A Love So Beautiful: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be released by Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings on Nov. 3. Available on CD, vinyl LP and digital formats, this brand new album is being released in partnership with Roy’s Boys LLC, the Nashville-based company founded by the late icon’s sons to administer their father’s catalog and safeguard his legacy.
A Love So Beautiful, according to a press release, “infuses Orbison’s best original vocal performances, consisting of hits and fan favorites such as ‘Oh, Pretty Woman,’ ‘Crying’ and ‘Only the Lonely,’ with the emotion and world class musicianship of the Royal Philharmonic, London’s most notable orchestra.”
In addition, Roy’s sons Wesley (guitar), Roy Jr. (guitar) and Alex (drums) provided instrumental backing on selected tracks, along with ten-month-old grandson Roy III (guitar, tambourine).
Related: Orbison passed away in 1988–which early rockers are still with us?
A Love So Beautiful: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is available to pre-order on CD, vinyl, and digitally here.
The material covered on A Love So Beautiful ranges from Roy Orbison’s early-mid-’60s material on the Monument label, where he hit his first commercial peak (“In Dreams,” “Blue Angel,” “Crying,” “Dream Baby,” “I’m Hurtin’,” “It’s Over,” “Mean Woman Blues,” “Only the Lonely,” “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Love Hurts,” “Uptown”) up to his comeback in the late ’80s before his untimely passing (“You Got It,” “I Drove All Night,” “A Love So Beautiful”).
Watch the performance of “Oh, Pretty Woman”
A Love So Beautiful was produced by Don Reedman and Nick Patrick, who were also at the helm for the hugely successful albums If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Wonder of You: Elvis Presley with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestral component was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Studio 2, in London, while Roy’s sons recorded their parts in Nashville at Black River Studios that was previously owned by their father.
Also out this fall is the first ever estate sanctioned Roy Orbison book, The Authorized Roy Orbison. Filled with hundreds of photographs, many never before seen, gathered from across the globe and uncovered from deep within the Orbison Vault, The Authorized Roy Orbison shows Roy as a young child and follows him all the way through to the peak of his stardom and up to his tragic end. The book was written by Wesley, Roy Jr. and Alex Orbison with the help of Jeff Slate. Pre-order it here.
A Love So Beautiful: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Track List
1) In Dreams
2) Crying
3) I’m Hurtin’
4) Oh, Pretty Woman*
5) It’s Over
6) Dream Baby +
7) Blue Angel
8) Love Hurts
9) Uptown**
10) Mean Woman Blues+
11) Only the Lonely (Know The Way I Feel)
12) Running Scared
13) I Drove All Night**
14) You Got It
15) A Love So Beautiful**
16) Pretty Paper
17) I Drove All Night** featuring Ward Thomas
*featuring Alex Orbison- drums; Wesley & Roy Jr.- guitars; Roy III- guitar, tambourine
+featuring Alex Orbison- drums; Roy Orbison Jr. – guitar
**featuring Alex Orbison- drums
Listen to “Love Hurts”
3 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationSo, let me make sure I understand this. They are recording the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing Roy’s songs, and then they will take his voice from recordings made while he was alive, and then combine the two so it sounds like some kind of “Roy Orbison and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra- Live at the Fillmore” type album? Sounds like the Orbison boys are running short of cash. This is a total money-grab, and I’m fairly certain that Roy Orbison is turning, no, make that spinning, in his grave. This is so wrong, on so many levels. So, what’s next? Maybe after all The Beatles are gone, we can do the same type thing, but put their voices over Twisted Sister playing the music of the Beatles? I’m sure Dee Snyder throw in a couple of “Ooos” and “ahhhhs” of his own as backup singer!
He’s not alone…
Aretha: http://bestclassicbands.com/aretha-royal-philharmonic-orchestra-9-16-17/
Elvis: http://bestclassicbands.com/elvis-presley-royal-philharmonic-9-10-16/
These two albums are just as much a money-grab as the Orbison album. In fact, it’s worse in the case of Aretha Franklin, she’s still alive. It’s a sad commentary on the music business when vocalists don’t even have to show up to sing the vocals.