| Cry Softly Lonely One | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Roy Orbison |
| Cover: | Cry Softly Lonely One - Roy Orbison.jpg |
| Released: | October 1967 |
| Recorded: | March 3, 1966 – July 7, 1967 |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Length: | 24:18 |
| Label: | MGM |
| Producer: | Wesley Rose, Jim Vienneau |
| Prev Title: | The Fastest Guitar Alive |
| Prev Year: | 1967 |
| Next Title: | Roy Orbison's Many Moods |
| Next Year: | 1969 |
Cry Softly Lonely One is the twelfth music album recorded by Roy Orbison, and his sixth for MGM Records. The album was released in October 1967 and included two singles: "Communication Breakdown" and the title tune, both of which were minor hits in the States early that year. "Communication Breakdown" did much better in Australia, where it reached #9 in February. According to the official Roy Orbison biography,[1] the London Records release (non U.S.) of this album featured the extra track "Just One Time".
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote that this album "was an anachronism (the other irony is that, had it come out 18 months later, it might have ridden the same roots rock wave as Elvis Presley's Memphis albums, or Joe South, to success). Some of it, such as "That's a No No," was a true throwback to an earlier pop/rock era, but most of what was here was a great showcase for Orbison's classic sound as it had evolved, oblivious to the musical trends around him"[2]
Record Mirror felt that "His voice tackles this collection of mostly gentle songs well, but it is a pity that several "teen" songs are included, seemingly from the chewing -gum blue, jeans era."[3]