Check out this excerpt from a recent issue Vive Le Rock Magazine featuring an interview with Alex Orbison on Roy Orbison’s #MGMYears-
Alex Orbison on Nocturnal Journal with Dave Hoekstra
Dave Hoekstra visits with Alex Orbison, son of the legendary Roy Orbison for a talk about the late singer/songwriter’s life and work, and the path that led to his unearthing of a lost Roy Orbison album, “One of the Lonely Ones“. He also talks about the personal tragedy that led his father to write the record’s songs, Roy’s contemporary presence and more.
uDiscover: AUDIO EXCLUSIVE, PART 4: SUMMING UP ‘THE MGM YEARS’
uDiscover: AUDIO EXCLUSIVE, PART 4: SUMMING UP ‘THE MGM YEARS’
December 11, 2015
Today we present the final part of our exclusive four-part audio interview series in whichRoy Orbison‘s son Alex talks to Paul Sexton about the new box set of his legendary father’s work between 1965 and 1973, The MGM Years.
In this closing instalment, Alex reveals some of his personal favourite songs from this 152-song, 13-CD or 14-LP set, with some concluding thoughts about what it has felt like to work on the research and remastering for the collection over an extended period. He also talks about his pride in seeing this less appreciated part of his dad’s catalogue now being afforded the attention it deserves.
“When we had gone through the catalogue and remastered this stuff and balanced it,” he notes, “some of the songs that I had passed before, I was [now] able to hear my dad’s voice, and they gave it such a velvety quality. My favourites before were ‘Ride Away’ and ‘Crawling Back,’ and when I had listened to those songs they had really embodied what the MGM catalogue was for me.
Rolling Stone: Roy Orbison’s Son Details Sprawling ‘MGM Years’ Package
“It was really amazing to me to see how hard he was working,” says Alex Orbison
In the fall of 1964 Roy Orbison was at the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with “Pretty Woman,” a gem of a hit punctuated by a seductive growl that rivaled Tony the Tiger and the MGM lion. In addition to that multi-million-seller, Orbison recorded a series of smashes for Monument Records (his first major deal was with Sun Records), from “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)” and “Running Scared” to the oft-covered “Crying” and many others. After the success of “Pretty Woman,” he secured a lucrative deal with (perhaps a bit ironically) MGM Records. Rather than the roaring success they should have been, however, Orbison’s MGM years were fraught with disappointment and tragedy.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/roy-orbisons-son-details-sprawling-mgm-years-package-20151209#ixzz3tqWpJKe9
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uDiscover: AUDIO EXCLUSIVE, PART 3: ROY ORBISON, MY DAD
uDiscover: AUDIO EXCLUSIVE, PART 3: ROY ORBISON, MY DAD
To coincide with today’s (4 December) release of the Roy Orbison box set The MGM Years, we present the third in our four-part audio series with his son Alex, who has been closely involved, with his brothers Roy Jr and Wesley, in the research and remastering of this lavish collection.
In this edition, Alex talks to Paul Sexton about his father’s work throughout his eight-year tenure at MGM Records, including his great success on record in Australia (notably with ‘Communication Breakdown’) and as a live attraction of unerring popularity in the United Kingdom. Later in this episode, he also gives listeners a rare insight into what it was like growing up as the son of Roy Orbison.