Roy Orbison
Sings Lonely and Blue (Monument/Legacy)
Roy Orbison
Crying (Monument/Legacy)
Roy Orbison
In Dreams (Monument/Legacy)
Listening to Roy Orbison is the aural equivalent of peeling an onion. Each song is a multilayered masterpiece that envelops the Vernon, Texas-born balladeer's melancholic aubades in a bittersweet breeze of strings that evoke more than just tears. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Orbison's first LPs for Monument Records, which have finally been remastered as part of the Legacy collection. There's an undeniable continuity between
Sings Lonely and Blue (1960),
Crying ('62), and
In Dreams ('63), that's brought about largely through Fred Foster's repeated role as producer and the consistency of the stellar session musicians, namely Boots Randolph on saxophone, Floyd Cramer on keys, and Howard Bradley on guitar. The Anita Kerr Singers' Motown-influenced harmonies are also a constant fixture, turning nonsensical arrangements of "doo-wahs" and "oh-la-las" into a surrealistic background that effortlessly blends with Orbison's quivering croon. These tiers are ultimately what unify the doo-wop of "Blue Angel," the big-band swing of "Dance" and "Loneliness," and the gospel-accented "Beautiful Dreamer" into Orbison's hopelessly romantic calling card. This collection not only makes that cohesive, symphonic sound more suitable for "Uptown" but calls attention to the songwriters responsible for these albums and bonus tracks. While nearly half are collaborative works between Orbison and Joe Melson, a few standouts ("Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)," "Shahdaroba," and "Distant Drums") were penned by legendary songstress Cindy Walker, while Willie Nelson's "Pretty Paper," which he himself didn't record until 1975, closes out
In Dreams. Rejection and unrequited love have never sounded so good. Stock up on tissues.
(Sings Lonely; In Dreams)
(Crying)