Roy Orbison - The Soul Of Rock And Roll [4 CD, 2008/FLAC]

  

In 1988, Columbia Records released a four-disc Roy Orbison retrospective called The Legendary Roy Orbison. It contained 74 tracks. It was a great package except for one thing: it sounded terrible, as the mastering techniques in the first days of the CD were not what they are now. The Soul of Rock and Roll, issued by Sony Legacy in 2008, is an enormous improvement in the sonic arena, just for starters. This four-disc collection contains 107 tracks (33 more than the previous box) with selections from all the labels Orbison recorded for. There are 12 previously unreleased performances, including the last tune Orbison ever committed to tape (strangely, a live version of "It's Over," recorded a scant two days before his death in Akron, OH). It contains a very solid book with essays by his widow Barbara, producer Fred Foster, and Roy Jr., and numerous testimonials from fans and friends including Tom Waits, Glenn Danzig Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Melson, Barry and Robin Gibb, and John Mellencamp, among others.

Because of his unique place in rock history, Orbison has long been worthy of this type of definitive career retrospective, one taking into account the creative and popular renaissance he enjoyed at the end of his life as a solo artist and as a member of the Traveling Wilburys. Orbison never quit working, even during the obscure 1970s when he briefly went back to Monument; cut an album for Elektra; and recorded the spotty Class of '55 with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis for Mercury. A great collection of the earliest years with the Teen Kings is here, as are the important Sun and Monument singles, carefully chosen album tracks, selections from the films Zabriskie Point and The Fastest Guitar Alive, and even "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again," a duet with Emmylou Harris from the film Roadie. There are some stellar live performances from Barbara Orbison's enormous archive, including an unreleased monster rave-up of Chris Kenner's "Land of 1000 Dances."

Disc four contains material from the posthumously released discs Mystery Girl and the better tracks from King of Hearts. The Wilburys are represented by "Not Alone Anymore" and the hit "You Got It," written by Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty. Soundtracks also figure: "In Dreams" from the Blue Velvet soundtrack; the hauntingly strange "You May Feel Me Crying" from Wim Wenders' film The End of Violence, which was overdubbed by Brian Eno in 1997; the Will Jennings and David Briggs-produced single "Wild Hearts (Run Out of Time)" from the soundtrack of the film Insignificance; and the Rick Rubin-produced "Life Fades Away" from the Less Than Zero soundtrack. "Crying," Orbison's now legendary duet with k.d. lang from Black & White Night, is also included. The most memorable thing here, however, is the unreleased demo of "Precious," recorded in either 1968 or 1969. It's just The Voice with his guitar. It's chilling. The only track really missing is "Southbound Jericho Parkway," from 1969, Orbison's singular moment of psychobilly and his seven-minute, darker-than-midnight answer to "MacArthur Park." This box is the first true compendium of popular and obscure Orbison resources. Bear Family's expensive seven-disc Orbison is an exhaustive collection documenting 1955-1965, but that's only part of the story. The major bits of the early years are here, and are lent weight and depth by the '70s and '80s recordings, making this one the compilation to beat.

 

Disc: 1
1. Ooby Dooby
2. Hey! Miss Fannie
3. A True Love Goodbye
4. An Empty Cup And A Broken Date
5. Tryin' To Get To You
6. Tutti Frutti
7. Advertisement: Overton Park Shell Concert
8. Ooby Dooby
9. Cat Called Domino
10. Go! Go! Go!
11. Rock House
12. Guitar Pull Medley
13. You're My Baby
14. Mean Little Mama
15. Problem Child
16. One More Time
17. You're Gonna Cry
18. It's Too Late
19. Sweet And Easy To Love
20. This Kind Of Love (Demo Recording)
21. Claudette (Demo Recording)
22. You Tell Me (Demo Recording)
23. Night Owl (Demo Recording)
24. Bad Cat (Demo Recording)
25. I Give Up (Demo Recording)
26. Love Struck (Demo Recording)
27. Baby Don't Stop (Demo Recording)
28. Defeated (Demo Recording)
29. Love Storm (Demo Recording)
30. Almost Eighteen
31. With The Bug
32. Pretty One

Disc: 2
1. Uptown
2. Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel)
3. Blue Angel
4. In Dreams
5. Running Scared
6. I'm Hurtin'
7. (I'd Be) A Legend In My Time
8. Love Hurts
9. Lana
10. Crying
11. Candy Man
12. Night Life
13. (They Call You) Gigolette
14. Let The Good Times Roll
15. Blue Bayou
16. Wedding Day
17. Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)
18. Evergreen
19. Working For The Man
20. The Crowd
21. Leah
22. The Actress
23. Borne On The Wind
24. Falling
25. Indian Wedding
26. Shahdaroba
27. All I Have To Do Is Dream
28. Mama
29. Pretty Paper

Disc: 3
1. Mean Woman Blues
2. What'd I Say (Live)
3. It's Over
4. Oh, Pretty Woman
5. Yo Te Amo Maria
6. Goodnight
7. (Say) You're My Girl
8. Ride Away
9. Crawling Back
10. Breakin' Up Is Breakin' My Heart
11. Too Soon To Know
12. Communication Breakdown
13. Walk On
14. So Young
15. Blue Rain (Coming Down)
16. Big As I Can Dream
17. Pistolero
18. The Fastest Guitar Alive
19. Precious
20. Unchained Melody
21. Land Of 1000 Dances (Live)
22. Blues In My Mind
23. Born To Love Me
24. That Lovin' You Feelin' Again Harris, Emmylou (With Roy Orbison)
25. Hound Dog Man

Disc: 4
1. Coming Home
2. Waymore's Blues
3. Oh, Pretty Woman
4. In Dreams
5. Not Alone Anymore
6. You Got It
7. She's A Mystery To Me
8. California Blue
9. A Love So Beautiful
10. (All I Can Do Is) Dream You (Live Version)
11. Oh, Pretty Woman (Live)
12. Heartbreak Radio
13. You're The One
14. Crying Roy Orbison & K.D. Lang
15. After The Love Has Gone
16. I Drove All Night
17. Wild Hearts Run Out Of Time
18. You May Feel Me Crying
19. Life Fades Away
20. It's Over
21. We'll Take The Night