The Guardian: Ode to Roy: why Orbison is one of the rock’n’roll greats
January 7, 2016
Bob Stanley
“I’ve spent the first week of 2016 listening to three albums on rotation: There Is Only One Roy Orbison, The Orbison Way, and The Classic Roy Orbison, all of which are part of a box set chronicling his years at MGM Records in the late 60s and early 70s. You’d be forgiven for never having heard of them. They all sound like they could be compilations. Instead, they are a trio of albums Orbison recorded while at the top of his game in the mid 60s. Full of self-penned gems with his trademark mix of R&B and country, and strong and distinctive flavourings from Italy and Mexico.
“I thought my voice was sort of a wonder,” he once said, and he was right. By any measure, Orbison is one of the greats. So why have I never read anything about these albums in Mojo or the Sunday supplement pull-outs? Why aren’t they heralded in any of those 100 Albums You Have to Hear-type primers?…”
