These songs are not in his lush ballad style that shaped his big hits of the 60's. Instead, they are in the Rockabilly style of the Sun studios, which don't quite do justice to his voice. In fact, I was listening to this in the car as I picked up my teen-age daughter and her friends at school, and their snap opinion was "Sounds like Elvis." (Well, I've at least trained my daughter so that she can distinguish between the Temptations and the Four Tops, but haven't worked back to the 50's yet.)
Don't approach this album as representative Roy Orbison. However, if you are interested in how he got his start, or in the legendary Sun Records company, or rockabilly in general, then this album will be intriguing.
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Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
thanks Bruce, very nice job - I love Roy and have heard some of the early rockabilly stuff and he doesn't have the swagger of the best rockabilly, nor is his voice as well served as by the rock operas. It's also a very interesting object lesson in the importance of finding yourself. Imagine how many artists out there never did.
2 - Bruce Kratofil
"It's also a very interesting object lesson in the importance of finding yourself"
Yes - I imagine at the time when he left Memphis and headed back to Texas, his career didn't look that bright. But he ended up with a unique sound that put him in the RR Hall of Fame.
3 - Temple Stark
Thanks for the review, Bruce. Roy (not talking Clark) was gifted, spiritually and vocally. A loss right up there with Lennon.
This review is now up at Advance.net, by the way.
Click here.
Let the artist / record company know, perhaps?
- Temple