Graham Reid | | 1 min read
Now that Roy walks among us again – or at least appears on stage as a hologram almost 30 years after his death – lets throw a spotlight on his early catalogue which was when he made his name with classic, almost operatic and dramatic songs such as Only the Lonely, Running Scared, Crying and Leah.
He also delivered some fairly vacuous stuff (Ooby Dooby) alongside the classy pop (Uptown, Working for the Man) and of course had the power and range for songs like She Wears My Ring (better known in the Solomon King version), the Great Pretender (the Platers and more recently Freddie Mercury) and other big-chested ballads.
This three disc collection unfortunately doesn't include Pretty Woman, Blue Bayou, In Dreams and Claudette (for them get the cheap Essential Roy Orbison double CD instead) but with 60 songs this is a big old slice of Roy in this chart-topping years.
And it is only $15 from JB Hi-Fi stores here.
Elsewhere has been a Roy fan from his earliest days (saw him at the Auckland Town Hall when he topped the bill over the Yardbirds – with Jimmy Page -- and the Walker Brothers) so we are of a mind to think any Roy is worth hearing.
Have a look here for more on The Big O.
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