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There have been many Roy Orbison compilations but this is certainly one of the best I've seen. Roy had a distinctive tenor voice that made him a legend. You can get most of his big sixties hits on a single CD and if that's all you want, perhaps you should buy one of those. This double CD has those hits but also explores a little further.Of all Roy's many hits, Oh pretty woman, Crying, Only the lonely, Blue bayou, It's over, In dreams and the Christmas song Pretty paper are my favorites (not necessarily in that order). However, there were many other great hits including Running scared, Borne on the wind, Working for the man, Candy man, Leah, Uptown, Dream baby (previously a hit for Bobby Darin), Blue angel, Falling and Goodnight, all of which can be found on the first CD here.The second CD contains a few of Roy's covers of classic songs like What'd I say. Let the good times roll, Beautiful dreamer, All I have to do is dream, My prayer, Cry and Great pretender. There are other notable songs here too, including She wears my ring (a huge UK hit for Solomon King). The final three tracks (Ooby dooby, Rock house and Go go go) are from Roy's early days on Sun Records. The preceding 47 tracks were recorded for Monument.After Roy left Monument, he had other big hits beginning with Too soon to know, but these are outside the scope of this set. Still, this is a great place to start a Roy Orbison collection.
I have many Roy Orbison "Greatest Hits" collections, but this one remains my favorite. The two-CD format allows for more music and it's convenient to listen to in the car. Roy is still curiously underrarted and under-appreciated. I was ecstatic when he went through a revival in the late 80's, but it was tragically cut short when Roy died, then his reputation again fell by the wayside. His voice remains the purest instrument in popular music in the last fifty years. Listening to these remastered recordings is an absolute joy because I'm accustomed to listening to these treasures on vinyl, with the typical pops, buzzes and surface scratches. All of that has been eliminated on this disc. The sound quality is exceptional throughout.Included are all of Orbison's signature hits, from the classic "Pretty Woman" to the haunting "Crying" with the poignant tenor cry at the conclusion. My personal favorite Orbison song has always been "Running Scared," a sort of mini-opera, replete with the soaring, rather syrupy arrangements his songs are noted for. I admit many of these arrangements sound dated, but the voice is the primary instrument anyway, and the only one you'll care about. If Elvis was blessed with a gorgeous set of pipes, Roy was in another league entirely and his gift never diminished. If you are an old Orbison die-hard fan, or a newbie to this incredible man, this collection will do you nicely.
This is the best collection of the original, legendary hits (and album cuts) Orbison recorded for the Monument label. Lot of bang for your buck. It has all the greatest hits and some great favorites ("Beautiful Dreamer" is a personal fave)not always found on CDs featuring anywhere between 16 and 20-something tracks. It also contains three cuts from Roy's mid 50's Sun period as well as some tunes he recorded when he returned to the Monument label in the 1970s. These later tunes sound out of place on this collection. I would have preferred 50 all-Monument sides circa '59 -- '65 (where is the cool "Blue Avenue" darnit?).
That's how Elvis Presley introduced Roy Orbison from the stage when he spotted him in the crowd at an Elvis concert. The King got that one right. Where other compilations leave out a memorable song or two, the memorable are all here and an assortment of Roy's covers of other artists' hits. If you don't care for that, there is no shortage of other CDs with just the basics, but look for the possibility that one of two of the songs you'd expect are not included. As for re-recordings you may find, there is little harm because of Roy Orbison's extreme talent in reproducing the original sound. This is a good long-term investment if you can't get enough of the Big O. I saw him in concert in the early 70s in a relatively small acoustically-perfect venue. The strings,etc. had been replaced by a synthesizer but Roy did not disappoint. This package I can highly recommend.
Fifty of the best from the Big O, September 13, 2003
