Only the Lonely by Roy Orbison.
Yesterday
we let Ella Fitzgerald cheer us up. But riding
the manic depressive whiplash of ups and downs today we wallow in
the despair of Coronovirus isolation.
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Roy Orbison--the trademark look of a jet black pompadour and the heavy framed dark glasses that he wore due to an eye sight problem.
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Only
the Lonely was
written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and was released by Monument
Records in 1960. Distributed by London Records, it became Orbison’s first
major hit and went to #2 on Billboard Pop Music Chart and #14 on the Billboard
R&B chart. It did even better in
Britain where it soared to #1 on the
UK Singles Chart.
Orbison’s
record was aptly described by The
New York Times as expressing “a clenched, driven urgency.”
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The London Records single release of Only the Lonely.
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Other
artists have covered the song, most
notably Sonny James who had a 1969
#1 Country hit with it. But the song and sound will always be unique to Orbison. His recording
also featured his soon-to-be-famous
falsetto and vibrato that showcased a powerful voice. According to biographer
Alan Clayson, it “came not from his throat but deeper within.” The song differed from the typical verse-chorus structure of popular music of the time by building and falling to a climax,
with emotional expression then rare for male performers.
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