"...Love Hurts...Love Scars..."
Having established his vocal
credentials with December 1960's debut LP "Roy Orbison Sings Lonely And
Blue" (a legendary Audiophile creation -especially in Stereo) – it was
time for sucker-punch number two. Rising to No. 21 on the US Pop charts – the
Big 'O' gave us another masterpiece of pleading, needing and general lovelorn
weepiness – 1962's "Crying".
Re-listening to it in 2016
on this fab little CD and you’re struck by the awesome Audio, the sheer
classiness of the songwriting and his battle weary persona – a strangely warm
and accessible thing that seemed to straddle that thin line between young
love's emotional highs vs. bottomless heartbreak and still come out smelling of
roses.
Like its famous predecessor
– Monument 4007 is a wickedly good little album with monster hits like
"Crying” and “Running Scared”. And by throwing in clever bonus cuts like
the killer B-side "Candy Man" and the non-album 45 of "Dream Baby"
- this tasty Sony Legacy CD reissue/remaster does the old doll super proud. No
one is running scared from this one. Get ready with that boxes of
tissues...here are the details...
UK and Europe released
October 2006 – "Crying" by ROY ORBISON on Monument/Legacy/Sony BMG
82876 85574 2 (Barcode 828768557426) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster and
plays out as follows (41:20 minutes):
1. Crying
2. The Great Pretender
3. Love Hurts
4. She Wears My Ring
5. Wedding Day
6. Summer Song
7. Dance [Side 2]
8. Lana
9. Loneliness
10. Let's Make A Memory
11. Nite Life
12. Running Scared
Tracks 1 to 12 are his
second album "Crying" - released April 1962 in the USA on Monument M
4007 (Mono) and Monument SM 14007 (Stereo) and May 1962 in the UK on London
HA-U 2437 (Mono only). Produced by FRED FOSTER – the STEREO Mix is used for the
CD.
BONUS TRACKS:
13. Candy Man
Track 13 is the non-album
B-side of "Crying" – released August 1961 in the USA on Monument MO
447 and September 1961 in the UK on London 9405. Beverley Ross and Elektra
Records Folk singer Fred Neil co-wrote "Candy Man".
14. Let The Good Times Roll
Track 14 is the non-album
A-side of a November 1965 USA 7" single on Monument 45-906 (it was
recorded at the November 1961 sessions but not used until 1965). It peaked at
No. 81 on the US singles charts.
15. Dream Baby (How Long
Must I Dream)
Track 15 is the non-album
A-side of a February 1962 USA 7" single on Monument 45-456 (written by
Cindy Walker). It was issued February 1962 in the UK as "Dream Baby"
on London HLU 9511 also with "The Actress" as its B-side.
16. The Actress
Track 16 is the non-album
B-side to "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" in both the USA and
UK. Roy Orbison and Joe Melson wrote it.
MUSICIANS:
GUITARS – Harold Bradley,
Hank Garland, Grady Martin, Boudleaux Bryant, Scotty Moore, Fred Carter Jr.,
Ray Edenton and Joe Tanner
TRUMPET – Carl Garvin and
Cam Mullins
SAXOPHONE – Harry Johnson
and Boots Randolph
HARMONICA – Charlie McCoy
PIANO – Floyd Cramer and
Bill Pursell
BASS – Bob Moore
DRUMS – John Greubel and
Buddy Harman
VIOLA - Howard Carpenter
CELLO – Bryan Bach
VIOLINS – Brenton banks,
George Binkley III, Aileen Fentress, Solie Fott, Lillian Hunt, Jane Norris,
Vernal Richardson, Wilda Tinsley and Dorothy Walker
BACKING VOCALS – Joe Melson
and The Anita Kerr Singers
Although it has a pair of
sepia-tinted Roy photos discussing something on a phone – apart from the repro
of Boudleaux Bryant’s liner notes – there is naught else by way of history or
discussion (more’s the pity). The booklet is pretty to look at admittedly but
such a shame that Sony and compiler GREG GELLER didn’t stretch out a tad with
the info (he deserved more). There's also another sepia photo of Roy beneath
the see-through CD tray.
But all of that is naught to
the truly beautiful CD Audio you get the second you start playing the expertly
crafted songs. VIC ANESINI did the Remasters at Sony Studios in New York – and
he's a name I've sung the praises of before. Anesini has handled very
prestigious SONY catalogue – Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds,
Nilsson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carole King, Janis Joplin, Blood, Sweat &
Tears, Santana, Mountain, Paul Simon, Lou Reed and The Jayhawks to name but a few. Clean – full of
presence and warmth – this thing is a joy to listen too. And even if the
strings and Anita Kerr Singers do tend to over dramatize some of the songs –
Orbison's voice is a thing of wonder throughout. It's also one of those
reissues that become vastly enhanced by the addition of four smartly chosen and
apt bonus tracks - the chipper "Candy Man" B-side and the beautifully
arranged pleader "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)".
Like the "...Only The
Lonely" LP – this album opens with a mighty misery tune – our hero telling
us that he was alright for a while until she stopped to say hello (women do
these sort of cruel things). The audio on this mini masterpiece is (if you'll
forgive the pun) – monumental – and all the more impressive to see that like
much of the album the song is penned by Roy with his songwriting buddy of
choice – Joe Melson. Buck Ram gave The Platters "The Great Pretender"
and here Roy lays on the ache again – so too with Boudleaux Bryant's Everly
Brothers hit "Love Hurts". Roy also penned the proud marital song "She
Wears My Ring" – a staccato drum rumble pacing out her devotion. A wash of
strings at the beginning of "Summer Song" threatens to drown the Roy
Orbison/Joe Melson tune in a sea of maudlin – but then great voice and rhythm
kicks in and it turns out to be one of the album's highlights.
Time to up the pace - so Roy
and Joe open Side 2 with a 60ts hipshaker - their wickedly good
"Dance" - a sax solo song that could surely have been another top ten
hit. "Lana” is cute but somehow too poppy for its own good – better is his
string melodrama of "Let's Make A Memory" and the double whammy
finishers – a cha-cha "Night Life" and the fantastic teenage angst of
"Running Scared" - a song that lets the full 'Big O' persona surface
– hitting those great notes as the song climaxes. The four Bonus Tracks turn
out to be just that – all killer and no filler. "Candy Man" is a
favourite flip for Roy fans while the Harmonica and saxophone driven "Let
The Good Time Roll" was probably too similar to other songs so left in the
can only to be retrieved as a 45 in own right in 1965. And both "Dream
Baby..." and "The Actress" is a superb 45 combo...
A sweetheart of a release
then and one that boasts exceptional Audio - classy like the great man himself
- and all of it done in conjunction with the Roy Orbison Estate.
"...I could smile for a
while..." - Roy sang on "Crying". I agree...
PS: This CD has been
reissued May 2010 in the USA using the same Monument/Legacy catalogue number of
82876 85574 2- but with a different barcode of 886977079023 – same tracks and
same annotation
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