« The Caruso of Rock », « The Big O », epithets given to one of the greatest singer-songwriters the world has ever known. Winner of five Grammy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and pride of place in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Roy Orbison quite literally changed the face and sound of popular music. In a career spanning three decades, Orbison was at one point more popular than The Beatles. He revolutionised song structure, and popularised rock in the bolero style, forever changing the genre. Lifelong Orbison fan, Bruce Springsteen said of his hero, « he had the ability like all great rock ‘n’ rollers to sound like he dropped in from another planet and yet get the stuff that was right to the heart of what you were livin’ in today, and that was how he opened your vision. » He was an unlikely pop star with his dark glasses, black outfits and dyed black hair, but somehow it all came together with that powerful, yearning, falsetto voice. Orbison’s style and delivery smacked of vulnerability, his dark ballads betraying the fragility of the male ego. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987, and the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame the same year. In 1989 he entered the Musicians Hall Of Fame and Museum, and received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. Elvis Presley called him « the greatest singer in the world », and his influence was immense, with Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, and k.d. Lang all acknowledging the impact « The Big O » had on their music. These early recordings of the great man’s work tell the story of a legend in the making.
Side A
1) OOBY DOOBY – Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings (Wade Lee Moore, Allen Penner) 1956
2) GO! GO! GO! – Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings (Roy Orbison) 1956
3) ROCK HOUSE – Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison) 1956
4) SWEET & EASY TO LOVE – Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison) 1957
5) CHICKEN HEARTED – Roy Orbison (William Justis) 1958
6) SEEMS TO ME – Roy Orbison (Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant) 1957
7) ALMOST 18 – Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison) 1958
8) UPTOWN – Roy Orbison (Joe Melson, Roy Orbison) 1958
9) ONLY THE LONELY (KNOW THE WAY I FEEL) – Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison) 1959
10) BLUE ANGEL – Roy Orbison (Joe Melson, Roy Orbison) 1958
Side B
1) I’M HURTIN’ – Roy Orbison (Joe Melson, Roy Orbison) 1960
2) RUNNING SCARED – Roy Orbison (Joe Melson, Roy Orbison) 1961
3) LOVE HURTS – Roy Orbison (Boudleaux Bryant) 1961
4) CRYING – Roy Orbison (Joe Melson, Roy Orbison) 1961
5) CANDY MAN – Roy Orbison (Beverley Rosds, Fred Neil) 1961
6) DREAM BABY (HOW LONG MUST I DREAM) – Roy Orbison (Cindy Walker) 1962
7) THE CROWD – Roy Orbison (Joe Melson, Roy Orbison) 1962
8) WORKING FOR THE MAN – Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison) 1962
9) LEAH – Roy Orbison (Roy Orbison) 1962
