A sincere "Thank You" to Barbara Orbison for reissuing her beloved late husband's and deeply adored singer, ROY ORBISON, first Monument Records album in a pristine remastered edition with 4 "bonus" tracks. It's delight to listen to and finally own a copy of Roy's first hit album after many years of wondering what this incredibly gifted vocalist-songwriter's groundbreaking recordings sounded like as intended album packages. While I've had his late 1950's SUN RECORDS recordings in my personal collection for years, Roy Orbison's MONUMENT RECORDS album catalogue is the most coveted of his entire career. Anyone from a casual fan to a collector will pointedly inform you that those are the treasured recordings most ultimately desired from this superb artist. This is the profound era of Roy Orbison 'coming into his own' as an artist - he'd honed his sound to perfection and was at the summit of a decade long plateau peak, the subsequent MGM Records years notwithstanding any major hit singles or albums. [Sometimes I wonder if record companies 'buy out' or lure an artist with a lucrative contract simply to control/limit their radio/chart successes. For example, look at relationships between John Mellencamp & CBS - Ricky Nelson & Decca who both left their hit making record companies only to slide into semi-obscurity. Were they intentionally drowned out of the spotlight? Nevertheless, both artists remained highly talented powers.]It's difficult to find Roy's vintage vinyl LPs without paying a hefty price, let alone finding one in near mint condition for my collector's hobby purpose - and I am very picky on that front. His great "hits" will always please, but, the tracks waiting to be rediscovered and heard on his full length albums are the real gems. And, what grand treasures they are! It's wonderful to see Roy Orbison documentaries and concert shows on PBS, in keeping his memory and legacy alive for generations to come, but, finally, more of his classic recordings are being made available to be cherished by his legions of long time and new fans who hunger for more Roy Orbison music than the common reissues already on the market for dozens of years. The mystery of these long sought after recordings are seeing the light of day after decades of gathering dust in record company vaults or some of which were only available in highly priced CD imports. During his lifetime, Roy Orbison delivered some of the finest Pop-Rock-Country recordings from exhilerating 'cover' versions to his own immaculately executed original musical concepts, and he remains one of the very few ultimately breathtaking vocalists of modern music history. He remains an imposing and unforgettable force in modern music, and rightfully so.

LONELY and Blue is one of the two perfect pop albums to be released in 1960; the other is Elvis Is BACK. Both artists, Orbison and Presley, were at the very peak of their talents; the song selections are inspired, the playing and production as fine as anything either artist would ever release. Its entirely possible that the Blue Angel single itself might be Roy's finest moment. As for the remastered reissue, buy it: it sounds wonderful and it includes the B-side Pretty One, a gift from the gods that has haunted my dreams for 40 years.

Although Roy Orbison made some great rock'n'roll recordings on the Sun label, his career only really became significant after he joined Monument. 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. 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 marked his Monument debut 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.

The first single released from the album was Uptown, which became a minor American hit. It is included as a bonus track along with its B-side, Pretty one. The big hits from the album were Only the lonely (a British number one hit that peaked at two in America - Roy apparently wrote the song for Elvis Presley but he is probably thankful that he end up recording it himself) and Blue angel, a top ten American hit that just missed the top ten in Britain. The B-sides to those two singles (Here comes that song again, Today's teardrops) appear among the bonus tracks.

A fourth single, I'm hurting, made the American top thirty but failed to chart (or maybe wasn't released) in Britain. The B-side of that single, I can't stop loving you, was one of two Don Gibson songs that appeared on the original album, the other being Legend in my time. In view of Ray Charles' spectacular success with that song in 1962 with I can't stop loving you, I wonder what would happened to Roy's 1960 version had it been released as an A-side. Roy eventually recorded a lot of Don Gibson's songs, eventually scoring a British top three hit with one of them, Too soon to know, coming after he left Monument.

Gene Pitney wrote Twenty-two days, one of the other songs here, in his song writing days before he had a recording contract of his own. (Oddly, Gene rarely wrote new songs after securing a recording contract , as he was able to record songs by other writers such as Bacharach and David.) Four excellent original songs (Blue avenue, Come back to me, Raindrops, I'll say it's my fault) and two covers (Bye bye love, Cry) complete this excellent album.

For most people, a collection of Roy's hits will suffice, but for those who want more, there is plenty of great music here.

I was in my last year at Bancroft Junior High School in Lakewood, CA when this record came out and I was completely blown away by the first track "Only the Lonely". Jeez Marie, what a voice. I thought it interesting the way he covered the Everly Brothers' hit, "Bye Bye Love" which was going to be covered the following year by Ray Charles. Roy's version isn't as good, Ray's is better, but still Roy's voice is haunting, as it is one every song he ever sang.

Roys' version of "I Can't Stop Loving You" is a show stopper. Very different than the way Ray Charles would do it, but every bit as good. "Blue Angel" is a doo woppy song that really show cases Roy's fabulous voice. Curiously enough, Roy almost sounds like Buddy Holly on "Raindrops", an excellent song, to be sure, but for me, a little out of place here, still that doesn't prevent this record from being on my list of one of the best ten records of 1961.

But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "I'm Hurtin'", my favorite song on this record. The way the band punctuates Roy's singing and the way Roy's voice puts his hurting message across is almost too much for one song. This record made me a fan and I've owned, listened to and loved every Roy Orbison record since, right up to his work with the Travelin' Wilburys. Those guys in that band were good, but they were awful darned lucky to have Roy Orbison with them on their first record.

This was the first Roy Orbison Album I ever bought, and the one that I most remember, and which made me a fan. I lost the original and was never able to find a copy in stores...till now. Thanks to Barbara Orbison for making it available again!