"Blue Angel" is a song by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

, released as a single in August 1960. Released as the follow-up to the international hit " Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)", "Blue Angel" peaked at number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number eleven on the UK's ''

Record Retailer ''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...

'' Top 50.

Background and release

"Blue Angel" followed its predecessor, "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)", in very much the same style with Orbison once again able to show off his

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

and semi-operatic vocals and also followed its theme of lost love. However, whilst "Only the Lonely" was a gloomy song of self-pity, "Blue Angel" was, according to musician and writer

John Kruth John Kruth is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist best known for his highly energetic “Banshee Mandolin” style of playing. He has also worked as a music journalist and has authored several book about popular music. Biography He is al ...

, "a dollop of commercial fluff… nd thatlyrically, it was rather sappy, a trite knock-off about teen love, all too typical of its time. Its power lay in its simple but insidious melody." Co-written with collaborator

Joe Melson Joe Melson (born May 1935) is an American singer and a BMI Award-winning songwriter. Life and career Joe Melson was born in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas, United States. He was reared on a farm until he was sixteen. He attended high school in ...

, Orbison recorded "Blue Angel" in early August 1960 at RCA Victor Studio B in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. It was then quickly released as a single at the end of August with the B-side "Today's Teardrops", written by a then-relatively unknown

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

. Whilst the single was first released on

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG), and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left ...

in the US, its UK release came in October 1960 on parent label

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

when "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" was top of the charts there.

Personnel

– vocals *

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (11 November 1930 – 27 December 2004), professionally Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz al ...

– guitar *

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

– guitar *

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

– bass *

Buddy Harman Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – August 21, 2008) was an American country music session musician. Career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Harman played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry ...

– drums *

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signature ...

– piano *

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville sound" for most o ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Anita Kerr Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...

Singers – backing vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1960 singles Roy Orbison songs Songs written by Roy Orbison Songs written by Joe Melson Monument Records singles Song recordings produced by Fred Foster 1960 songs