Everyone knows Pretty Woman, most have heard of Only The Lonely, a lot of people recognise I Drove All Night, the one with Jason Priestley in the video and any fan of Only Fools And Horses knows Crying is the song that the guy who can't pronounce his R's right sang to hilarious effect. Cwying, Cwying, Cwyyyyyying….you remember it I'm sure. But if you are not of a certain age you probably don't know a lot of Roy's stuff. Not many of my friends were familiar with him, a lot even laughed when they saw I had bought this CD but when they got to hear a few of the songs, their appreciation rose until I was getting pestered for copies. I guess it's because he's a golden oldie that most young people pass him by so lightly, he hasn't the protest cool of Bob Dylan or the iconic image of David Bowie but after many drunken renditions of I Drove All Night after a night in the pub, my friends are all became confirmed fans.
I Drove All Night is a Cyndi Lauper Song but if I was to play her version to my friends, it wouldn't get the time of day. This is for one reason, Roy's voice. It is of incomparable steadiness and clarity, with powerful high lamenting notes which he can hold seemingly forever. It is often said he is a sad singer, and a lot of his songs are based on loneliness or the loss of a lover, but the great thing about Roy is how well his voice can express this loneliness, it's hard to describe other than to say that Roy could sing songs such as It's Over and sound as though he truly were the loneliest man alive. It's not just in the lyrics with Roy, it's in his voice.
Bono himself said when Roy passed away that the greatest voice in Rock'n'Roll had gone with him, it may sound like a platitude but Bono had written "She's a mystery to Me" especially for Roy just so he could hear the great Man sing his words, so I think he meant it. And I reckon he was right too. You don't hear too many covers of Roy's songs and it's probably down to the fact that it would be foolish to have your version compared to his, you know you're not going to come off best.
This collection of 41 songs has pretty much all the real classics of Roy's career, and a few little treasures that even some fans may not have heard or have long forgotten. I'll do my best to comment on all the songs
Disc 1
1. Crying - K.D. Lang The album begins with Roy's duet of Crying with KD Lang, and where a lot of duets fail this one succeeds, with their voices complimenting each other well. A slightly slower version of the song, it sounds fresh, new and different.
2. I Drove All Night Great sing-along song, evoking amusing memories of the video for me. As a stand alone strong it is very powerful, excellent driving rhythm to it. An excellent song to drive to, for that matter. This is a power ballad in the finest sense,
and much superior to Cyndi's version.
3. She's A Mystery To Me Written for Roy by Bono, a fact I hadn't realised at first, I had not heard this before buying the album. Bono obviously wanted to stretch him with a high pitched chorus and he rose to the challenge brilliantly. A good love song which with a lesser artist may have sounded syrupy but Roy's vocal quality makes it sound , as with all his love songs, like he's just being honest.
4. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) Infectious. If I hear this song once it goes round in my head all day. Not a bad thing though as this is a more upbeat, lyrically simple song. Used in a lot of movies, you've heard it before but you're not sure where. A great little ditty.
5. You Got It I can remember when Roy Orbison died. I was very young at the time, only four or five, but I can remember hearing this song a lot at the time. Then I never heard it again for 14 years until I bought this album. I jumped straight to it when I first opened it. It's every bit as good as I remembered, which is rare for a childhood memory. A sweeping song of a promise to a lover, "Anything You Want, You Got It" this is seriously catchy and obviously memorable. A fantastic Vocal crescendo at the end, this is definitely my all time favourite, probably by any artist.
6. Run, Baby, Run Another of the Big O's simpler tracks in a similar vain to Dream baby where he simply repeats Run, Baby, Run but with enough vocal subtlety that it is not tiring and again has a fantastic rhythm, with a classic swinging beat, moving the song forward.
7. In Dreams This has to have one of the greatest vocal refrains ever, right at the end when he rises to the top of his register to cry, Only In dreams, In Beautiful Dreams. This starts off gently, with Roy almost speaking the words, gradually building up into a magnificently haunting song which no one else could have sang. Magic.
8. Blue Bayou A soulful song of a man pining for Blue Bayou and his girl, another song made for Roy's lilting voice, here much more softly used to give a great rendition of a classic.
9. Oh, Such A Stranger There's a real Elvis quality to this song, that effortless power and melancholy bent which he shares with the King here for all to hear. Not his most memorable but another example of his vocal strengths as well as his ability to convey heartbreak
10. How Do You Start Over He's messed up in love again and wants to know how to make up for it. A nice little song but somewhat dated now.
11. Heartache A catchy toe tapper, another with a touch of Elvis to it. No one sings about Heartache like Roy and that quiver in his voice gets stronger as the song gets stronger, like so many of his songs, it may start slowly but builds and builds and builds.
12. Only You Strangely I don't think this is the best version of the song by a long way, Roy just doesn't get into it like others have done or like he does in his other songs. I'm always waiting for him to take it up a gear but it doesn't really come. It's a good performance but I think he could have done it so much more.
13. Communication Breakdown Sighing lyrics are well delivered before the song picks up and a nice little guitar motif running through the song works well. Not a classic for me but a good solid song.
14. God Love You another example of a song with small beginnings, with the big O singing on his own before the backing comes in. A sweet song, with the simple blessing, God Love You for his lover making a surprisingly poignant chorus.
15. That Lovin' You Feelin' Again A beautiful drifting song, with the vocal floating along, soaring occasionally to lofty heights and some great, sort of Spanish, guitar playing in the middle. Gets better with each listen I give to it. More recent again but the vocals are as strong as ever
16. Goodnight A bit of low key fare here, nothing dramatic but still a nice song before he does some of his signature high notes at the end. More impressively this is a live recording, and but for the applause you wouldn't know.
17. She Memories of a long lost love and not the Burt Bacharach song you may be thinking of. Classic pining lyrics and another display of Orbison's great vocal range
18. Pretty Paper More of the older stuff. A Christmas song, sang as softly as a lullaby and a bit country. I don't know why ….but I like it. Live again but perfect.
19. Scarlet Ribbons A slow gentle waltz here, with that great sixties sound, reminiscent of the hollies or Jerry & the Pacemakers. Soft as feathers. Shhhh….
20. Falling Yes He's falling in love with you, and what a way to tell you, another belter from the top of the range and out of the top drawer
21. Crawling Back He's been naughty this time and who couldn't give in to his pleas of forgiveness, so poignant it brings tears to the eyes, well not mine, other peoples, men like me don't cry to songs… but if I did it would be to this. Hadn't listened to this song very much with it being nailed on at the end but writing this review made me listen again and it's one of the best.
Disc 2
1. Crying The original and yes it is still the best when compared to the duet with KD Lang. This is the pinnacle of the unrequited love song. An all time great and one of Roy's best known songs.
2. Only The Lonely For all you lonely romeo's, who know why he cries. The quintessential example of a song for the broken-hearted…Genius
3. Oh, Pretty Woman If you don't love this there's something wrong with you. Need I say more? The good news is a lot of tracks have this same beat, so if you like this you should try some of the others and you may surprise yourself. It's not all sadness and loneliness in the world of Roy
4. You May Feel Me Crying Another of his more recent songs and this ranks in my top ten all time Roy songs. It's more modern than anything on this double CD but still has the feel of his best material. Raunchy lyrics too at times, (by Roy's standards) he was having naughty thoughts when this was written, though it doesn't merit parental guidance, he's gonna take a girl on a mountain and give her what she needs. I say. And at his age. But it is a lovely song.
5. Walk On Not the anthem of Liverpool that we all know but a song asking the woman in his life to walk on, out of his life. Typically powerful ending to the song and lyrically and vocally strong throughout. So Selfless, he only thinks what's best for his woman. Top Tune.
6. Too Soon To Know Again reminiscent of an Elvis lament but at the risk of receiving death threats, no-one did it better than Roy, even the king.
7. Claudette This was a staple of singers from the 50's and 60's and is as good a version of the song as I've heard. There may be that some are not impressed by the simplicity of older songs such as these, but they are enjoyable nonetheless.
8. Ride Away Not only can he go high, but he can go low, which is what strikes me at the start of this song, straight out of the dance halls of the 60's this song unfolds brilliantly. Really nice example of a golden oldie.
9. Time To Cry It's a common complaint that Roy seemed to cry all the time in his songs, but when he does it as well as he does here, there can be no complaint. With an almost breaking voice in the middle, yet still kept controlled, this is just brilliance.
10. Land Of 1000 Dances A real Austin Powers number here, great guitar, na-na-na-na-na's, yeah yeah's crazy organ playing, really fun stuff. I hadn't seen it coming either!
11. You Fool You Now his mates are calling him a fool, but love does seem to have an effect on him doesn't it. Another lovely ballad, with a nice piano accompaniment.
12. What Now My Love More, masterful singing and song writing on evidence here, of the very highest order. It's another I had forgotten about but is a real hidden gem.
13. I Can't Stop Loving You Starts with a bar of Auld Lang's Syne. Unusual. Build's into a tuneful expression of undying love, that's more like it. Bit of the Beatles about this
14. I'm Losing You He doesn't want to, but he's losing her. Sorrowful and meaningful. Wonderful too.
15. Leah Amazing Live recording, the chorus refrain of Leah is astonishingly good, the song has a touch of a tropical feel from the percussion section. One of the best live performances I've heard.
16. Penny Arcade A bit of 60's nostalgia about the penny arcade, bagatelles and all that malarkey. A bit twee for my taste.
17. Blue Rain (Coming Down) Classic Roy, with flutes and ooh-ing backing singers, this is about as haunting as you can get with Roy's high pitched lament's on top form and higher than normal. Really powerful in its chilling beauty.
18. Go Go Go (Down The Line) More of the good old fashioned 60's Rock'n'Roll, really good piano on this one.
19. It's Over It tells you in the inlay that Bruce Springsteen said the opening line of this song (your baby doesn't love you, any more) was the greatest he had heard, the way it is sung leaving the listener in no doubt of what is to come. He's right. Spine tinglingly good, One of the very best. Live, Unbelievable.
20. Breaking Up Is Breaking My Heart They missed a trick, It's Over should have been the last track, what better way to end it than the big O lamenting "It's Over" as hard as his lungs would let him. But this is a welcome inclusion, the title and lyrics conceal what is a really good up tempo zinger of a tune.
This is as good a collection of Roy Orbison's songs as I have seen available. The live material was an excellent and very enlightening addition. You will not believe how good this man was live until you hear it, Flawless. I got my copy of it as part of a 3 for 2 offer in HMV, which was magnificent value, I robbed them. I think the RRP is around £16 though it may be available cheaper elsewhere. But don't quibble about the price is my advice, this makes a great addition to any CD collection, and is much better than the other Roy Orbison compilations I have seen on the market.
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