Maps of Music

Memphis (1972)

Where the lyrics of Memphis take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in three weeks in spring 1972, this was Orbison's last album for London Records, which had let him out of his contract months before this MGM album came out.

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Album story

Overview

• Memphis: studio album by Roy Orbison, his seventeenth album
• His tenth album for MGM Records
• Released November 1972
• Eleven tracks: six on side one, five on side two
• Side one: 'Memphis, Tennessee', 'Why A Woman Cries', 'Run, Baby Run (Back Into My Arms)', 'Take Care of Your Woman', 'I'm The Man on Susie's Mind', 'I Can't Stop Loving You'
• Side two: 'Run The Engines Up High', 'It Ain't No Big Thing (But It's Growing)', 'I Fought the Law', 'The Three Bells', 'Danny Boy'
• The album had one single, 'Memphis, Tennessee'

Background

• This was Orbison's final album released for London Records
• Decca let Orbison out of his contract on June 30, 1972

Recording

• The album took three weeks to make in March and April 1972
• Produced by Joe Melson & Roy Orbison, except 'Danny Boy' produced by Don Gant
• Arranged by Joe Tanner
• Includes a new, re-recorded version of Don Gibson's 'I Can't Stop Loving You'
• The song had previously appeared on Gibson's 1960 album Lonely and Blue

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Roy Kelton Orbison (born April 23, 1936, Vernon, Texas; died December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist.
• He began singing in a country-and-western band as a teenager in Wink, Texas, formed the Wink Westerners in 1949 and later the Teen Kings.
• He was signed to Sun Records by Sam Phillips in 1956.

Career

• Known for a distinctive, powerful voice, complex song structures and dark, emotional ballads.
• Signed to Monument Records; from 1960 to 1966, 22 of his singles reached the Billboard top 40.
• Wrote or co-wrote almost all of his own top-10 hits, including "Only the Lonely", "Running Scared", "Crying" and "Oh, Pretty Woman".
• Suffered personal tragedies after the mid-1960s, including the deaths of his first wife Claudette and two sons, and his career faltered.
• Revived in the late 1980s after cover versions of his songs; co-founded the Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne in 1988.
• Died of a heart attack in December 1988 at age 52.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987; received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic critic Bruce Eder: the album moves toward sentimental country-pop of the kind Glen Campbell had been charting
• Eder praises a restrained reading of Don Gibson's 'I Can't Stop Loving You' as a sign of what a voice like Orbison's can do with less
• Eder also points to the rock-style fuzz guitar of 'Run the Engines Up High' and the phased drums of 'I Fought the Law'
• Billboard: described the album as one of Orbison's best efforts in years

Records

• The single 'Memphis, Tennessee' reached No. 84 in the US

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The single 'Memphis, Tennessee' is credited to Chuck Berry
• Don Gibson's 'I Can't Stop Loving You' had already appeared on Lonely and Blue in 1960 before this re-recording
• 'Danny Boy' is the only track produced by Don Gant
• The album was Orbison's final release for London Records

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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