERB]] in [[Kermit, Texas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royorbison.com/us/historymaker |title=History Maker |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401175007/http://www.royorbison.com/us/historymaker |archive-date=April 1, 2012 |website=The Official Roy Orbison Site |access-date=April 12, 2012}}</ref> Their first performance was at a school assembly in 1953.<ref name=offbio/> They were offered $400 to play at a dance, and Orbison realized that he could make a living in music.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p23}} Orbison was also part of a [[marching band]] and singing [[Octet (music)|octet]].<ref name=offbio/> At the age of 15, Orbison decided that instead of becoming a guitar player, he would use the guitar as an accompaniment to his singing.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p26}}

In 1953, the Wink Westerners entered a talent contest on [[KMID-TV]] in [[Midland, Texas]].{{sfnp|Slate, Orbison et al.|2017}} The group won the contest, resulting in a 30-minute spot on a local television show.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p27}} After the show, Orbison asked the owner of the company sponsoring the show if he could sponsor the group for ongoing shows, which led to the Wink Westerners playing weekly shows on KMID-TV on Friday nights and on Odessa television station [[KOSA-TV]] on Saturday nights.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p28}}{{sfnp|Slate, Orbison et al.|2017}} Around this time, Orbison began dyeing his hair (naturally a "dishwater grey color") to jet black.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p28}}

After graduating from high school in 1954, Orbison enrolled at [[University of North Texas|North Texas State College]] in [[Denton, Texas|Denton]]. His plan was to study geology so he could secure work in the oil fields if music did not pay; however, he became bored with the course in its first year, and switched to history and English.<ref name=offbio/> Orbison preferred to play music with fellow students Billy Pat Ellis, [[Dick Penner]], and Wade Moore.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p29-30}} Penner and Moore had written a simple, catchy rockabilly song, "Ooby Dooby", which impressed Orbison, and he started looking into how he could make a recording of it.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p30}} Orbison continued performing with the Wink Westerners after his first year.{{sfnp|Slate, Orbison et al.|2017}} He then heard that his schoolmate [[Pat Boone]] had signed a record deal, and it further strengthened his resolve to become a professional musician.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p30}} At a New Year's Eve dance in 1954, the Wink Westerners had mostly played country and western swing music throughout the night, but ended the night by playing [[Bill Haley & the Comets]]’ hit song "[[Shake, Rattle and Roll]]" repeatedly, which became the catalyst for the band switching to [[rock and roll]] music.<ref name="Amburn"/>{{refpage|p31}} Also, Orbison had seen [[Elvis Presley]] perform back during his days at North Texas State College in 1954, and was impressed by the shocking gyrations that Elvis exhibited on stage.{{efn|Orbison later said that he "couldn't overemphasize how shocking" Presley looked and seemed to him that night.<ref>Clayson, Alan, pp. 26–27.</ref>}}