Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits

Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Roy Orbison
Released	August 1, 1962
Recorded	1959 – 1962
Studio	RCA Victor Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	Rock and roll, rockabilly
Length	28:38
Label	Monument (M 4009)
Producer	Fred Foster
Roy Orbison chronology
Crying (1962) Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits (1962) In Dreams (1963)
Singles from Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits
"Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" Released: February 10, 1962 [1] "The Crowd" Released: June 1962 [1]

Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits is a Roy Orbison record album from Monument Records recorded at the RCA Studio B in Nashville, ^[2] and released on August 1, 1962. Between the hit songs were also "Love Star" and "Evergreen", ^[2] which were released here for the first time. ^[3]

The single, "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)", debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated February 17, 1962, peaking at number four during its 12-week stay. ^[4] on the Cashbox singles, it reached number nine during its 12-week stay. ^[5] and number two in The U.K during its 14-week stay. ^[6] Another Single "The Crowd", debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated June 2, 1962, peaking at number 26 during its 10-week stay. ^[4] number 21 on the Cashbox during its 11-week stay. ^[5] and number 40 in The UK during its four-week stay. ^[6]

According to the authorised Roy Orbison biography, ^[7] this was Orbison's third album on the Monument label, and his first greatest hits compilation. It was a success remaining in the charts for 140 weeks, ^[3] when it debuted on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the issue dated September 1, 1962, peaking at number 13. ^[8] it entered the UK album charts 5 years later, on September 30, 1967 and it spent its only week on the album chart there at number 40. ^[6] It reached No. 16 on the Cashbox albums chart for it spent 86 weeks. ^[9] It was re-released in 1967 after his departure from Monument Records.

The album received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on March 24, 1966. ^[10] Bear Family included also the album in the 2001 Orbison 1955-1965 box set. ^[11]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[13]
Record Mirror	[14]

Billboard admired the "great individual performances in the dramatic Orbison style throughout" the album. ^[15]

Cash Box stated Orbison's "rich full-bodied voice is perfectly suited to such coinpulling merchandise as 'Only the Lonely', 'Crying' and 'The Crowd'. ^[16]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Crowd"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:19
2.	"Love Star"	Cindy Walker	2:58
3.	"Crying"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:45
4.	"Evergreen"	Joe Tanner	2:43
5.	"Running Scared"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:10
6.	"Mama"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson, Ray Rush	2:58

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Candy Man"	Beverly Ross, Fred Neil	2:48
2.	"Only the Lonely"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:24
3.	"Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)"	Cindy Walker	2:35
4.	"Blue Angel"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:50
5.	"Uptown"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:05
6.	"I'm Hurtin'"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:43

Charts

Chart (1962)	Peak position
US Top LPs (Billboard) [8]	13
US Cashbox [9]	16
UK Albums Chart [6]	40

Singles

Year	Title	US Hot 100 [4]	US Cashbox [5]	UK singles [6]
1962	"Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)"	4	9	4
	"The Crowd"	26	21	40

Billboard & UK singles chart positions for previously Singles

Song	US chart debut	Hot 100 [4]	U.S. Cashbox [5]	UK chart debut	UK singles chart [6]
"Uptown"	January 18, 1960	72	70	–	–
"Only the Lonely"	June 6, 1960	2	2	August 3, 1960	3
"Blue Angel"	September 1, 1960	9	13	November 2, 1960	11
"I'm Hurtin'	December 12, 1960	27	28	–	–
"Running Scared"	April 10, 1961	1	1	May 31, 1961	9
"Crying"	August 14, 1961	2	1	September 27, 1961	25
"Candy Man"	August 7, 1961	25	34	–	–

References

Citations

1. Amburn (1990), p. 255.
2. Orbison (2017).
3. Orbison (2017), p. 89.
4. Whitburn (2003), p. 524.
5. Downey (1994), p. 254.
6. "ROY ORBISON". Official Charts. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
7. Orbison (2017), p. 247.
8. Whitburn (1996), p. 580.
9. Hoffmann (1988), p. 278.
10. "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved May 20, 2024. Type Roy Orbison in the Search box and press Enter.
11. "Orbison 1955-1965". AllMusic. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
12. "Roy Orbison - Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits: Ratings & Review". AllMusic . Retrieved November 20, 2024.
13. Larkin (2007), p. 1062.
14. Joplin, Norman; Peter, Jones (September 16, 1967). "new albums reviewed by Norman Joplin and Peter Jones new albums reviewed by Norman Joplin: U.S album goodies from Nancy, Joe Tex, Peter, Paul and Mary, the big O', Dean Martin and Aretha". Record Mirror . No. 340. p. 8.
15. "Late Pop Spotlight: Albums". Billboard . Vol. 74, no. 30. July 28, 1962. p. 6.
16. "Cashbox Album Popular Pick of The Week Reviews: Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits". Cash Box . Vol. 23, no. 45. August 4, 1962. p. 29.

Bibliography

• Orbison, Roy Jr. (2017). The Authorized Roy Orbison. Orbison, Wesley; Orbison, Alex; Slate, Jeff (2nd ed.). New York: Center Street. ISBN   9781478976547. OCLC   1017566749.
• Whitburn, Joel (1996). Joel Whitburn's top pop albums : 1955-1996 : compiled from Billboard magazine's pop album charts, 1955-1996. Whitburn (4th ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wis: Record Research. ISBN   9780898201178. OCLC   97153280.
• Whitburn, Joel (2003). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: 1955-2002. Whitburn. Menomonee Falls, Wis: Record Research. ISBN   0898-2-0155-1. OCLC   97153280.
• Hoffmann, Frank W (1988). The Cash box album charts, 1955-1974. Hoffmann. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press. ISBN   0810820056. OCLC   87012716.
• Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Larkin. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN   9781846098567.
• Downey, Pat (1994). Cash box pop singles charts, 1950-1993. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. ISBN   1-56308-316-7.
• Amburn, Ellis. (1990). Dark star: The Roy Orbison Story. New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group. ISBN   9-780818-405181.