Only the Lonely

Last updated
"Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)"
Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel).jpg
scan of record label Monument 45-421
Single by Roy Orbison
from the album Lonely and Blue
B-side "Here Comes That Song Again"
PublishedMay 4, 1960 (1960-05-04) Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc. [1]
ReleasedMay 9, 1960 (1960-05-09) [2]
RecordedMarch 25, 1960 [2]
Studio RCA Victor Studio B, Nashville [2]
Genre
Length2:27
Label Monument 421
Songwriter(s) Roy Orbison, Joe Melson
Producer(s) Fred Foster
Roy Orbison singles chronology
"Up Town"
(1959)		"Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)"
(1960)		"Blue Angel"
(1960)

"Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. [3] 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". [3] 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. [4] "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). [5] According to The Authorized Roy Orbison, "Only the Lonely" was the longest charting single of Orbison's career. [6] 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.

Contents

In 1999, the 1960 recording of "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison on Monument Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [7]

Development

After several years without much success in the music business, and sharing a tiny apartment with his wife and new baby, Roy Orbison had taken to sitting in his car to write songs when, in 1958, his acquaintance Joe Melson tapped on the car window and suggested they collaborate. [8] With Chet Atkins producing, they recorded several songs for RCA Victor, only two of which were deemed worthy of release. [9] Wesley Rose brought Orbison to the attention of producer Fred Foster at Monument Records. There, Orbison would become one of the first recording artists to popularize the "Nashville sound".

In his first session for Monument in Nashville, Orbison recorded "Paper Boy" (a song that RCA Victor had previously refused) while sound engineer Bill Porter experimented with close miking the doo-wop backing singers. Orbison requested a string section to perform in the studio, to augment the Nashville sound. The resulting recording had a "polished, professional sound ... finally allow[ing] Orbison's stylistic inclinations free rein". [10] With this combination, Orbison recorded three new songs, the most notable of which was "Uptown". [11] Impressed with the results, Melson later recalled, "We stood in the studio, listening to the playbacks, and thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world." [12] However, "Uptown" only reached number 72 on the Billboard Top 100, and Orbison set his sights on negotiating a contract with an upscale nightclub somewhere.

In early 1960, Orbison and Joe Melson wrote one more song, "Only the Lonely", which they tried to sell to Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers, who turned it down. [13] (The song was subtitled "Know The Way I Feel" to avoid confusion with another song called "Only The Lonely", which Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen had written for Frank Sinatra in 1958.)

Instead, they recorded "Only the Lonely" themselves at RCA's Nashville studio, [2] using the string section and doo-wop backing singers that had given "Uptown" such an impressive sound. [14] But this time, sound engineer Bill Porter tried a completely new strategy: building the mix from the top down rather than from the bottom up, beginning with close-miked backing vocals in the foreground, and ending with the rhythm section soft in the background. [11] [15] This combination was to become Orbison's trademark sound. [16]

The recording also featured a falsetto note hit by Orbison that showcased a surprisingly powerful voice. According to biographer Alan Clayson, it "came not from his throat but deeper within". [17] The song differed from the typical verse-chorus form structure of popular music of the time, building and falling to a climax, with emotional expression then rare for masculine performance. [18]

The single shot to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number one in the UK, Ireland and Australia. According to Orbison, he and Melson now began constructing songs with Orbison's voice in mind, specifically to showcase its range and power. He told Rolling Stone in 1988, "I liked the sound of [my voice]. I liked making it sing, making the voice ring, and I just kept doing it. And I think that somewhere between the time of "Ooby Dooby" and "Only the Lonely", it kind of turned into a good voice." [19] Instantly Orbison was in high demand. He appeared on American Bandstand and toured the U.S. for three months non-stop with Patsy Cline. When Presley heard "Only the Lonely" for the first time, the song he had turned down, he bought a box of the records to give out to his friends. [20]

Certifications

Certifications for "Psycho"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [21] Silver200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

In 1969, country singer Sonny James recorded the song and had a number-one hit on the Billboard country music charts. [22] In Canada, it reached #1 on the country charts and #93 on the rock charts. [23] [24]

Chris Isaak included an acoustic cover of the song in his 1996 album Baja Sessions . [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Orbison</span> American singer-songwriter (1936–1988)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traveling Wilburys</span> 20th-century English-American musical group

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monument Records</span> American record label

Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Ray Stevens, Kris Kristofferson, Charlie McCoy, Boots Randolph, Jeannie Seely and others.

Fred Luther Foster was an American record producer, songwriter, and music business executive who founded Monument Records and Combine Music. As a record producer he was most closely associated with Roy Orbison, and was also involved in the early careers of Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Foster suggested to Kris Kristofferson the title and theme of "Me and Bobby McGee", which became a hit for Kristofferson, Roger Miller, and Janis Joplin, and for which Foster received a co-writing credit.

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.

Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night is a 1988 Cinemax television special originally broadcast on January 3, 1988, presenting a performance by singer/songwriter Roy Orbison and the TCB Band with special guests including Bruce Springsteen, k.d. lang and others. The special was filmed entirely in black and white. After the broadcast, the concert was released on VHS and Laserdisc, and a live album was released in 1989.

<i>Mystery Girl</i> 1989 studio album by Roy Orbison

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.

<i>The Fastest Guitar Alive</i> 1967 film by Michael D. Moore

The Fastest Guitar Alive is a 1967 American musical comedy Western film, directed by Michael D. Moore with singer Roy Orbison in his only starring role as an actor.

<i>Roy Orbisons Greatest Hits</i> 1962 greatest hits album by Roy Orbison

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.

<i>Early Orbison</i> 1964 compilation album by Roy Orbison

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".

<i>Lonely and Blue</i> 1961 studio album by Roy Orbison

Lonely and Blue is the debut studio album by Roy Orbison, released on Monument Records in January 1961.

<i>In Dreams: The Greatest Hits</i> 1987 studio album by Roy Orbison

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Running Scared (Roy Orbison song)</span> 1961 song by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In Dreams (Roy Orbison song)</span> 1963 song by Roy Orbison

"In Dreams" is a song composed and sung by singer Roy Orbison. An operatic rock ballad of lost love, it was released as a single on Monument Records in February 1963. It became the title track of the album In Dreams, released in July of the same year. The song has a unique through-composed structure in seven movements in which Orbison sings through two octaves, beyond the range of most rock singers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Moore (musician)</span> American session musician (1932–2021)

Bob Loyce Moore was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented recording sessions, backing popular acts such as Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Bob was also the father of multi-instrumentalist R. Stevie Moore, who pioneered lo-fi/DIY music. The New York Times called him "an architect of the Nashville Sound of the 1950s and '60s" in his obituary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Orbison discography</span> Catalogue of published recordings by Roy Orbison

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.

<i>A Black & White Night Live</i> 1989 live album by Roy Orbison

A Black & White Night Live is a Roy Orbison music album made posthumously by Virgin Records from the HBO television special, Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night, which was filmed in 1987 and broadcast in 1988. According to the authorised Roy Orbison biography, the album was released in October 1989 and included the song "Blue Bayou" which because of time constraints had been deleted from the televised broadcast. However, it did not include the songs "Claudette" and "Blue Angel", which were also cut from the original broadcast for the same reason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Orbison's Sun recordings</span> Record label

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.

"Not Alone Any More" is a song by the British–American supergroup the Traveling Wilburys from their 1988 album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. It was sung by Roy Orbison and serves as his main contribution to the album. The song was written mainly by Jeff Lynne, although all five members of the Wilburys are credited as songwriters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Angel (song)</span> 1960 single by Roy Orbison

"Blue Angel" is a song by Roy Orbison, released as a single in August 1960. Released as the follow-up to the international hit "Only the Lonely ", "Blue Angel" peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eleven on the UK's Record Retailer Top 50.

References

  1. ↑ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1960). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1960 Music Jan-June 3D Ser Vol 14 Pt 5. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Weize, Richard (2001). Orbison 1955-1965 (7-CD Deluxe Box Set) (booklet). Bear Family Records. BCD16423. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  3. 1 2 Holden, Stephen (January 1, 1989). "POP VIEW; The Man With the Blue Velvet Voice". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  4. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 443.
  5. ↑ "Orbison's widow sues film makers". BBC News. January 1, 2002. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  6. ↑ Orbison, Roy Jr.; Wesley Orbison; Alex Orbison; Jeff Slate (2017). The authorized Roy Orbison. New York. ISBN   978-1-4789-7654-7. OCLC   1017566749.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ↑ https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#o [ bare URL ]
  8. ↑ Clayson, Alan "Only the Lonely: the Roy Orbison Story" pp. 68–69.
  9. ↑ Zak, Albin "I Don't Sound Like Nobody: Remaking Music in 1950s America" p. 32.
  10. ↑ Zak, pp. 32-33.
  11. 1 2 Lehman, p. 48.
  12. ↑ Clayson, Alan, pp. 70–71.
  13. ↑ Amburn p. 91.
  14. ↑ Zak, p. 35.
  15. ↑ Fremer, Michael (January 1, 2006). Recording Elvis and Roy With Legendary Studio Wiz Bill Porter — Part II Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine , MusicAngle.com. Retrieved on February 8, 2011.
  16. ↑ Zak, p. 35."
  17. ↑ Clayson, p. 77.
  18. ↑ Lehman, Peter "Roy Orbison: Invention Of An Alternative Rock Masculinity" p. 70
  19. ↑ Roy Orbison, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2007). Retrieved on May 21, 2009.
  20. ↑ Amburn, p. 98.
  21. ↑ "British single certifications – Roy Orbison – Only The Lonely". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  22. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 172.
  23. ↑ "RPM Top 40 Country Singles - April 28, 1969" (PDF).
  24. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - February 3, 1969" (PDF).
  25. ↑ "Baja Sessions - Chris Isaak". AllMusic . Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  26. ↑ Rohter, Larry (July 8, 1991). "In Movies, a Formula Is Born: Hitching One's Star to a Song". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  27. ↑ Barker, Derek (2009). Liner notes to Bruce Springsteen's Jukebox: The Songs that Inspired the Man [CD]. Chrome Dreams.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.