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Roy Orbison at the Rock House

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Roy Orbison at the Rock House
Studio album by
Roy Orbison
ReleasedDecember 1961
Recorded1956–1958
StudioSun Records
GenreRockabilly
Length20:34
LabelSun
ProducerSam Phillips
Roy Orbison chronology
Lonely and Blue
(1961) 		Roy Orbison at the Rock House
(1961) 		Crying
(1962)

Roy Orbison at the Rock House is the first album by Roy Orbison on the Sun Records label, released in 1961 at a time when Orbison had already moved to the Monument label.[1] Sun Records owner Sam Phillips had a collection of songs Orbison had recorded at Sun during 1956–1958. Phillips capitalized on the national recognition Orbison had achieved at Monument through three major hit singles in 1960 and 1961 that had gone to the top of the Billboard charts.

Most of the songs on Roy Orbison at the Rock House were written by Orbison but the songwriting credits were assigned to Sam Phillips, and are in Sun's traditional rockabilly style. Notable exceptions are compositions by other Sun artists Harold Jenkins (better known as Conway Twitty) and Johnny Cash. "Rock House" is credited to Orbison and Jenkins.[2] the album was released as The Exciting Sounds Of Roy Orbison for its release in the UK in 1964,[3] and it spent its two weeks on the album chart there at number 17[3] before being retitled as Roy Orbison - The Original Sound in The USA in 1969. Bear Family included also the album in the 2001 Orbison 1955-1965 box set.[4]

For this release, all tracks except "Devil Doll" have been overdubbed with background vocals or additional instruments.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]

Bruce Eder of AllMusic said that the album "is downright bracing and exciting, though it's easy to see why it never succeeded at the time -- numbers like "You're Gonna Cry" and "Problem Child" were a little too intense and ambitious as rock & roll, with too many changes and involved lyrics, to hold that audience en masse."[5]

Billboard enjoyed Orbison's "exciting rocking dramatic style".[7]

Track listing

[edit]

This album was only released in US.

All tracks are written by Roy Orbison, assigned to Sam Phillips, except where indicated

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."This Kind of Love" 2:09
2."Devil Doll" 2:09
3."You're My Baby"Johnny Cash2:05
4."Trying to Get To You"Rose Marie McCoy, Charles Singleton2:38
5."It's Too Late"Chuck Willis1:59
6."Rock House"Sam Phillips, Harold Jenkins2:02
7."You're Gonna Cry" 2:07
8."I Never Knew" 2:22
9."Sweet and Easy to Love" 2:12
10."Mean Little Mama" 1:57
11."Ooby Dooby"Wade Moore, Dick Penner2:13
12."Problem Child"Roy Orbison2:10

Personnel

[edit]
The Teen Kings
  • Roy Orbison – lead vocals, lead guitar
  • James Morrow – electric mandolin
  • Jack Kennelley – double bass
  • Johnny Wilson – acoustic guitar
  • Billy Pat Ellis – drums
Additional musicians
  • The Four Roses – backing vocals
  • uncredited – guitar, bass, piano, drums; overdubbed guitars, bass, piano, drums, backing vocals

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Orbison, Roy Jr. (2017). The Authorized Roy Orbison. Orbison, Wesley,, Orbison, Alex,, Slate, Jeff (First ed.). New York: Center Street. p. 247. ISBN 9781478976547. OCLC 1017566749.
  2. ^ Orbison, Roy Jr. (2017). The Authorized Roy Orbison. Orbison, Wesley,, Orbison, Alex,, Slate, Jeff (Second ed.). New York: Center Street. ISBN 9781478976547. OCLC 1017566749.
  3. ^ a b "Exciting Sounds of Roy Orbison". Official Charts. 1964-07-25. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  4. ^ "Orbison 1955-1965". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Roy Orbison – Roy Orbison at The Rock House: Ratings & Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1062. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Pop Spotlight: Roy Orbison at the Rock House". Billboard. December 11, 1961. p. 22.
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