- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Roy Orbison is one of numerous legendary recording artists who launched their careers at the equally legendary Sun Records of Memphis.
The Greatest Music
Ever Recorded!
Roy Orbison – Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits (1962): Roy Orbison is one of numerous legendary recording artists who launched their careers at the equally legendary Sun Records of Memphis, Tennessee. Orbison’s first Sun Record single was a minor hit called “Ooby Dooby”; I was previously unfamiliar with the song when I heard it featured in the Star Trek film Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Roy Orbison quickly became an accomplished ballad singer who was unmatched in combining melodramatic storytelling with tinges of rockabilly. After he followed Elvis Presley to RCA Victor Records, Roy Orbison’s recording career blossomed at Monument Records, beginning with the #2 hit “Only the Lonely” in 1960.
A series of hit records followed, culminating in his biggest and best-known song, “Oh, Pretty Woman” (also known as “Pretty Woman”), which topped the record charts in September 1964 during the height of the British Invasion. Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits is Roy Orbison’s first best-of album and, as usual, includes none of his earlier hits on other labels or even his later hits on Monument Records (he left the label in 1965, three years after this album was released). Still, there is some fine music here and many familiar songs, such as “Only the Lonely”, “Running Scared”, “Crying”, “Dream Baby”, and “Candy Man”.