KPCC The Frame: Roy Orbison’s son revives his father’s long lost album, ‘One of the Lonely Ones’
Roy Orbison was known for his black shades, an operatic voice and powerful ballads, but to Alex Orbison he was “Dad.” Now, there’s an album from the legendary singer’s career that Alex and his brothers are releasing for the first time.
“One of the Lonely Ones” was recorded in 1969 in the wake of the death of two other of Orbison’s sons in a tragic fire, but it hasn’t been heard by many people until now.
Alex Orbison joins John Horn to discuss the joy of reviving his father’s lost music.
“One Of The Lonely Ones” was recorded in 1969, but was never released. What happened to it?
To understand Rob Orbison’s life in 1969, you need to back up just a little bit to 1968. Things seemed to be looking up for my dad. He was touring the U.K. and he met a young girl named Barbara, who would become Barbara Orbison, who was my mom. Tragedy struck in September 1968 and burned down our family and killed my two oldest brothers. His life grounded to a halt and he didn’t do anything until the first of 1969.
So the “One Of The Lonely Ones” sessions started in January and they went hot and heavy until March. The MGM record deal called for three records a year and they had three records that year. So “One Of The Lonely Ones” got pushed out of the schedule.
