THE ENDURING TRUTH OF LOVE FOUND AND HELD IN A YOUNG HEART
“This Kind of Love” stands as a radiant testament to the early artistic spirit of Roy Orbison, unearthed from his formative years at Sun Records and preserved on the 1961 compilation album Roy Orbison at the Rock House. Though never released as a chart-topping single or recorded as a major hit in its own day, the song captures the raw sincerity and emotional candor that would become hallmarks of Orbison’s enduring legacy. The track is not measured by chart positions but by the clarity with which it reveals the young singer’s devotion to love’s promise and permanence.
Recorded amidst the bustling creativity of Memphis in the late fifties, “This Kind of Love” emerged at a moment when Orbison was transitioning from rockabilly troubadour to the bruised romantic whose voice could carry longing as a palpable force. The Sun Records sessions—where artists like Elvis Presley had already begun to redefine American music—provided fertile soil for Orbison’s blend of youthful vulnerability and melodic bravery. Though overshadowed by his later chart successes, the song’s inclusion on Roy Orbison at the Rock House preserves a critical phase of his artistic evolution.
Musically, the track is deceptively straightforward, a short, two-minute meditation on love’s depth and certainty. The lyrics circle around a simple yet profound assertion: the kind of love worth having is not fleeting or circumstantial but enduring and destined. Lines such as “Our love won’t die, can’t die” are delivered not with bravado but with an almost tender insistence, suggesting that even before his voice matured into the soaring instrument heard on his Monument classics, Orbison already intuitively understood love’s dual capacity for joy and sorrow.
This emotional honesty situates “This Kind of Love” in the broader tapestry of Orbison’s work, which consistently grapples with the complexities of affection and loss. Unlike the operatic grandeur of later pieces like “Crying” or “Running Scared”, here the vulnerability resides in minimalism. There are no sweeping orchestral arrangements or dramatic key shifts—only a steady rhythmic pulse and Orbison’s earnest vocal, pleading with fate that the love he sings of is not only genuine but immutable.
The song’s placement on a compilation of early Sun recordings also underscores another dimension of its significance. In the context of Orbison’s career, these sessions reveal a musician still discovering his voice and stylistic identity. Even as he honed the dramatic dynamics and vocal acrobatics that would later define his biggest hits, tracks such as “This Kind of Love” remind listeners of the simplicity at the core of his musical truth: the belief that love—when authentic and profound—is the most compelling subject a song can address.
For collectors and aficionados, the song functions as both a historical artifact and a quiet emotional jewel. It invites us to listen beyond commercial success to the heart of what made Roy Orbison a singular figure in 20th-century music: an artist capable of sounding as though he were singing not to an audience but into the very soul of love itself. Through that early lens, “This Kind of Love” resonates not as a forgotten track but as an essential glimpse into the emotional core of Orbison’s musical journey.