Connie Smith Roy Orbison & the Royal Philharmonic
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REISSUES REVIEWS ROY ORBISON & THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA UNCHAINED MELODIES LEGACY/ROYSBOYS ★★★ Strings with everything… What’s that line from Jurassic Park? “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Substitute ‘record executives’ for scientists and that feels pertinent to this second collection of Roy Orbison vocals plucked from their original environments and surrounded by the lush strings of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The challenge here is that Orbison’s best-known tunes – Oh, Pretty Woman, Crying, Only The Lonely – have already been given the orchestral makeover. Thus, this selection dates from later in the crooner’s career, including She’s A Mystery To Me, California Blue, and Orbison’s cover of Elvis Costello’s The Comedians. Fine songs, but none of them iconic in the manner of his earlier hits. While the Philharmonic lends itself better to the ballads, they smother rockers like Heartbreak Radio. DW ★ STANDOUT TRACKS She’s A Mystery To Me, California Blue CONNIE SMITH MY PART OF FOREVER VOL. 1 HUMPHEAD ★★★★ A sublime 50-song compilation… This impressive 50-song collection balances a clutch of hit singles with solid album cuts and rarities compiled by Connie Smith and her husband Marty Stuart. Disc One draws mostly on Smith’s 70s Columbia Records career, while Disc Two mixes selections from her 1998 Warner Bros album Connie Smith, and 2011’s Long Line Of Heartaches on Sugar Hill, with some entertaining lesser- known gems. These comprise her 2013 TV performance of When A House Is Not A Home from The Marty Stuart Show, a duet from Buck Trent’s 2018 album Spartanburg Blues, and nine songs produced by Scotty Moore for the radio show Navy Hoedown in 1972, from Country Rewind’s The Lost Tapes CD (including covers of some of her earlier RCA hits). Sadly, no original recordings from Smith’s eight-year stint with RCA are featured, and sparse attention is given to her time with Monument and Epic (just one track apiece). Let’s hope she’s saving some of these missing treasures for Vol. 2. JI xxxxxxxx ★ STANDOUT TRACKS I Don’t Wanna Talk It Over Any More COUNTRY MUSIC 93.