| Sings Lonely and Blue | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Roy Orbison |
| Cover: | Lonely and Blue - Roy Orbison.jpg |
| Released: | January 1961 |
| Recorded: | September 18, 1959 – September 17, 1960 |
| Studio: | RCA Studio B, Nashville |
| Genre: | Rock and roll |
| Length: | 28:33 |
| Label: | Monument |
| Producer: | Fred Foster |
| Next Title: | Roy Orbison at the Rock House |
| Next Year: | 1961 |
Lonely and Blue is the debut studio album by Roy Orbison,[1] released on Monument Records in January 1961.[2]
The track entitled "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.[3] The Album also features Multiple covers songs from Don Gibson, The Everly Brothers, Gene Pitney, and Johnnie Ray"[4]
It entered the UK album chart two years later, on June 30, 1963 and reached number 14 over the course of eight weeks.[5]
The album was released on compact disc for the first time 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 being Orbison 2nd Studio Album from January 1962, Crying.[6] Bear Family included also the album in the 2001 Orbison 1955-1965 box set.[7]
After a two-year stint at Sun Records, Roy Orbison signed up with RCA Records 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.
Bruce Eder of AllMusic 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".[8]
Billboard magazine gave a postive results, described the album as "a Spinnable Album"[9] Cashbox appreciated the effort. "Good material and a striking delivery add up to strong merchandise."[10] Variety gave the album a postive results, saying "Only The Lonely' [and] I'm Hurtin' are included here as well as some other Nashville orginated songs"[11]
All tracks recorded 15–17 September 1960, except where indicated.