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Memphis (Roy Orbison album)

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Not to be confused with Memphis (Boz Scaggs album).
Memphis
Cover art by Drew Struzan
Studio album by
Roy Orbison
ReleasedNovember 1972
RecordedMarch 15 – April 14, 1972
GenreRockabilly[1]
Length37:27
LabelMGM (SE 4867)
ProducerRoy Orbison, Joe Melson
Roy Orbison chronology
Roy Orbison Sings
(1972) 		Memphis
(1972) 		Milestones
(1973)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]

Memphis is the seventeenth album recorded by Roy Orbison, and his tenth for MGM Records. The album was released in November 1972.

The album was released on compact disc for the first time by Diablo Records on October 25, 2004 as tracks 12 through 22 on a pairing of three albums on one CD with tracks 1 - 11, through 23 - 33 consisting of the other album being Orbison's Other Album from May 1972, Roy Orbison Sings, and His MGM Final Album from September 1973, Milestones.[4] The Roy's Boys was included in a box set entitled The MGM Years 1965-1973 - Roy Orbison, which contains 12 of his MGM studio albums, 1 compilation, and was released on Deember 4, 2015.[5]

History

[edit]

The album took three weeks to make in March and April 1972. The album had one single, "Memphis, Tennessee", which became a minor hit in the US, charting at #84. Also included was a new, re-recorded version of Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You", which previously appeared on his 1960 album "Lonely and Blue". This was Orbison's final album that was released for London Records as Decca let Orbison out of their contract on June 30, 1972.

Reception

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Bruce Eder of AllMusic said that the album "moves on to more familiar sentimental country-pop territory of the kind that Glen Campbell had been charting with and filling his albums with for a few years -- and after that comes a hot, beat-driven, chorus-laden, big-sounding number. nderstated interpretation of Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You" that shows how less can be more with a voice like Orbison's, and then there's the pop/rock country "Run the Engines Up High," which incorporates some heavy, rock-style fuzz guitar, and a version of "I Fought the Law," complete with phased drums."[2]

Billboard called it "one of his best efforts in years"[6]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
  1. "Memphis, Tennessee" – (Chuck Berry)
  2. "Why A Woman Cries" – (Jerry McBee)
  3. "Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)" – (Joe Melson, Don Gant)
  4. "Take Care of Your Woman" – (Jerry McBee)
  5. "I'm The Man on Susie's Mind" – (Joe Melson, Glenn Barber)
  6. "I Can't Stop Loving You" – (Don Gibson)
Side two
  1. "Run The Engines Up High" – (Jerry McBee)
  2. "It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)" – (Neal Merritt, Alice Joy Merritt, Shorty Hall)
  3. "I Fought the Law" – (Sonny Curtis)
  4. "The Three Bells" – (Jean Villard; English lyrics by Bert Reisfeld)
  5. "Danny Boy" – (Frederic Weatherly)

Arranged by Joe Tanner Produced by Joe Melson & Roy Orbison except "Danny Boy" produced by Don Gant

References

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  1. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/memphis-mw0000691365
  2. ^ a b Eder, Bruce. "Roy Orbison - Memphis: Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1062. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Roy Orbison Sings/Memphis/Milestones". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  5. ^ "The MGM Years 1965-1973 - Roy Orbison". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Pop Spotlight: Memphis". Billboard. December 16, 1972. p. 53.
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