King of Hearts | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 20, 1992 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1985 ("Coming Home"), 1987–1992 | |||
Genre | Rock, soft rock, country | |||
Length | 41:21 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | Various | |||
Roy Orbison chronology | ||||
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Singles from King of Hearts | ||||
|
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
King of Hearts is a posthumous album of Roy Orbison songs put together from master sessions and demos by Jeff Lynne for Virgin Records, and Orbison's 23rd album overall. According to the authorized Roy Orbison biography, [6] the collection was originally released in October 1992 on CD, music cassette, and LP.
Roy Orbison died on December 6, 1988, aged 52, from a heart attack in the middle of his career revival. After Orbison's death, Mystery Girl was released. Several songs had been recorded during the sessions, and there was enough material for a new album. Some songs on this album were recorded as demos. Several individuals produced the recordings, including Lynne. They were: Don Was, David Was, Pete Anderson, Robbie Robertson, Will Jennings, David Briggs, Chips Moman, Guy Roche, Albert Hammond and Diane Warren.[ citation needed ]
Several songs had been previously released.
"I Drove All Night" was another hit single from the album.[ citation needed ]
Clarence Clemons performed saxophone on "We'll Take the Night".[ citation needed ]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "You're the One" |
| T-Bone Burnett | 2:59 |
2. | "Heartbreak Radio" | Jeff Lynne | 2:57 | |
3. | "We'll Take the Night" |
| Don Was | 4:55 |
4. | "Crying" (duet with k.d. lang) |
|
| 3:48 |
5. | "After the Love Has Gone" |
| Don Was | 4:38 |
6. | "Love in Time" |
| Robbie Robertson | 5:31 |
7. | "I Drove All Night" | Jeff Lynne | 3:46 | |
8. | "Wild Hearts Run Out of Time" |
|
| 4:10 |
9. | "Coming Home" |
| Chips Moman | 4:00 |
10. | "Careless Heart" (original demo) |
|
| 5:15 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Life Fades Away" |
| Rick Rubin |
Chart (1992) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [8] | 25 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [9] | 18 |
UK Albums (OCC) [10] | 23 |
US Billboard 200 [11] | 179 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [12] | Gold | 35,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Jeffrey Lynne is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and currently the sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970, and as a songwriter has written all of the band's music past 1972, including the hits "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down", and "Hold On Tight".
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's music is mostly in the rock music genre and his most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. He was nicknamed "The Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O". Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers projected machismo. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.
Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup active from 1988 to 1991 consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They were a roots rock band and described as "perhaps the biggest supergroup of all time".
"I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and originally intended for Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until 1992. Cyndi Lauper recorded the song and released it as a single for her A Night to Remember album. Her version became a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1989 and was also her final top 40 hit on the American pop charts. Lauper still regularly performs the song in her live concerts. The song has also been covered by Canadian singer Celine Dion, whose version topped the Canadian Singles Chart and reached number 7 on the US Adult Contemporary chart in 2003.
Joe Melson is an American singer and a BMI Award-winning songwriter best known for his collaborations with Roy Orbison, including "Only the Lonely" and "Crying", which are both in the Grammy Hall of Fame and have both been included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Melson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
Balance of Power is the eleventh studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in 1986. It is the final album by the band to feature co-founder Bev Bevan on drums, as well as the last album to feature a significant contribution from keyboardist Richard Tandy.
Mystery Girl is the twenty-second album by American singer Roy Orbison. It was his last album to be recorded during his lifetime, as he completed the album in November 1988, a month before his death at the age of 52, and it was released posthumously by Virgin Records on January 31, 1989. It includes the hit singles "You Got It", which was co-written by Orbison and his Traveling Wilburys bandmates Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty, and "She's a Mystery to Me", written by Bono and The Edge. The album was a critical and commercial success; it peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, the highest position Orbison had achieved on that chart, and number 2 on the UK Albums Chart.
The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 is the debut studio album by the English-American supergroup Traveling Wilburys, comprising George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. It was released in October 1988 to commercial success and critical acclaim. Although Harrison had long planned to start such a band, the project came about through happenstance. Harrison was in Los Angeles and in need of a B-side for a single from his album Cloud Nine, which resulted in the participants collaborating informally on the song "Handle with Care" at Dylan's home.
I'm Still in Love with You is the nineteenth album by Roy Orbison, recorded for Mercury Records and according to the authorised biography of Roy Orbison, released in September 1975.
"Crying" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson for Orbison's third studio album of the same name (1962). Released in 1961, it was a number 2 hit in the US for Orbison and was covered in 1978 by Don McLean, whose version went to number 1 in the UK in 1980.
"Running Scared" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison. An operatic rock ballad, the recording of the song was overseen by audio engineer Bill Porter and released as a 45 rpm single by Monument Records in March 1961 and went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Running Scared" also reached No.9 in the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies in the US alone. The song was included on Orbison's 1962 album Crying as the final track on the album.
Larry Wayne Gatlin is an American country and Southern gospel singer-songwriter. As part of the Gatlin Brothers trio that included his younger brothers Steve and Rudy, he achieved considerable success within the country music genre, performing on 33 top 40 country singles, a total inclusive of his recordings as a solo artist and with the group.
Roy Orbison was an American singer-songwriter who found the most success in the early rock and roll era from 1956 to 1964. He later enjoyed a resurgence in the late 1980s with chart success as a member of the Traveling Wilburys and with his Mystery Girl album, which included the posthumous hit single "You Got It". At the height of his popularity, 22 of Orbison's songs placed on the US Billboard Top 40 chart, and six peaked in the top five, including two number-one hits. In the UK, Orbison scored ten top-10 hits between 1960 and 1966, including three number-one singles.
"You Got It" is a song from American singer Roy Orbison's 22nd studio album, Mystery Girl (1989). The song was released posthumously on January 3, 1989, after Orbison's death from a heart attack on December 6, 1988. The song was issued with "The Only One" as the B-side and was later released with "Crying". The single reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, returning Orbison to the top 10 for the first time in 25 years. "You Got It" also reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and entered the top five in 10 other countries. Although it is an Orbison solo single, Orbison's fellow Traveling Wilburys bandmates Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne co-wrote the song and played instruments on the record.
Francis John Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter and actor.
Best of Chris Isaak is a greatest hits album by Chris Isaak released on May 9, 2006 on the Reprise/Warner Bros. Records label. The 18 song collection has three new tracks: "King Without a Castle", "Let's Have a Party" and a cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me".
Eyes That See in the Dark is the fifteenth studio album by American country singer Kenny Rogers, released by RCA Records in August 1983.
Roy Orbison's Sun recordings were made by Orbison at Sun Studio with producer Sam Phillips. Sun Records was established in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, and during an eight-year period Phillips recorded such artists as Roy Orbison, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Rufus Thomas, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Harold Jenkins, and Charlie Rich. The musicians signed at Sun Records made music that laid the foundation of rock and roll in the 20th century.
"California Blue" is a song written by Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty. According to The Authorized Roy Orbison, Orbison recorded the song in April 1988 at Mike Campbell's garage in Los Angeles. "California Blue" was released as a single from Orbison's 22nd studio album, Mystery Girl, in July 1989, reaching the top 40 in Belgium, Ireland, and West Germany.
"Candy Man" is a song by Roy Orbison, released as the B-side to his international hit "Crying" in July 1961. It was later covered by British beat group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, becoming a top-ten hit in the UK.