Album Description
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Personnel includes: Roy Orbison (vocals, guitar); Johnny Wilson, Larry Parks (guitar); James Marrow (mandolin); Charlie McCoy (harmonica); Boots Randolph (saxophone); Floyd Cramer (piano); Jack Kennelly (bass); Billy Ellis (drums).
Producers: Fred Porter, Sam Phillips.
Compilation producers: James Austin, Gary Stewart.
Recorded between 1956 & 1964.
Includes liner notes by Todd Everett.
Appearing as it did just a few months before Roy Orbison's death, this single CD best-of was incredibly fortuitous for Rhino Records. It was the first compilation to include both Orbison's early successes on Sun Records along with his early-'60s hits for Monument Records and, thus, was as definitive as most casual fans needed it to be. The sound is impeccable, as is the choice of material (which was not difficult to assemble). One gets only a somewhat sketchy overview of Orbison's developing talent, ignoring the years between his Sun and Monument recordings, but that's usually the purpose of a greatest-hits collection anyway. For those who want more, The Legendary Roy Orbison gives a better overall account, but as a four-CD set is a lot more expensive; All-Time Greatest Hits gives a somewhat fuller account of the Monument years (and all of his Monument albums were available individually as well); and the out-of-print MGM best-of covers the music from the years following his departure from Monument. (The best of the latter doesn't sound that different from the Monument material -- Orbison's post-Monument songs just never caught the public's ear or managed to become hit records.) But For the Lonely is the best account of the music that everyone already recognizes and knows. ~ Bruce Eder
The ghostly croon of Roy Orbison occupies a world somewhere between dreams and waking, where heartache walks hand in hand with happiness. This is the world Orbison inhabits in songs like "Dream Baby." The deceptively upbeat, Everly Brothers-style rocker wears an outward mask of confidence, but very close to the surface lies the desire-driven psychological turbulence that is Orbison's stock in trade. Similar turf is explored throughout this mighty compilation, on such indelible tracks as "In Dreams" and "Only the Lonely." Orbison's more straightforward rockabilly origins are represented by "Candy Man" (actually co-written by folk troubadour Fred Neil), "Ooby Dooby," and "Mean Woman Blues." FOR THE LONELY closes effectively with the classic "Oh, Pretty Woman," where Orbison turns his heartbreak around for once, aided considerably by a tough-as-nails guitar-and-drum riff.
