On Blue Bayou: Royal Philharmonic Re-Teams With Roy Orbison On “Unchained Melodies”
Last November, the late Roy Orbison followed in the footsteps of his fellow Sun alumnus Elvis Presley when his original recordings were given the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra treatment on the set entitled A Love So Beautiful. On November 16, a little over a year after that successful release, the Orchestra has returned to the Orbison songbook with an all-new collection. Unchained Melodies: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra presents another 15 selections from the famously operatic vocalist in lavish, new orchestrations.
This set draws considerably upon Orbison’s later recordings. “She’s a Mystery to Me,” “California Blue,” “The Comedians,” and “Careless Heart” have all been culled from the Jeff Lynne-produced Mystery Girl, which was released to great acclaim and commercial success following Orbison’s untimely death on December 6, 1988 at the age of 52. “Heartbreak Radio,” heard in both a solo version and a posthumous duet with the single-named country singer Cam, was first released on 1992’s collection of previously unreleased material, King of Hearts.
Still other tracks date back to Orbison’s early Monument Records years (1960-1964), including “The Crowd,” “The Great Pretender,” “Falling,” and the oft-covered, immortal “Blue Bayou,” while the late artist’s MGM years (1965-1973) are represented by his recordings of “Crawling Back,” “Unchained Melody,” “Walk On,” “Danny Boy,” and “Too Soon to Know.”
This new collection from one of popular music’s most everlasting voices is available from Monument Records, Roy’s Boys, and Legacy Recordings on November 16. A vinyl edition arrives one week later, on November 23. You’ll find the pre-order links and full track listing below!
Unchained Melodies: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Monument/Roy’s Boys/Legacy, 2018) (
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Unchained Melody
- Blue Bayou
- She’s a Mystery To Me
- Heartbreak Radio
- Falling
- Walk On
- The Great Pretender
- The Crowd
- The Comedians
- Crawling Back
- Danny Boy
- Too Soon To Know
- Careless Heart
- California Blue
- Heartbreak Radio (Duet with Cam)
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4 thoughts on “On Blue Bayou: Royal Philharmonic Re-Teams With Roy Orbison On “Unchained Melodies””
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This new “trend” of adding an orchestra to existing music is for the birds. Who is the target audience? I can’t believe it is any true fans of the artist(s) involved. Maybe they should add orchestral accompaniments to all the old Hollyridge Strings albums!
Amen. This is the worst example of crass commercialism since Hooked On Classics. Poor Roy. Between these Frankenstein albums and the hologram tour …
to all the negative nellies. If these symphonic releases weren’t selling, they would not keep releasing them. And yes, “true” fans are buying them. The answer is simple. If you don’t care for them, don’t buy them. Nobody is twisting your arm. The estates of these artists are being paid and I am sure the recipients of those royalty checks are not complaining. Why should you?
‘A Love So Beautiful’ (the single) was interesting to hear with orchestra because it was based on the aria “Nessun Dorma” from the opera “Turandot”. So there was some pedigree there. Not sure about this selection…