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 strength. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.
Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits is a Roy Orbison record album from Monument Records recorded at the RCA Studio B in Nashville and released in 1962. Between the hit songs were also "Love Star" and "Evergreen" which were released here for the first time. "Dream Baby" had recently been a No. 4 hit in the United States and No. 2 in England.
In Dreams is the fourth LP record by Roy Orbison with Monument Records recorded at the RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee and released in 1963. It is named after the hit 45rpm single "In Dreams."
Roy Orbison at the Rock House is the first album by Roy Orbison on the Sun Records label, released in 1961 at a time when Orbison had already moved to the Monument label. Sun Records owner Sam Phillips had a collection of songs Orbison had recorded at Sun during 1956–1958. Phillips capitalized on the national recognition Orbison had achieved at Monument through three major hit singles in 1960 and 1961 that had gone to the top of the Billboard charts.
Early Orbison is an album recorded by Roy Orbison on the Monument Records label at the RCA Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, and released in 1964. Essentially a compilation of songs from his first two Monument albums, it is most noteworthy for containing "Pretty One", the "B" side of Orbison's second Monument single, "Uptown". Many Orbison fans believe "Pretty One" would have been his first major hit had it been promoted as an "A" side. The second song of interest on this album is "Come Back to Me My Love" which Fred Foster, owner of Monument Records and producer of all of Orbison's earliest hits, says was the song which inspired production of the hit arrangement that later became "Only the Lonely".
Orbisongs is a compilation LP released by Monument Records in 1965 after Roy Orbison had left the label and joined MGM. It features tracks such as the stereo version of "Oh, Pretty Woman", a different version of "Dance", and the unreleased "I Get So Sentimental."
There Is Only One Roy Orbison is the seventh album recorded by Roy Orbison, and his first for MGM Records, released in July 1965. It features his studio recording of "Claudette", an Orbison-penned song which had become a hit for The Everly Brothers in 1958. Ironically, at the time he recorded the song in 1965, he had divorced his wife Claudette, who had inspired the lyrics. Orbison later re-recorded the song for In Dreams: The Greatest Hits in 1985. The single taken from the album was "Ride Away", which reached no. 25 in the US charts, no. 12 in Australia and no. 34 in the UK. Cash Box described "Ride Away" as a "rhythmic teen-angled ode about a somewhat ego-oriented lad who cuts-out on romance."
Cry Softly Lonely One is the twelfth music album recorded by Roy Orbison, and his sixth for MGM Records. The album was released in October 1967 and included two singles: "Communication Breakdown" and the title tune, both of which were minor hits in the States early that year. "Communication Breakdown" did much better in Australia, where it reached #9 in February. According to the official Roy Orbison biography, the London Records release of this album featured the extra track "Just One Time".
The Big O is the fifteenth music album recorded by Roy Orbison, and according to the authorised Roy Orbison biography, his second for London Records in the United Kingdom. The music and backing vocals were provided by English group, the Art Movement on all tracks except for "Penny Arcade", which was a studio recording and was released as a single in 1969, peaking at No. 27 in the UK and was Orbison's last UK chart success during his lifetime. "Penny Arcade" was also his biggest hit in Australia, spending four weeks at number one around Christmas 1969. The second single, "Break My Mind", was Orbison's last Australian chart success during his lifetime, reaching #24 in March 1970. The album was released in Europe in early 1970.
In Dreams: The Greatest Hits is a two-record album set by Roy Orbison songs released in 1987 on Virgin Records. It was produced by Orbison and Mike Utley, except for the song "In Dreams", produced by Orbison with T-Bone Burnett and film director David Lynch. All songs are re-recordings by Orbison from 1986, except "In Dreams" from April 1987.
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.
Regeneration is an album by the American musician Roy Orbison, released in November 1976. It marked his return to Monument Records, where he had launched his greatest successes more than fifteen years earlier. It was produced by Fred Foster.
"Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Orbison's recording of the song, produced by Fred Foster for Monument Records, was the first major hit for the singer. It was described by The New York Times as expressing "a clenched, driven urgency". Released as a 45 rpm single by Monument Records in May 1960, "Only the Lonely" went to No. 2 on the United States Billboard pop music charts on 25 July 1960 (blocked by Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry") and No. 14 on the Billboard R&B charts. "Only the Lonely" reached number one in the United Kingdom, a position it achieved on 20 October 1960, staying there for two weeks (out of a total of 24 weeks spent on the UK singles chart from 28 July 1960). According to The Authorized Roy Orbison, "Only the Lonely" was the longest charting single of Orbison's career. Personnel on the original recording included Orbison's drummer Larry Parks, plus Nashville A-Team regulars Floyd Cramer on piano, Bob Moore on bass, and Hank Garland and Harold Bradley on guitars, Joe Melson and the Anita Kerr Singers on backing vocals. Drummer Buddy Harman played on the rest of the songs on the session.
Allen Richard "Dick" Penner is an American retired professor of English, who, while in college in 1955, co-composed, with Wade Lee Moore, "Ooby Dooby", which was recorded and released by Wade Moore and Rod Barkley. The song was later given away and became a rockabilly hit for Roy Orbison. Penner also had been a singer, guitar player, and recording artist.
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.
Je–Wel, latterly renamed Jewel Records, was an independent American record label founded in Odessa, Texas, in 1955 by Weldon Rogers (1927–2004), himself a singer, and Chester Calvin Oliver (1907–2000). Je–Wel is known for having engaged, recorded, and produced fledgling artists from West Texas at the dawn of rock and roll in the 1950s.
"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.
"Pretty Paper" is a song written by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson in 1963. After being signed to Monument Records, Nelson played the song for producer Fred Foster. Foster pitched the song to Roy Orbison, who turned it into a hit. Nelson later recorded his own version of the song in November 1964.
The Essential Roy Orbison is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Roy Orbison, released on March 28, 2006. It is part of Sony BMG's Essential series of compilation albums and includes tracks of Orbison's biggest hits from 1956 to 1992.
"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.
