Sings Lonely & Blue

Roy Orbison's first album recorded for Monument was released in 1961 and features ''Come Back To me (My Love)'' and ''Only The Lonely''. ''Time and familiarity -- through multiple reissues -- may have muted the seeming significance of some of what's here, but in 1960 Sings Lonely and Blue was not only a breakthrough for Roy Orbison as his debut LP, but also for rock & roll. Up to that point, apart from Elvis Presley -- who was in a class by himself -- few white rock & rollers had even tried to make as bold a use of the LP as what we hear on this record. Orbison, his collaborator Joe Melson, and producer Fred Foster turned the singer's debut long-player into a huge canvas for a sound that combined rock & roll's beat, Nashville's countrypolitan sound, and the singer's unique multi-octave range and operatic intensity into something unique in music. The single ''Only the Lonely'' may have been the most accessible and commercial side of this new sound, but the whole album was packed with great moments and different permutations of that sound...''