Roy Orbison
The Soul of Rock and Roll (Sony/Legacy)“I’ve spent my lifetime trying to figure love out,” offered Roy Orbison in his final interview, and no other artist more fully embodied both love’s mysteriously swelling swagger and savagely lonesome desperation than Vernon, Texas’ Big O. His haunting voice, sweeping through octaves with a grace unprecedented and inimitable in rock & roll, shook the genre’s emotional possibilities even as it was being defined. Marking the 20th anniversary of his death, this 4-CD set spans the Texan’s entire career, from his first recording with the Wink Westerners in 1955 to the soaring, dramatic close of his last live performance in 1988 with “It’s Over.” While the expected hits are all given prominent representation (including three manifestations of “Oh, Pretty Woman”), a wealth of previously unreleased demos and live recordings expands and reinforces the scope of Orbison’s influence. Most remarkable is the evolution of Orbison’s voice on disc one. Though traces of his powerful and assured croon are present in Teen Kings ballads “A True Love Goodbye” and “An Empty Cup and a Broken Date” and even the floor-shaking rock boogies of his Sun Recordings such as “Ooby Dooby,” explorations with his groundbreaking range are evident in acoustic demos “I Give Up” and “Love Storm” and finally flourish with 1959’s “Pretty One.” Disc two is dominated by Orbison’s exceptional output with producer Fred Foster in the early 1960s, hits such as “Only the Lonely,” “In Dreams,” and “Crying” balanced with the fuzzed bass bounce of “Lana” and seaside rhythm of “Leah.” Though the third disc offers few revelations from his sparse 1970s output following the tragic loss of his wife and two sons, the unreleased demo of “Precious” is debilitatingly wrought, and the live 1972 recording of “Land of 1,000 Dances” bursts with horn-blaring energy. The final CD opens on Orbison’s 1985 reunion with Class of ’55 alumni Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash with the subtle “Coming Home” and rocking “Waymore’s Blues,” as well as the Traveling Wilburys’ “Not Alone Any More” and Bono collaboration “She’s a Mystery to Me.” This Soul is worthy of Orbison’s foundational stamp on rock & roll.
This article appears in December 12 • 2008.
