#orbisongs

Roy Orbison was such a talent.

Orbisongs is a compilation LP released by Monument Records in 1965 after Orbison had left the label and joined MGM. It features tracks such as the stereo version of "Oh, Pretty Woman", a different version of "Dance", and the unreleased "I Get So Sentimental."

Roy Orbison's voice is that of longing and he can deploy it in a multitude of situations, yet it always gives his tunes a melancholic feel. Even when he is happy, he seems dejected. That does not mean that he is all gloomy, but one can tell why he was considered to be like that upon listening to his music. His vocals have that quality of yearning, although it does not make his songs uniform. One of the great surprises about his opus is its versatility. While the themes remain the same, the ways of dealing with them do not. Roy Orbison and his collaborators managed to make his compositions multifaceted, even though they all walk through the same sonic landscape. This one in the link, for instance, is talking about his usual subject, yet it does not look like a repetition of his previous work, it is more of another viewpoint.

Roy Orbison’s tunes are basically lessons in complete dejection, although he does occasionally offer a happy end. The case for that is this piece that was included on Orbisongs and which is more classically rock than the majority of his opus. It is so typical for early 60’s rock you can almost hear a number of his contemporaries singing it, but wouldn’t they make it more lecherous? You see, Orbison’s voice in the cut still has that yearning, present in his other works, even though it is deployed differently here. He is focusing his on someone who is, if we follow the ditty, apparently ambivalent about it, yet that person gradually accepts it. Moreover, the melody is more Elvis and less torch opera. Nonetheless, he is willing to switch to a different rhythm in a part of the composition without missing a beat, which is remarkable. Yes, he used the same tricks he did before and, of course, after, he only changed the mood.

Oh, Pretty Woman- Roy Orbison