Nearly 30 years after Roy Orbison's death, fans are about to uncover a long-lost chapter from his discography. The MGM Years, a hefty box collecting all 11 of the albums Orbison recorded for MGM Records between 1965-73, in addition to an array of previously unreleased bonus material, is scheduled to arrive in December — and the first 500 copies will include One of the Lonely Ones, a "lost" Orbison LP recorded in 1969.

As many fans are aware, the One of the Lonely Ones sessions took place during a particularly dark chapter in Orbison's life — his wife Claudette was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1966, and two years later, a devastating house fire claimed the lives of his sons Roy, 11, and Tony, 6. He remained incredibly prolific during this period, continuing to tour and record regularly, but this 12-track collection was shelved by the label and has remained in the vaults until now.

Billboard reports that the project is part of a flurry of activity planned by Roys Boys LLC, the company headed by Orbison's sons Wesley, Roy Jr. and Alex Orbison. Attributing One of the Lonely Ones being vaulted to "a logjam of releases" at MGM, Alex signaled the start of a new campaign to restore the less-traveled corners of his father's discography.

"We have creative control and final say on everything. In essence, we're the record company," said Alex, adding that the new deal reflects the spirit of Orbison's original reason for joining MGM. "The distinguishing factor was that MGM was going to give Roy total creative freedom, from the musicians he wanted to the songs he was going to pick. For a person as fiercely creative as my dad, that control was really important."

In addition to being bundled with early copies of The MGM Years, One of the Lonely Ones will see release as an individual title, and is being issued on digital, CD and 180-gram vinyl. Both the box and the standalone Lonely Ones are scheduled to arrive in stores Dec. 4.

Roy Orbison, 'The MGM Years' Listing
There Is Only One Roy Orbison (1965)
The Orbison Way (1966)
The Classic Roy Orbison (1966)
Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson (1967)
The Fastest Guitar Alive (Soundtrack) (1967)
Cry Softly Lonely One (1967)
Roy Orbison’s Many Moods (1969)
Hank Williams the Roy Orbison Way (1970)
The Big O (1970)
Roy Orbison Sings (1972)
Memphis (1972)
Milestones (1973)
MGM B-Sides And Singles (2015) (2 discs in vinyl box set, 1 disc in CD box set)

Roy Orbison, 'One of the Lonely Ones' Track Listing
"You’ll Never Walk Alone"
"Say No More"
"Leaving Makes the Rain Come Down"
"Laurie"
"Sweet Memories"
"One of the Lonely Ones"
"Child Woman, Woman Child"
"The Defector"
"Give Up"
"Little Girl (In the Big City)"
"After Tonight"
"I Will Always"

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