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Crying

Roy Orbison - Crying Audio CD

A fair review of the Roy Orbison "Crying" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Roy Orbison reviews here, or go back to the Roy Orbison tabs.

Band: Roy Orbison
Title: Crying
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-08-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Crying 2: The Great Pretender 3: Love Hurts 4: She Wears My Ring 5: Wedding Day 6: Summer Song 7: Dance 8: Lana 9: Loneliness 10: Let's Make A Memory 11: Nite Life 12: Running Scared 13: Candy Man 14: Dream Baby 15: The Actress 16: The Crowd

Bells On Your Toes
"Crying" has Orbison's classic melodic build that expands to that glorious chorus "Yes, now you're gone, and from this moment on I'll be crying. Roy Orbison's second album for Monument was recorded in 1961-2. " Orbison's sound was a template for the band Jay & the Americans that hit the charts a few years later with "Cara Mia. " Other tracks like the classic "The Great Pretender" and "Love Hurts" intrigue with Orbison's treatment. "Wedding Day" is a weeper with Orbison's tear-in-your beer sadness. I enjoy hearing Roy rock out on the toe-tapper "Dance," "Put rings on your fingers, bells on your toes, get with the feeling body & soul. " He does a rock n' roll cha-cha with "Night Life. " The original album ends with the monster hit "Running Scared" that builds dramatically to a thrilling crescendo. The bonus tracks are welcome additions to this great album that is getting close to 50 years old! The sound dynamics on this re-release are excellent. Enjoy! .

Second Monument album finds Roy in peak form
On that label, he was considered mainly a singles artist, but for those who want more of his music than just the hits, he recorded a few albums too. Although Roy Orbison made some great rock'n'roll recordings on the Sun label, his career only really became significant after he joined Monument. He mixed some but not all of his hits with other original songs plus cover versions of country and rock'n'roll songs. This particular album was his second for Monument and the 2006 re-mastered version includes four bonus tracks, all recorded during the sessions in which Roy recorded the tracks that appeared on the original album.

Including the bonus tracks, there are three massive American hits here, these being Crying (a number two hit), Running scared (a number one hit) and Dream baby (a cover of one of Bobby Darin's hits that made number four). Candy man, the B-side of Crying, made the top thirty in its own right. Two other singles didn't do so well in America, with Let the good times roll being a very minor hit while Lana didn't even make the top 100.

In Britain, Running scared made the top ten, Crying made the top thirty, Dream baby made number four and Lana eventually made the top twenty in 1966. Brian Poole and the Tremeloes had a top ten hit with their cover of Candy man. Clearly, it was a mistake for Roy's own version to be consigned to a B-side.

The B-sides of Running scared (Love hurts, a cover of an Everly brothers song), Lana (Summer song) and Dream baby (The actress) are also featured here. Another wonderful song is She wears my ring. Roy's version is the original and I don't think his version was released as single, but Solomon King covered it and had a British top three hit with it in 1968. Roy could do covers too, as he demonstrates here with his version of The great pretender (The Platters) as well as with the previously mentioned Dream baby and Love hurts. But most of the songs here are originals, including the tracks I so far haven't mentioned (Wedding day, Dance, Loneliness, Let's make a memory and Night life). No, Night life is not a cover of the famous identically-titled Willie Nelson song, it's completely different.

This is yet another brilliant album from the early part of Roy's career that will be appreciated by those who want to hear more than just the hit singles.

Still A Must For Fans
" Later versions such as the one on BLACK AND WHITE NIGHT were simply elegant--and the duet version with k. It may just be me, but I've always been a little troubled by Roy Orbison's vocal on the original version of "Crying. d. lang was also fine--but the original seemed a bit strained to me, especially at the song's oh-so-dramatic end. I say this as a HUGE Roy Orbison fan (although I AM trying to slim down a bit), and while it's true that singers mature and gain increasing confidence over time, I couldn't believe that my man Roy, would experience anything like vocal strain, even at the very outset of his career.

So recently, I conducted an experiment, and played this CD on as many systems as I could to see if I could figure out just where the problem (if any) really lay. And as you might guess, the worse the sound system, the more strained the vocal seemed. On a really good system, the vocal seems to emerge from the rather busy arrangement--and it soars as intended. In other words, the problem (and, yeah, I do think there is one) is mainly in the production. The arrangement is way too cluttered. And while it may have worked in mono, even a remastered CD sounds too clunky--everything but the kitchen sink thrown in to no real good effect.

You could say that these rather ill-conceived production values mar the whole ORIGINAL album to some degree. Horns and strings crop up on most of the tracks, a shame when you just know a simpler arrangement would have served to highlight the singer's voice so much better. Guitar, bass, drums, maybe some piano and back-up vocals as needed would have sufficed. The horns DO work on a few tracks ("Night Life"), but they're still too loud. Moderation in all things, especially all things musical. It's just not nice to drown out the singer.

The CD's bonus tracks pretty much prove the point. "Candy Man" and "Dream Baby"--both hit singles--are much cleaner sounding. The vocal is also much more front and center on the extra tracks "Let The Good Times Roll" and "The Actress," despite the fact "Good Times" has a full arrangement with horns, back-up singers and harp.

CRYING is certainly a must for Orbison completists, and listening to the whole album is like opening a time capsule from 1962. But it's also an object lesson in how even the best singers can be buried by cluttered arrangements. Devotees will still suss out the subtleties in the singing, but for more casual listeners that still might prove a frustrating exercise.

Still I'll take it. No use "Crying" over spilt milk.

.

What a voice!
His vocal range is outstanding and fresh today as in the late 50's and 60's. Roy Orbison outshines most artists. This CD is a real treat because you have some of Roy's most impressive hits along with other songs that are not heard as often. Sure wish the powers that be would release all those unreleased songs that he recorded. As many songs as have been released have never seen the light of day.
C. Blume.

Second Monument LP follows template of debut
Which isn't to suggest that the album tracks are uninteresting; they simply don't match the magnificence of the hits. Orbison's second album for Monument followed the template of his debut, "Lonely and Blue," with several key singles leading an album full of decidedly lesser works.

Orbison continued to construct dramatic operettas of pain and loneliness, but unlike the previous Monument hits, his new batch followed arcs that end in breathless emotional and aural crescendos. Such is the album's opener, "Crying," with Orbison transitioning from cast-aside to mortally wounded in a mere 2'49. The bookend closing to the original album, "Running Scared," has a similar architecture, and an emotional arc that takes Orbison from apprehension and paranoia to a surprisingly happy ending.

The album tracks include a couple of covers, "The Great Pretender," "She Wears My Ring," and "Love Hurts," none of which eclipse the better known hit singles. The rest of the originals from the pen of Orbison and his writing partner Joe Melson. The upbeat "Dance" shows off a soulful side, "Loneliness" has a lightly Latinized twist-beat, "Let's Make a Memory" is catch mid-tempo pop tune, and "Nite Life" has a jazzy horn chart.

Legacy's reissue adds a quartet of bonus tracks to the original dozen, including the saucy hit single "Candy Man," a bluesy cover of Shirley & Lee's "Let the Good Times Roll," the top-5 "Dream Baby" and its obscure B-side, "The Actress. " Sound quality is top-notch stereo, and the booklet reproduces both the front and back cover (with Boudleaux Bryant's original liner notes also rendered more readably within the booklet). Like most of Orbison's seminal recordings, the album tracks don't measure up to the hits, but this will still be of great interest to anyone who wants to go beyond the typical anthology. [�2006 hyperbolium dot com].

You can see a complete list of all Roy Orbison discography, or go back to the Roy Orbison tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.