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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Roy Orbison's Many Moods, also known as The Many Moods of Roy Orbison, is the thirteenth album recorded by Roy Orbison, and his seventh for MGM Records, released in May 1969. It included two singles, both of which were minor hits in the UK: "Heartache" at number 44, and "Walk On" at number 39.
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."
Lonely and Blue is the debut studio album by Roy Orbison, released on Monument Records in January 1961.
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".
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.
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.
"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.
"Go Go Go (Down the Line)" (often credited as "Down the Line") is a song by Roy Orbison, released in 1956. According to the authorised biography of Roy Orbison, this was the B-side to Orbison's first Sun Records release "Ooby Dooby". This was the first song written by Orbison.
"Tryin' to Get to You" is a song written by R&B singer songwriters Rose Marie McCoy and Charles Singleton. It was originally recorded by the Washington DC vocal group The Eagles in 1954 and released in mid-1954 on Mercury Records 70391. The format of the title on The Eagles’ record was “Tryin’ to Get to You”, with an apostrophe.
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.
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.
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.
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