''Lonely and Blue'' is the debut studio album by
Roy Orbison, released on
Monument Records in January 1961. It entered the UK albums chart two years later, on June 30, 1963 and reached number 14 over the course of eight weeks.
The track, "Come Back to Me (My Love)", features an almost identical intro to "Only the Lonely" because this is where the vocal figure of "Only the Lonely" came from. The album also features multiple covers of songs from Don Gibson, The Everly Brothers, Gene Pitney, and Johnnie Ray"
The album was released on compact disc by
Monument Records in 1993 as tracks 1 through 12 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 13 through 24 consisting of Orbison's 1962 album, ''
Crying''.
Bear Family included also the album in the 2001 Orbison 1955-1965 box set.
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
label included this CD in the 2013 Roy Orbison The Monument Box Set.
Avid Rock 'n' Roll labels included this CD in the 2017 ''3 Classic Albums Plus'' Box Set.
History
After a two-year stint at
Sun Records, Roy Orbison signed up with
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
in 1958, but left after two singles. In early 1959 Orbison's manager
Wesley Rose asked producer and owner
Fred Foster if he was interested in signing him for Monument Records. Foster said yes. The album was recorded at
RCA Studio B using two- and three-track tape machines.
Reception
Bruce Eder of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
said that the album "packed with great moments and different permutations of that sound: the powerful lead vocal and the Boots Randolph sax break on "I'll Say It's My Fault"; the haunting Orbison-Melson "Come Back to Me (My Love)," a vest-pocket romantic melodrama sung with operatic depth and played to a light rock & roll beat; Don Gibson's "I'd Be a Legend in My Time", and "I Can't Stop Loving You".
''
Billboard'' magazine identified the album as a "Spotlight Winner of the Week" in its review from January 1961, described the album as "a Spinnable Album".
''
Cashbox'' appreciated the effort. "Good material and a striking delivery add up to strong merchandise."
''
Variety'' wrote "Only The Lonely'
ndI'm Hurtin' are included here as well as some other Nashville originated songs".
Track listing
All tracks recorded 15–17 September 1960, except where indicated.
Charts
Album
Singles
References
{{Authority control
Roy Orbison albums
1961 debut albums
Albums produced by Fred Foster
Monument Records albums