''The Classic Roy Orbison'' is the ninth studio album recorded by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

, and his third for

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

, released in July 1966. The single taken from it, "Twinkle Toes", was Orbison's last US top-forty single during his lifetime, scraping in at No. 39. It reached No. 24 in Australia and No. 29 in the UK. The album spent eight weeks on the album chart in the UK, peaking at number 12. The album was released on compact disc by Diablo Records on October 5, 2004, as tracks 1 through 12 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 13 through 24 consisting Orbison's 1967 album, '' Cry Softly Lonely One''. ''Classic Roy Orbison'' was included in a box set entitled ''The MGM Years 1965-1973 - Roy Orbison'', which contains 12 of his MGM studio albums, 1 compilation, and was released on December 4, 2015.

History

Some of the songs were leftovers from '' The Orbison Way'' sessions.

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 ...

felt that "Every song was cast in a familiar, classic Orbison vein, without any of the country piano sounds that showed a digression on recent releases, and most of it — especially "Just Another Name for Rock and Roll" — had a beat, this is stripped-down, back-to-basics Orbison", calling the album "the best album be ever did for the label" ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the album as "one of his best albums to date" with "dynamic Orbison performances" '' Cashbox'' gave a positive review, saying that Orbison "ranges from rhythmic danceables ('Just Another Name for Rock And Roll") to dramatic, emotional ballads ('Wait')." '' Variety'' mentions "He demonstrates his style on ballads". ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' gave the album a positive review, saying Orbison "swings in the way of contemporaries"

Track listing

All tracks composed by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees, except where indicated. *Produced by

Wesley Rose Wesley Rose (born February 11, 1918 – April 26, 1990) was an American music industry executive and record producer. Biography The son of songwriter Fred Rose, he was born in Chicago and studied to become a chartered accountant. He eventu ...

and Jim Vienneau *Engineered by Val Valentin

Charts

Album

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Classic Roy Orbison, The Roy Orbison albums 1966 albums Albums produced by Wesley Rose MGM Records albums