Legacy Recordings/Roy’s Boys LLCA Love So Beautiful: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the new album that mixes archival vocal performances by the late rock legend with new orchestral accompaniment, hits stores today. The record was produced by Don Reedman and Nick Patrick, the same team behind the recent Elvis Presley albums that followed the same concept, and features contributions from Orbisons three sons — Alex, Roy Jr. and Wesley.
Alex Orbison tells ABC Radio that the album “really feels new, even the songs that you know by heart. And so, to have these songs re-imagined in a way that feels so fresh across the board, it really at times is just tear-inducing.”
Roy Jr., meanwhile, says he was thrilled with job Reedman and Patrick did on the album. “These guys nailed every single song perfectly,” he says.
Among the reworked Orbison classics on A Love So Beautiful are “In Dreams,” “Crying,” “Dream Baby,” “Only the Lonely,” “I Drove All Night,” “You Got It” and “Oh, Pretty Woman.” For the latter track, Alex, Roy Jr. and Wesley got together at their father’s old Nashville recording studio to record new drum and guitar parts.
While working on the track, the brothers came up with the idea to enlist another Orbison family member, Roy Jr.’s 10-month-old son Roy Orbison III, whom Alex “says is super-talented at clapping in time and banging on things.” The toddler wound up playing tambourine and strumming a pre-tuned guitar on the song.
“You’d think that…having the chance to play with my brothers and my dad on my dad’s biggest hit would have been the crowning moment of my life,” Alex notes, “but having Roy Orbison III on this record was the proudest moment of my entire life.”
Here’s the full track list of A Love So Beautiful:
“In Dreams”
“Crying”
“I’m Hurtin'”
“Oh, Pretty Woman”*
“It’s Over”
“Dream Baby”+
“Blue Angel”
“Love Hurts”
“Uptown”**
“Mean Woman Blues”+
“Only the Lonely”
“Running Scared”
“I Drove All Night”**
“You Got It”
“A Love So Beautiful”**
“Pretty Paper”
“I Drove All Night”***
* = features Alex Orbison on drums; Wesley & Roy Jr. on guitars; Roy III on guitar, tambourine
+ = features Alex Orbison on drums; Roy Orbison Jr. on guitar
** = features Alex Orbison on drums
*** = features Alex Orbison on drums; Ward Thomas on guest vocals.
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