Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits

Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits is a Roy Orbison record album from Monument Records recorded at the RCA Studio B in Nashville^[1] and released in 1962. Between the hit songs were also "Love Star" and "Evergreen"^[1] which were released here for the first time. "Dream Baby" had recently been a No. 4 hit in the United States and No. 2 in England.^[2]

Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Roy Orbison
Released	August 1, 1962
Recorded	September 18, 1959 – January 10, 1962
Studio	RCA Victor Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	Rock and roll, rockabilly
Length	28:38
Label	Monument (M 4009)
Producer	Fred Foster
Roy Orbison chronology
Crying (1962) Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits (1962) In Dreams (1963)

According to the authorised Roy Orbison biography,^[3] this was Orbison's third album on the Monument label, and his first greatest hits compilation. It was a success remaining in the charts for 140 weeks,^[2] when it debuted on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the issue dated September 1 that year, peaking at number 13.^[4] it entered the UK album charts 5 years later, on September 30, 1967 and it spent its only week on the album chart there at number 40.^[5] It reached No. 16 on the Cashbox albums chart for it spent 86 weeks.^[6] It was re-released in 1967 after his departure from Monument Records.

The album received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on March 24, 1966.^[7] Bear Family included also the album in the 2001 Orbison 1955-1965 box set.^[8]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[10]

Billboard enjoyed the "great individual performances in the dramatic Orbison style,"^[11]

Cash Box stated Orbison's "rich full-bodied voice is perfectly suited to such coinpulling merchandise as "Only the Lonely", "Crying" and "The Crowd".^[12]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Crowd"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:19
2.	"Love Star"	Cindy Walker	2:58
3.	"Crying"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:45
4.	"Evergreen"	Joe Tanner	2:43
5.	"Running Scared"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:10
6.	"Mama"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson, Ray Rush	2:58

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Candy Man"	Beverly Ross, Fred Neil	2:48
2.	"Only the Lonely"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:24
3.	"Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)"	Cindy Walker	2:35
4.	"Blue Angel"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:50
5.	"Uptown"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:05
6.	"I'm Hurtin'"	Roy Orbison, Joe Melson	2:43

Charts

Album

Chart (1962)	Peak position
U.S. Top LPs (Billboard)[4]	13
U.S. Cashbox[6]	16
U.K. Albums Chart[5]	40

References

Citations

1. Orbison (2017).
2. Orbison (2017), p. 89.
3. Orbison (2017), p. 247.
4. Whitburn (1996), p. 580.
5. "Roy Orbison". Official Charts. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
6. Hoffmann (1988), p. 278.
7. "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved 20 May 2024. Type Roy Orbison in the Search box and press Enter.
8. "Orbison 1955-1965". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
9. "Roy Orbison - Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits: Ratings & Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
10. Larkin (2007), p. 1062.
11. "Late Pop Spotlight: Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits". Billboard. Vol. 74, no. 30. July 28, 1962. p. 6.
12. "Cashbox Album Popular Pick of The Week Reviews: Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits". Cash Box. Vol. 23, no. 45. August 4, 1962. p. 29.

Bibliography

• Orbison, Roy Jr. (2017). The Authorized Roy Orbison. Orbison, Wesley; Orbison, Alex; Slate, Jeff (2nd ed.). New York: Center Street. ISBN 9781478976547. OCLC 1017566749.
• Whitburn, Joel (1996). Joel Whitburn's top pop albums : 1955-1996 : compiled from Billboard magazine's pop album charts, 1955-1996. Whitburn (4th ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wis: Record Research. ISBN 9780898201178. OCLC 97153280.
• Hoffmann, Frank W (1988). The Cash box album charts, 1955-1974. Hoffmann. Metuchen, N.J: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810820056. OCLC 87012716.
• Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Larkin. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781846098567.