50 All Time Greatest Hits

Performer: Roy Orbison
Distributor: Gotham Distributing Corp.

Notes: Recording information: 1956-1976. Perhaps Collectables Records should not get their hopes up on receiving "Truth in Advertising" awards for this two-disc Roy Orbison collection; a handy double set which compiled Orbison's classic Monument sides along with highlights from his releases for Sun, M-G-M, and Virgin would be a more than welcome addition to his catalog, but despite the title that's not what 50 All Time Greatest Hits has on board. This set features a whopping 47 tunes from Orbison's Monument years, with his three best known Sun sides ("Ooby Dooby," "Rock House," and "Go! Go! Go!") closing out disc two. All of Roy's classic '60s hits can be found on disc one, while a healthy selection of covers and lesser-knowns dominate the second half; it's all splendid material, even if the sequencing seems just a bit clunky in spots, and the mastering is more than adequate (though some of this material has sounded cleaner on previous CD releases). In short, as an overview of Orbison's most creatively and commercially fruitful period, this compilation does a fine job, but as a full career retrospective, it falls considerably short of the mark, and the sudden emergence of "Rockabilly Roy" at the very end is both odd and disorienting. (The liner notes and cover art aren't much to write home about, either.) In short, the definitive Roy Orbison hits package still remains to be assembled, though if you're looking to replace or upgrade your old copy of Monument's The All-Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison, this will give you just what you've been looking for. ~ Mark Deming

Roy Orbison, a seminal rock & roll singer who initially recorded for the legendary Sun Records, created some of the most enduring hits of the 1950s and '60s. His near-operatic voice and dark, broken-hearted songs influenced a generation of artists. His songs and arrangements, almost symphonic in scope, set the template for pop sophistication in the early-to-mid-'60s. After a late-'80s comeback that included collaborations with Bono and Elvis Costello and a stint with the rock super-group the Travelling Wilburys, Orbison died of a heart attack in 1988.

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