Appears On
Roy Orbison & “Only the Lonely” Although he established his home in Nashville and recorded there, Roy Orbison ’s name never actually appeared on the Billboard country singles or album charts. Up until the year 1980, he wrote and recorded “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again.”. These 40 original recordings include a host of legendary hits from the great Roy Orbison. Highlights include title track 'Only The Lonely', 'Running Scared', 'Crying', 'Candy Man' and many more! Only the Lonely is a 1991 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Chris Columbus, and stars former Uncle Buck, Home Alone, and Cool Runnings star John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy and Anthony Quinn. The film is a comedic take on the premise established in the 1953 television play Marty and the 1955 film Marty.
Year | Artist/Album | Label | Time | AllMusic Rating |
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1988 | Various Artists | Bcd | ||
1990 | Teal Trutone | 2:25 | ||
1991 | Various Artists | Time / Life Music | 2:28 | |
1992 | Sony Music Distribution | |||
1993 | Various Artists | Dino Entertainment | 2:28 | |
1996 | Sony Music Distribution | |||
1996 | Virgin | |||
1997 | EMI Music Distribution | |||
1999 | Bellaphon Records | |||
1999 | My Kind of Music | |||
1999 | White Star | |||
2003 | Virgin | 2:23 | ||
2004 | Various Artists | Virgin | 0:00 | |
2004 | Ouver | |||
2005 | Various Artists | Daily Mail | 2:28 | |
2006 | Music Club / Music Club Records / Musicclub | |||
2006 | Various Artists | Sony Music Distribution | ||
2006 | Falcon | |||
2006 | Brilliant / Joan | 2:39 | ||
2006 | Musical Memories | |||
2007 | Crimson Productions | |||
2007 | Hallmark / Hallmark Recordings | 0:00 | ||
2007 | Various Artists | Hit Club | ||
2007 | Commercial Sales / Sony BMG | 0:00 | ||
2007 | Immortal | |||
2008 | Legacy | 2:25 | ||
2008 | Music Ages / Proper | 2:24 | ||
2008 | sbc / Sony Music Entertainment | 2:26 | ||
2010 | Various Artists | Stargrove | 2:25 | |
2010 | Fourmatt | |||
2011 | Various Artists | Great Voices of the Century | 2:28 | |
2011 | Audiosonic | 2:31 | ||
2011 | Music on Vinyl | |||
2011 | Go Entertain | |||
2011 | Various Artists | Crimson / Crimson Productions | ||
2011 | Go Entertainment | 2:26 | ||
2011 | Starbucks | |||
2012 | Go Entertain | |||
2012 | Various Artists | Union Square Music / USM Media | 2:27 | |
2012 | USM Media | |||
2012 | Various Artists | Crimson | ||
2012 | Simply | |||
2012 | DLG Digital | |||
2012 | Music Digital | 2:26 | ||
2013 | Excalibur | |||
2013 | Proper | |||
2013 | Various Artists | Go / Go Entertainment | 2:29 | |
2013 | Various Artists | Last Call | 2:38 | |
2013 | DLG Digital | 2:26 | ||
2014 | Various Artists | My Kind of Music | ||
2014 | Backtracks Records | |||
2014 | Various Artists | 4:Squared | 2:24 | |
2014 | Universal Music TV | 2:27 | ||
2014 | Various Artists | Music Kitchen | 2:26 | |
2014 | Sony Music | 2:24 | ||
2015 | Sony Music | 2:25 | ||
2015 | One Day Music | 2:26 | ||
2015 | Various Artists | AAO Music | 0:00 | |
2016 | Not Now Music | |||
2016 | Various Artists | Les Disques Creation | ||
2017 | Avid | |||
2017 | Roy Orbison / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Legacy / Sony Music | 0:00 | |
2018 | Stargrove | 2:24 | ||
2018 | Various Artists | Glebe Street Production | ||
2019 | Sony Music | |||
Various Artists | Wagram | |||
DLG Digital | ||||
Various Artists | DLG Digital | |||
One Louder | ||||
Various Artists | Tabak | 2:28 | ||
Les Disques Creation | ||||
Various Artists | Forever Classic Hits | |||
DLG Digital | ||||
Skyline | 2:28 | |||
Backtracks Records | 2:27 | |||
Various Artists | K-Tel | |||
Sony Music Distribution | ||||
Various Artists | Ministry of Sound | 2:25 | ||
Eva | 2:24 | |||
Various Artists | UMOD | 2:27 | ||
Various Artists | Sound and Vision | |||
Documents | ||||
Various Artists | Forever Classic Hits | |||
Documents | ||||
Various Artists | Music Digital | 2:28 | ||
Music Digital | 2:25 | |||
Various Artists | Wagram | |||
One Day Music | ||||
Various Artists | Wagram | |||
Sony Legacy / Sony Music | ||||
Various Artists | Now! | |||
Forever Classic Hits | ||||
Legacy | ||||
Sound and Vision | ||||
Sound and Vision | ||||
Various Artists | K-Tel | |||
K-Tel | ||||
Various Artists | Intempo | 2:38 | ||
DLG Digital | ||||
Various Artists | Digilouge | |||
My Kind of Music | ||||
Various Artists | My Kind of Music / Union Square Music | |||
My Kind of Music | ||||
Various Artists | Stargrove | 2:30 | ||
Performance | ||||
Various Artists | Bellevue | 2:27 | ||
Documents | ||||
Various Artists | Music Digital | |||
K-Tel | ||||
Various Artists | One Day Music | |||
Phantom Records (England) | ||||
Él | ||||
Performance |
Other than 'Oh, Pretty Woman,' 'Only the Lonely' is Roy Orbison's most famous and successful song. It is also the song that, more than any other, defined his career. When Orbison recorded 'Only the Lonely' in 1960, he had only a couple of very moderate hits, and some moderate success as a songwriter, to show for about five years in the business. 'Only the Lonely' changed all that, not just because it shot to number two, but also because it defined his image and musical identity. Prior to the song, Orbison had been typecast as an also-ran rockabilly singer at Sun Records. Although he wasn't a bad rockabilly act, 'Only the Lonely' played to his true strengths: an operatic, pain-stricken pop/rock balladeer, a master of odes to heartbreak and maintaining dignitiy while fighting largely losing battles. The record screamed hit from its first few bars: a team of vocalists gently crooning 'dum dum dum, dum-be-doo-wah' and other such syllables to an instantly memorable bittersweet melody, ending by singing the title phrase. That was the cue for a pause and Orbison to enter with his sorrowful yet strong tones, the backup vocalists continuing to act as a Greek chorus of sorts to his lines throughout the verse. The melody and phrasing got especially dramatic in the latter parts of the verses, as the backing arrangement kept dramatically pausing after three rapid bows of the violin in a row, leaving Orbison to muse alone, his range gradually ascending to Caruso territory. As the track progressed, it added symphonic violins that were quite advanced for a 1960 pop/rock production, the strings sometimes swooping in different ways as ripostes to various lines in Orbison's lyric. Roy hit a particularly glass-shattering note at a pause in the last verse, unveiling the full extent of his astonishing upper range. 'Only the Lonely' is a great tune and a great production, but much of what puts it over is Orbison's attitude: he may be in wrenching misery, but that's not going to keep him from taking chances on romance in the future. Chris Isaak, who was probably more influenced by early-'60s stars such as Orbison and Ricky Nelson than any other late-20th century rock star, covered 'Only the Lonely' on his Baja Sessions album.
Appears On
Roy Orbison Only The Lonely Youtube
Year | Artist/Album | Label | Time | AllMusic Rating |
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1960 | Master Sound / Legacy | 2:25 | ||
1966 | 2:24 | |||
1967 | Monument Records | 2:24 | ||
1976 | Monument Records | 2:30 | ||
1978 | Monument Records | 2:28 | ||
1981 | Sony BMG | |||
1987 | Eagle Records | 2:29 | ||
1987 | 2:28 | |||
1988 | Rhino | 2:27 | ||
1988 | Monument Records | 2:26 | ||
1991 | Varèse Sarabande | 2:27 | ||
1991 | 2:28 | |||
1992 | Virgin / EMI Music Distribution | 2:30 | ||
1992 | PA | |||
1993 | Monument Records | 2:26 | ||
1994 | Sony Music Distribution | 2:26 | ||
1995 | Various Artists | Ace | 2:28 | |
1995 | BCI-Eclipse Distribution / Eclipse Music Group | 2:24 | ||
1995 | Columbia / Epic | 2:27 | ||
1996 | TriStar Music | 2:23 | ||
1997 | Monument Records | 2:26 | ||
1997 | Legacy / Sony Music Distribution | 2:41 | ||
1997 | Various Artists | BCI-Eclipse Distribution / Eclipse Music Group | 2:29 | |
1997 | Eclipse Music Group | 2:29 | ||
1998 | Orbison Records | 2:55 | ||
1998 | Madacy Distribution / Madacy | 2:26 | ||
1999 | Monument / Legacy | 2:26 | ||
1999 | Platinum Disc | 2:26 | ||
1999 | Orbison Records | 2:37 | ||
1999 | GNP / Crescendo | 2:27 | ||
2000 | Platinum Disc | 2:27 | ||
2000 | WEA International | 2:26 | ||
2000 | Teevee Records | 2:27 | ||
2000 | EMI | 2:24 | ||
2000 | Various Artists | Realm Records | 2:28 | |
2001 | Sony Music Distribution | 2:28 | ||
2001 | Back Biter | 2:26 | ||
2001 | Disky | 2:28 | ||
2001 | Monument Records | 2:27 | ||
2001 | Bear Family Records | 2:29 | ||
2001 | Various Artists | Definitive | 2:27 | |
2002 | EMI Music Distribution | 2:29 | ||
2002 | Collectables | 2:27 | ||
2002 | Collectables | 2:25 | ||
2002 | Collectables | 2:25 | ||
2002 | Balboa Recording Corporation | 2:28 | ||
2003 | CEMA Special Markets / EMI-Capitol Special Markets | 2:28 | ||
2003 | Dreamworks Nashville / Dreamworks SKG | 2:27 | ||
2003 | Dynamic | 2:44 | ||
2004 | Hip-O | 2:25 | ||
2004 | Virgin | |||
2004 | Virgin | 2:31 | ||
2004 | Sony Music Entertainment | 0:00 | ||
2004 | Eagle Vision | 2:51 | ||
2004 | Orbison Records | 2:28 | ||
2006 | Madacy | 2:27 | ||
2006 | Virgin | 2:27 | ||
2007 | Universal Distribution | |||
2008 | Various Artists | Madacy | 2:28 | |
2008 | Legacy / Monument / Orbison / Sony Music Entertainment | 2:26 | ||
2008 | Impact | 2:27 | ||
2009 | Sony Music | 2:26 | ||
2011 | Legacy / Monument Records / Orbison Records / Sony Music / Sony Music Distribution | 2:25 | ||
2012 | Complete Blues / Complete Roots / Snapper / Snapper UK | 2:23 | ||
2012 | Various Artists | Acrobat Music | 2:26 | |
2014 | Bellevue / Wienerworld | 2:29 | ||
2016 | ZYX / ZYX Music | 2:27 | ||
Bellevue Publishing / Wienerworld | 2:27 | |||
Phantom | ||||
Chrome Dreams / United States of Distribution | 2:10 | |||
Various Artists | Time / Life Music | 2:26 |