Search - Roy Orbison :: Sings Don Gibson/Hank Williams The Roy Orbison Way

One of the greatest voices ever. One of the worst albums eve

Rick Holly | Lafayette, NJ. USA | 06/26/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"When Roy was on Monument records he was writing some of the greatest songs ever written, singing like no one else could, and recording and arranging his material with just enough instruments to create those awesome moods.(The ones Bruce Springstien said are "best listened to in the dark.") He and his producer at Monument Fred Foster, build the arrangements for those songs to showcase Roy's incredible voice. Those recordings never grow old or out of date for me and I still carry a "Best Of" in my car that gets played at least once or twice a month. I love Roy Orbison and wish he was around recording material like he was doing on "Mystery Girl" when he passed away in 1988.

There is not one song on these recent MGM albums that would fit on a "Best Of Orbison" collection. The arrangements are over blown, the background vocals are all over the place,often intrusive and Orbison sounds like a minor character on his own records. Listen to the quality of Roy's voice on a Monument record compared to an MGM record. On Monument his voice "is" the record. Big powerful and strong with alot of depth. On the MGM recordings his voice sounds thin and is mixed poorly into the overblown backgrounds. And as for song selection, Roy Orbison should not be doing a cover album of Don Gibson or Hank Williams tunes. Orbison was a class "A" songwritter. WOW. I really hate this stuff.

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The Best and Weakest of Roy's MGM Years

Robert Miller | Eastern USA | 12/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Don Gibson was one of the truly great country singer/songwriters. He had an unusual vocal style that is hard to explain to someone who hasn't heard him. His songwriting skills were astounding, for example I can't stop loving you, Oh Lonesome Me, Sweet Dreams etc. The master interpreter of Don Gibson had to be Roy Orbison. The 12 songs from Orbison sings Gibson are all first rate Nashville sound types of recordings. I can't understand why Oh Such A Stranger wasn't a megahit on the country charts -the arrangement is gorgeous, Orbison's vocals so emotional and heart-breaking. I love the fuzz guitar on Yes I'm Hurting. I love the country waltz Blue Blue Day, and the raucous What about me. There isn't a bad song among these 12. As for Roy sings Hank Williams, it's not as strong. There are gems such as Last night I heard you crying in your sleep but it is less inspired and the production and arrangements aren't as strong as on the Sings Don Gibson songs. Not bad, just not as excellent. At the risk of sounding repetitive, if you love Roy Orbison, buy this set because you will enjoy it. Roy was simply the greatest hands down, and there are too many wonderful songs to pass up on this collection."