Roy Orbison / The MGM Years 1965-1973 / 14LP or 13CD box set
To mark the golden anniversary of Roy Orbison signing for MGM Records, comes the global release of a 13CD or 14LP box set: The MGM Years 1965-1973.
Orbison’s career was flying along when MGM made him an offer he couldn’t refuse in 1965. The previous year, he’d had a global smash with Oh, Pretty Woman, and was almost singlehandedly holding the fort for American artists at the top of the charts against the Stateside invasion of British bands such as The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones. But the promise of a starring role in an MGM film was a key factor in Orbison’s decision to leave his friend/producer Fred Foster at Monument Records… that and a deal worth a reported million dollars – very big bucks at the time.
‘The Big O’ went on to release 27 singles – including 11 worldwide Top 40 hits – and 11 studio albums in a highly productive eight-year spell under the auspices of MGM. And while commercial success continued, Orbison wasn’t afraid to experiment with an eclectic mix of musical styles, as well as returning to his country roots with tribute albums such as Hank Williams The Roy Orbison Way
Now, Universal Music have teamed up with Roy’s Boys – the Nashville-based company founded by the late legend’s sons – to deliver all of these albums in one package. The MGM Years 1965-1973 also includes soundtrack to the 1967 film The Fastest Guitar Alive (which proved to be Orbison’s one and only starring movie role) plus an album of all 12 MGM-era singles and B-sides.
The MGM Years is available as a 13-CD set, on 180g vinyl as a 14LP set (the MGM B-Sides and Singles album is a double LP. Each of the 152 tracks have been re-EQ’d/balanced by Roy’s youngest son Alex Orbison and engineer Chuck Turner with Richard Dodd handling the remastering. The 12 albums included each come with restored original artwork and both CD and vinyl boxes promise a ‘beautifully-bound booklet’ featuring ‘never-before-seen photos’ and extensive liner notes written by Alex Orbison.
To coincide with the launch of the MGM box set, Universal Music are also releasing One of the Lonely Ones, an unheard 12-track album recently discovered by Orbison’s sons. Recorded between January and August of 1969, One of the Lonely Ones is billed as ‘a lost treasure found’, it includes The Big O’s cover version of Rodgers and Hammerstein classic (and Liverpool FC fans’ favourite) You’ll Never Walk Alone, and his self-penned Child Woman, Woman Child, said to be the musical younger sister of Oh, Pretty Woman. Note, that this album isn’t included in the MGM box set.
The MGM Years 1965-1973 is released on 4 December 2015.
The MGM Years 1965-1973 / 13CD box
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The MGM Years 1965-1973 / 14LP box
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One of the Lonely Ones / CD Edition
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One of the Lonely Ones / Vinyl LP Edition
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The MGM Years 1965-1973
There Is Only One Roy Orbison (1965)
- Ride Away
- You Fool You
- Two of a Kind
- This is Your Song
- I’m in a Blue, Blue Mood
- If You Can’t Say Something Nice
- Claudette
- Afraid to Sleep
- Sugar and Honey
- Summer Love
- Big as I Can Dream
- Wondering
The Orbison Way (1966)
- Crawling Back
- It Ain’t No Big Thing (With the Candy Men)
- Time Changed Everything (With the Candy Men)
- This Is My Land
- The Loner
- Maybe (With the Candy Men)
- Breakin’ Up is Breakin’ My Heart
- Go Away (With the Candy Men)
- A New Star
- Never (With the Candy Men)
- It Wasn’t Very Long Ago
- Why Hurt the One Who Loves You
The Classic Roy Orbison (1966)
- You’ll Never Be Sixteen Again
- Pantomime
- Twinkle Toes
- Losing You
- City Life
- Wait
- Growing Up
- Where Is Tomorrow
- (No) I’ll Never Get Over You
- Going Back to Gloria
- Just Another Name for Rock and Roll
- Never Love Again
Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson (1967)
- (I’d Be) A Legend in My Time
- (Yes) I’m Hurting
- The Same Street
- Far Far Away
- Big Hearted Me
- Sweet Dreams
- Oh, Such A Stranger
- Blue, Blue, Day
- What About Me
- Give Myself A Party
- Too Soon to Know
- Lonesome Number One
The Fastest Guitar Alive (Soundtrack, 1967)
- Whirlwind
- Medicine Man
- River
- The Fastest Guitar Alive
- Rollin’ On
- Pistolero
- Good Time Party
- Heading South
- Best Friend
- There Won’t Be Many Coming Home
Cry Softly Lonely One (1967)
- She
- Communication Breakdown
- Cry Softly Lonely One
- Girl Like Mine
- It Takes One (To Know One)
- Just Let Me Make Believe
- Here Comes the Rain Baby
- That’s A No No
- Memories
- Time to Cry
- Only Alive
Roy Orbison’s Many Moods (1969)
- Truly, Truly True
- Unchained Melody
- I Recommend Her
- More
- Heartache
- Amy
- Good Morning, Dear
- What Now, My Love
- Walk On
- Yesterday’s Child
- Try to Remember
Hank Williams The Roy Orbison Way (1970)
- Kaw-Liga
- Hey, Good Lookin’
- Jambalaya
- (Last Night) I Heard You Crying in Your Sleep
- You Win Again
- Your Cheatin’ Heart
- Cold, Cold Heart
- A Mansion on the Hill
- I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)
- There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight
- I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
The Big O (1970)
- Break My Mind
- Help Me Rhonda
- Only You
- Down the Line
- Money
- When I Stop Dreaming
- Loving Touch
- Land of 1,000 Dances
- Scarlet Ribbons
- She Won’t Hang Her Love Out (On the Line)
- Casting My Spell On You
- Penny Arcade
Roy Orbison Sings (1972)
- God Love You
- Beaujolais
- If Only for Awhile
- Rings of Gold
- Help Me
- Plain Jane Country (Come to Town)
- Harlem Woman
- Cheyenne
- Changes
- It Takes All Kinds of People
- Remember The Good
Memphis (1972)
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Why A Woman Cries
- Run, Baby, Run (Back into My Arms)
- Take Care of Your Woman
- I’m The Man On Susie’s Mind
- I Can’t Stop Loving You
- Run The Engines Up High
- It Ain’t No Big Thing
- I Fought the Law
- The Three Bells
- Danny Boy
Milestones (1973)
- I Wanna Live
- You Don’t Know Me
- California Sunshine Girl
- Words
- Blue Rain (Coming Down)
- Drift Away
- You Lay So Easy On My Mind
- The World You Live In
- Sweet Caroline
- I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
- The Morning After
MGM B-Sides And Singles (2015) (double LP in vinyl box set, 1 disc in CD box set)
- So Good
- Born to Be Loved by You
- Shy Away
- Flowers
- Sugar Man
- My Friend
- Southbound Jericho Parkway
- Tennessee Owns My Soul
- She Cheats On Me
- How Do You Start Over
- So Young
- If I Had a Woman Like You
- (Love Me Like You Did It) Last Night
- Close Again
- I Can Read Between the Lines
- Sooner or Later
One of the Lonely Ones
- You’ll Never Walk Alone
- Say No More
- Leaving Makes the Rain Come Down
- Sweet Memories
- Laurie
- One of the Lonely Ones
- Child Woman, Woman Child
- Give Up
- The Defector
- Little Girl (In The Big City)
- After Tonight
- I Will Always
The MGM Years 1965-1973 / 13CD box
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The MGM Years 1965-1973 / 14LP box
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One of the Lonely Ones / CD Edition
- • UK Order: One of the Lonely Ones (CD)
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One of the Lonely Ones / Vinyl LP Edition
By Justyn Barnes
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