Sun Years 1956-58: Definitive Edition

Roy Orbison | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bear Family
• ASIN: B000001AVW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #668,430 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ooby Dooby

2. Go! Go! Go!

3. Rock House

4. You're My Baby

5. Sweet and Easy to Love

6. Devil Doll

7. Chicken Hearted

8. I Like Love

9. Ooby Dooby [Alternative]

10. Trying to Get to You [Undubbed]

11. Domino [Undubbed]

12. It's Too Late [Undubbed]

13. You're Gonna Cry [Undubbed]

14. This Kind of Love [Undubbed]

15. Mean Little Mama [Undubbed]

16. I Never Knew [Undubbed]

17. Problem Child [Undubbed]

18. Fool's Hall of Fame

19. The Cause of It All

20. A True Love Goodbye

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as any rockabilly you'll ever hear, in my opinion., August 29, 2000

By 

Glen Slater (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sun Years (Audio CD)

Roy Orbison is best known for bathetic songs, and they are great ones. This album was recorded before he left Sun Records, where he never really fit in or felt comfortable with what Sam Phillips wanted him to do. However, listening to this, one would never know it. I had read two autobiographies about Roy Orbison, and in both, Roy was described as feeling out of place at Sun Records. I bought this album months later, and I was surprised to hear how great his rockabilly/Sun songs were. If Roy Orbison's short tenure with Sun was a rocky one, one would never know it from listening to this great rockabilly album. As for me, I loved it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must-have for rockabilly and early rock-n-roll collectors, July 15, 2010

By 

Stevelvis (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sun Years 1956-58: Definitive Edition (Audio CD)

Most famous for his crooning and grandiose vocals on his early 1960s hits, "Crying," "Blue Bayou," "Oh, Pretty Woman," and "Only The Lonely," Roy Orbison actually got his first big hit at Sun Records, most famous for starting the careers of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. It was in fact Johnny Cash who brought Roy to the attention of Sun Records' owner Sam Phillips.

Orbison's first hit record was "Ooby Dooby," a rockabilly rocker which peaked at #59 on the Billboard charts in 1956. It was backed with another rockabilly tune "Go! Go! Go!" Orbison's second single for Sun Records, "Rockhouse" coupled with "You're My Baby," two more countryfied rockabilly tunes received good reviews but failed to chart.

Roy only had 4 singles released by Sun Records between 1956 and 1957 and was never fully appreciated by Sam Phillips, being only one of the minor young rockabillies and easily dismissed in the shadow of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. It wasn't until 1961, after Roy had become the newest hit sensation for Columbia Records, that Phillips hurriedly cashed in and assembled an album from Roy's Sun recording tapes.

Roy Orbison's "The Sun Years 1956-58" contains almost 64 minutes of enjoyable tunes of what might have been hits in an alternative 1950s universe. Along with "Ooby Dooby," "Rockhouse," "You're My Baby," and "Go! Go! Go!" are the other two Sun singles "Devil Doll" and "Chicken Hearted" as well as "Domino," "Mean Little Mama," "Claudette," and many more. This is not the collection to get for those who only like Roy's early 1960s hits, but is a must-have for rockabilly and early rock-n-roll collectors or hardcore fans of Orbison or Sun Records.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We'll rock it up and have a ball., April 27, 2007

By 

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sun Years (Audio CD)

Before Roy Orbison had his great success with Monument Records, he recorded for Sun Records. His stint with Sun was not so successful. He only released four singles while he was with Sun, only one of which was a moderate success ("Ooby Dooby"). This CD features all the songs from his singles, plus a bunch of songs that were unreleased until after Roy hit it big with another record label. This material is definitely not as sophisticated as his later, more popular material. This is just basic rockabilly, but still quite enjoyable. Fans of "The Big O" should like it.