Roy Orbisons Greatest Hits. This compiltion was brought out in 1996 by Virgin Records, America.
The cover of the CD shows a standing Roy Orbison with dark glasses and hands in his pockets, totally cool in his black suit and black hair. The background is a graduation of tones of orange down ... Read review
Roy Orbisons Greatest Hits. This compiltion was brought out in 1996 by Virgin Records, America.
The cover of the CD shows a standing Roy Orbison with dark glasses and hands in his pockets, totally cool in his black suit and black hair. The background is a graduation of tones of orange down to cream.. QUite nice, with the titles written in Lucida Calligraphy type in the back ground. All the Greatest Songs together for the first time ... ...is continued throughout the booklet which accompanies the CD. Although there are no words, there is a description of each song which states when it was recorded, who wrote it etc.
On the first page of the insert, there are messages from other great artists, such as Tori Amos ('Roy's voice will live forever!'), K.D.Lang ('Deep and Truly Spiritual'), Bob Dylan
('He had the greatest voice'), Mick Jagger (' From watching ... more
Roy Orbisons Greatest Hits. This compiltion was brought out in 1996 by Virgin Records, America.
The cover of the CD shows a standing Roy Orbison with dark glasses and hands in his pockets, totally cool in his black suit and black hair. The background is a graduation of tones of orange down to cream.. QUite nice, with the titles written in Lucida Calligraphy type in the back ground. All the Greatest Songs together for the first time is written in white.
This theme is continued throughout the booklet which accompanies the CD. Although there are no words, there is a description of each song which states when it was recorded, who wrote it etc.
On the first page of the insert, there are messages from other great artists, such as Tori Amos ('Roy's voice will live forever!'), K.D.Lang ('Deep and Truly Spiritual'), Bob Dylan
('He had the greatest voice'), Mick Jagger (' From watching Roy, I learned how to sing a great ballad') and Bruce Springsteen ('I'll always remember what he meant to me when I was young and afraid to love'). These are only little clips taken. There is an extensive piece by Bruce Springsteen and Bono.
Page one and Two
There are a few photos of Roy, one on a motorbike and one with his guitar. There are always a couple of closeups of his face with the Mona Lisa type smile he had.
Page Three and Four
'FROM A SKINNY WEST TEXAS KID WHO LEARNED TO PICK A GUITAR AT AGE 6 TO A LEGEND THAT OTHER ARTISTS IDOLISED, ROY ORBISON POURED HIS HEART AND SOUL INTO TOP 40
CLASSICS FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. THE MUSIC ROY ORBISON MADE WILL LIVE FOREVER AND FOR THAT WE WILL ALL BE RICHER'
1. Only the lonely - a classic. a beautiful record which captures the true sound of Orbison. Smooth with lovely words. A hit in 1960 and sold over a million copies.It was
rerecorded in 1985. 2. You got it - My all time favourite. One to pump up the volume on the car stereo and really get with it!!! Watching the road of course!! Originally taken from the 'Mystery Girl' album. Number two hit in 1989. Seven years after his death, 'You Got it' became a hit for Bonnie Raitt from the film soundtrack, 'Boys On the Side', starring Drew Barrymore.
3. Oh pretty woman - Obviously a favourite from the soundtrack of the film, 'Pretty Woman'.Released in 1964 and Orbisons biggest hit.
4. In dreams - From the sound track of a film called 'Blue Velvet'. Quite slow but still quite nice. 'Candy Coloured Clown they called the Sandman, whispered through my room every
night'. Beautiful lyrics.Released in 1963. By all accounts, Orbison was a bit shocked to see the film 'Blue Velvet' and the drug association but came to appreciate the hidden depths of the words he had written.
5. Crying - Orbison, Roy & k.d. Lang - Not a great fan of this version from the eighties. Sung in true Orbison style. It is based on a true story of a breakup Roy had had.
6. Blue angel - Lots of La la la's and Doo wahs and Sha la la's. Again nice and smooth. Released in 1960 and rerecorded in 1985.
7. Working for the man - A bit more up tempo but not really my cup of tea. Still, another great track to drive to if feeling jaded. - Taken from Roys true experiences at working to help his way through college.
Page Five and Six
8. Running scared - ' Songs like 'Running Scared' were written because I wasnt aware of limitations'.
9. She's a mystery to me - Very squawky, please excuse the expression. I prefer the more deeper tone in Roys voice. Not a fave!! - A song written by Bono for Roy. It was also produced by Bono in Germany.
10. Blue bayou - A hit in 1985, words relating to homesickness. Not necessarily Roys.
11. It's over - Husky, gravelly voice. True meaning in the lyrics. Again, not one to listen to if you are miserable. - This version is apparently backed by Bruce Springsteen and the 'all - star band' from 'Roy Orbison and Friends - A Black and White Night Live'.
12. California blue - Nice smooth number. Easy to sing along to and quite nice to drive to. The Claifornia Blue title came from the colour he would call the sky in Mallibu where he had his home.
13. Claudette - Great rock and Roll track. Up tempo and sing along - able. This song was written about his first wife, in 1957. Claudette Frady. The Everley Brothrs also covered the record.
14. Mean woman blues - Another rock and roll up tempo song. Written as the B side to Blue Bayou.
15. Ooby dooby - half original gravelly recording and half remastered over thirty years later. Ooby Dooby dooby doo wah, doo wah. Again another rock and roll track. My son loves it!!
16. Too soon to know - Very sad, slow song. Not one to sing if you are sad or tired!! - A moving ballad to remember his first wife, who was killed in a motorcycle crash in 1966.
It wasnt actually written by Roy but captures Roys true feelings.
17. Falling - Not keen on this one. Bit winey for my liking. 'loneliness is not a thing that you really understand until you fall in love!'.
Page Seven and Eight
18. Dream baby - original recording from the Black and White Night Live show. A truly 'electrifying' performance.
19. I drove all night - Love it!! great driving track. Loads better than the version by Cyndi Lauper in the nineties!! This song was as much to do with his love for his car as is was to do with the love of a woman.
20. Pretty paper - This is a live recording from a TV show in America. Not sure which. Christmas song, quite sweet lyrics but not one of his better songs. A 1963 Christmas Hit, and the only acoustic version of this song.
21. Goodnight - Quite sedate but still anice song. A 'Hidden Surprise' on the end of the CD.No info is given for this song. Sorry!
Page Nine and Ten
Lists all song writers, producers and publishers.
I have probably slated half of Roy Orbisons greatest works ever int his review, but never mind. It is truly delightful album which is a permanent fixture in my car glove compartment.
I listen to it on longer journeys or when I need waking up when returning home late!!
Im not sure if Roy Orbison had a bad life with regards to his love life, but he does tend to dwell on break ups and sadness. When he is happy, he is great!! I would love to hear some more of his Rock and Roll tunes!!
This album was released in 1996, and although at 19 years of age, not many would like Roy Orbison, I fell in love with the track 'You got it!' and put the album on my Christmas list. The album is a combination of original versions of his earlier hits with some remastered recordings of some of his sixties hits.
Roy re-recorded some of his most important hits in 1987. Not all the re-recorded hits here date from 1985. 'Crying' is a duet with k d lang recorded in 1988, while 'Dream baby' is a live performance from 1989. 'Ooby dooby' combines his original 1955 recording with his 1995 re-recording, which I love because Zach will quite happily sing along with me in the car. 'Too soon' to know is the original 1966 recording.
Although, in 1996, when I got the album, it was not the in thing to have DVD extras on music CDs, this CD has a 'hidden surprise', a song called 'Goodnight'. A total of twenty one
songs and sixty minutes of playing time, makes it an ideal album for the car, long enough to go a decent distance before getting bored of the music!!
Although originals of Roy Orbison are quite hard to come by due to a bankruptcy of , I think Monuments Record label, who recorded his earlier work. ( Dont quote me on that!!) it is a pleasure to hear his songs whether in original format or not. This album has been dissed for having remastered Roys great works but it means that his music can live on for longer. Roy always said, when asked how he would like to be remembered, that if he was not remembered that was ok. Long Live Orbison!!!!!
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