Memphis (Roy Orbison album)

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Memphis
Memphis - Roy Orbison.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1972
RecordedMarch 15 – April 14, 1972
Genre Rock
Label MGM (SE 4867)
Producer Roy Orbison, Joe Melson
Roy Orbison chronology
Roy Orbison Sings
(1972)
Memphis
(1972)
Milestones
(1973)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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Memphis is the seventeenth album recorded by Roy Orbison, and his tenth for MGM Records. The album was released in November 1972.

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 13 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

Roy Orbison American singer-songwriter

Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. The combination led many critics to describe his music as operatic, nicknaming him "the Caruso of Rock" and "the Big O". While most male rock-and-roll performers in the 1950s and 1960s projected a defiant masculinity, many of Orbison's songs instead conveyed vulnerability. During performances, he was known for standing still and solitary and for wearing black clothes to match his dyed jet-black hair and dark sunglasses; all of this lent an air of mystery to his persona.

MGM Records American record label

Pride Studio n Records

History

The album took three weeks to make in March and April 1972. The album had one single, "Memphis, Tennessee", which became a minor hit in the US, charting at #84. This was Orbison's final album that was released for London Records as Decca let Orbison out of their contract on June 30, 1972.

London Records record label headquartered in the United Kingdom

London Records is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America from 1947 to 1979 before becoming semi-independent.

Decca Records US/British record label

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, along with American Decca's first president Jack Kapp and later American Decca president Milton Rackmil. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca and the link between the UK and U.S. Decca labels was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi, a media conglomerate headquartered in Paris, France. The US Decca label was the foundation company that evolved into UMG.

Track listing

Side one
  1. "Memphis, Tennessee" – (Chuck Berry)
  2. "Why A Woman Cries" – (Jerry McBee)
  3. "Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)" – (Joe Melson, Don Gant)
  4. "Take Care of Your Woman" – (Jerry McBee)
  5. "I'm The Man on Susie's Mind" – (Joe Melson, Glenn Barber)
  6. "I Can't Stop Loving You" – (Don Gibson)
Side two
  1. "Run The Engines Up High" – (Jerry McBee)
  2. "It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)" – (Neal Merritt, Alice Joy Merritt, Shorty Hall)
  3. "I Fought the Law" – (Sonny Curtis)
  4. "The Three Bells" – (Jean Villard Gilles; English lyrics by Bert Reisfeld)
  5. "Danny Boy" – (Frederick Weatherly)

Arranged by Joe Tanner Produced by Joe Melson & Roy Orbison except "Danny Boy" produced by Don Gant

Donald W. Gant was an American singer, songwriter and record producer.

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