The Vinyl of the Day is ‘Mystery Girl’ by Roy Orbison, 1989. Roy’s final album, it was left unfinished by his death, but was released posthumously after it was finalized in the weeks afterwards through the collaborative efforts of several artists who were all friends and admirers.
From Wikipedia;
The album was named after the chorus from the track “She’s a Mystery to Me”, written for Orbison by U2’s Bono and The Edge.
In the documentary In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story, Bono tells how he woke up for a concert’s sound check, following a late night listening to the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, and had the tune of the title song in his head, figuring it was another Orbison song (“In Dreams” was the only Orbison song on that album). During the sound check he performed it for the other members of U2, who agreed that the track sounded like an Orbison song. A short while later, Orbison met the band backstage at one of their concerts and subsequently asked Bono if he would like to write a song with/for him.
Few artists have been able to create some of their all-time best work as their career finale, but ‘Mystery Girl’ ranks right at the top of Roy’s catalog - Orbison fans will be hooked instantly, and those who aren’t familiar with him (from another planet maybe) will take about 30 seconds to be hooked. Of all Roy’s music, this album is one of his most touching - every song rings with his magical way of expressing his music with depth and emotion, and listening knowing this was his last gives it an added dimension of pathos. The songs capture that special early 60s flavor, but have just the right amount of modernization to keep the album from sounding dated. After all those years, his thrilling, one-of-a-kind voice was still strong and clear when this was recorded in 1988, and the songwriting was excellent. Of course, having producer/musicians like Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Bono, T Bone Burnett, and Steve Cropper (among many others) on the project certainly didn’t hurt any.
I grew up on Orbison, and tried to pattern my own style after him. At one time I could just about match his voice range, but no longer. Few singers could carry such emotions of heartache, lost love, and regret - ‘You Got It’ might have been the big hit from the album, but to me the amazing and haunting ‘She’s A Mystery To Me’ sums up his whole career perfectly in 4 minutes. His songs just plain hit me where I lived, and continue to be a joy to me.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Roy Orbison’s comeback started in 1986, when David Lynch used “In Dreams” for a pivotal sequence in his masterwork Blue Velvet. So mesmerizing was Dean Stockwell’s pantomime of the 1963 hit that Orbison soon became in demand. He re-recorded his hits for a collection naturally called In Dreams, he gave a star-studded concert called Black & White Night, and then he began work with ELOleader Jeff Lynne on a comeback album. The duo tabled the album to join the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, a collaboration with Tom Petty, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan that turned into a surprise smash in 1988. Once that record began its run up the charts, Lynne and Orbison completed the album that became Mystery Girl, but the record didn’t come out until February 1989, a few months after Roy’s tragic death. His passing colored the reception of the record, helping turn it into a genuine hit – it peaked at five on Billboard’s 200 and two in the U.K. and went platinum in both countries – and while his death may have helped boost sales, it’s likely Mystery Girl would’ve been a success anyway. Orbison, unlike any of his ‘60s peers, was an actual hot property at the end of the '80s, and he surrounded himself with collaborators who cared enough to showcase him at his best. Lynne is the best known of these and his contributions are strong, although perhaps a bit too redolent of the Baroque pop that became his trademark at the turn of the '80s: they’re big, bright, and bold, slathered in harmonies and guitars, their over-production obscuring the songs’ simple charms. “You Got It,” the hit from the record, perfectly captures this characteristic, but so do the other Lynne contributions “A Love So Beautiful” and “California Blue,” the latter in particular a very nice evocation of Roy’s early-'60s balladry. “In the Real World,” a song co-written by Will Jennings and co-produced by Heartbreaker Mike Campbell along with Orbison and his wife Barbara, is in the same vein, acting as an explicit sequel to “In Dreams,” while “Windsurfer” touches upon a California pop Roy rarely attempted, and “The Only One,” co-written by his son Wesley, evokes a nice southern soul groove. The two showy collaborations with U2 (“She’s a Mystery to Me”) and Elvis Costello(“The Comedians”) garnered headlines at the time but are a shade florid – Costello’s melodrama edges out Bono & the Edge, because it respects pacing – but T-Bone Burnett’s “(All I Can Do Is) Dream You” is the real surprise, a nifty resuscitation of Roy’s early rockabilly sides for Sun. The fact that all involved found a way to get a bit of swing into this attractive, overwrought pop illustrates just how handsome the whole endeavor is: it’s designed as a graceful coda to a legendary career and, amazingly enough, it succeeds.
Here’s the film-noir video of ‘She’s A Mystery To Me’, one of the best videos ever made IMHO. What amazing story-telling!