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.
Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer and songwriter who has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong" and in 1987 for the Bill Medley duet "(I've Had) The Time of My Life". Warnes also collaborated closely with Leonard Cohen.
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.
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."
Felice Bryant and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant were an American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They were best known for songs such as "Rocky Top," "We Could", "Love Hurts", and numerous hits by the Everly Brothers, including "All I Have to Do Is Dream", "Bye Bye Love", and "Wake Up Little Susie".
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.
The Classic Roy Orbison is the ninth studio album recorded by Roy Orbison, and his third on the MGM Records label, released in July 1966. The single taken from it, "Twinkle Toes", would be Orbison's last US top-forty single during his lifetime, scraping in at #39. It also reached #24 in Australia and #29 in the UK.
Roy Orbison Sings is the sixteenth album recorded by Roy Orbison and the ninth for MGM Records, released in May 1972. Around this time, Orbison's hit singles had well and truly dried up, but this album is said to be one of his finest.
Lonely and Blue is the debut studio album by Roy Orbison, released on Monument Records in January 1961.
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 #27 in the UK and would be 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.
The Great Songs of Roy Orbison is an album recorded by Roy Orbison for MGM Records that was released in the United States in February 1970.
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, it was released in September 1975.
"Mean Woman Blues" is a rock and roll song written by Claude Demetrius. Elvis Presley recorded it for the soundtrack of the 1957 film, Loving You. In an album review for AllMusic, Bruce Eder described it as "some powerful rock & roll ... which could almost have passed for one of his Sun tracks".
"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.
"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.
David's Album is the tenth studio album by Joan Baez, recorded in Nashville and released in 1969. It peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
A Salty Dog is the third studio album by English rock band Procol Harum, released in 1969 by record labels Regal Zonophone and A&M.
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.
Winds of Change is the debut album by British-American band Eric Burdon & the Animals, released in October 1967 by MGM Records. The album was recorded following the 1966 dissolution of the original group the Animals and singer Eric Burdon's move to San Francisco, where he and drummer Barry Jenkins formed the new Animals lineup with musicians Vic Briggs, Danny McCulloch and John Weider. The album was produced by Tom Wilson and arranged by Briggs in sessions that spanned several months.
The Many Moods of Wanda Jackson is a studio album by American recording artist Wanda Jackson. It was released in December 1968 via Capitol Records and contained 11 tracks. The project was Jackson's thirteenth studio album in her career and spawned two singles. Both "I Wish I Was Your Friend" and "If I Had a Hammer" reached charting positions on the American country chart. The album itself also reached charting positions in the United States.
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