A LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL: ROY ORBISON WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA TO BE RELEASED NOVEMBER 3 BY ROY’S BOYS AND LEGACY RECORDINGS
Album features soaring Orbison vocals with brand-new Royal Philharmonic orchestral accompaniment, plus additional instrumentation by Roy’s sons and grandson
May 25, 2017- New York, NY- On November 3, A Love So Beautiful: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be released by Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings 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. Available on CD, vinyl LP and digital formats, this brand new album 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).
Alex Orbison, President of Roy’s Boys and the youngest of Roy Orbison’s sons, stated, “If ever there were a singer whose body of work benefits from a collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic it would be Roy Orbison. During the course of his career and after his passing it was constantly noted that his transcendent vocal ability made him something of an anomaly in the world of pop and rock and that, in another life, he would have taken the classical music/opera world by storm. Soon, we’ll all be able to experience that ‘life’ with the release of this project. It’s more than an album release, it’s the fulfillment of a prophecy in a very tangible way.”
The material covered on A Love So Beautiful is vast, ranging from his 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”).
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 (every Beatles album from 1964 on), 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. Written by Wesley, Roy Jr. and Alex Orbison – Roy’s Boys – with the help of Jeff Slate, no stone has been left unturned in order to illustrate the people, places, things and events that forged their father, the man behind those famous sunglasses.
A Love So Beautiful: Roy Orbison with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra track list:
- 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**
*featuring Alex Orbison- drums; Wesley & Roy Jr.- guitars; Roy III- guitar, tambourine
+featuring Alex Orbison- drums; Roy Orbison Jr. – guitar
**featuring Alex Orbison- drums