Though I’m a longtime fan of the late Roy Orbison, I never could muster much enthusiasm for the one Christmas song he recorded (as far as I know), the Willie Nelson-penned “Pretty Paper.” It’s not exactly the feel-good hit of the season, a pretty strong reason for putting it aside.

But Borders is offering a free download of “Pretty Paper,” so maybe this year’s the time to revisit my assessment. The song did reach #15 in 1963, which might have matched the mood of the record-buying public. See, that year wasn’t exactly the high-point for holiday cheer in the U.S., as President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas on November 22. (Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You hit shelves that very same day. A commercial failure at the time, the album is now rightly viewed as a holiday classic.)

“Pretty Paper” is one of 107 tracks included on the new Roy Orbison box set, The Soul of Rock and Roll, on my Christmas wish list. The 4-CD collection is the first comprehensive career overview for the artist, who recorded for several labels. Curated by his widow, Barbara, the chronological set spans from the very first song he ever put to tape (a pre-Sun Records version of “Ooby Dooby” recorded in 1956 in Odessa, Texas, with his band, The Teen Kings) to one of the very last he would sing (“It’s Over,” recorded at a concert in Akron, Ohio, on December 4, 1988, just two days before Orbison died of a heart attack at age 52).

There’s so much more to know about Orbison than “Oh, Pretty Woman” and “Only The Lonely,” though the genius of those two songs can’t be denied. (Unfortunately, The Soul of Rock and Roll doesn’t include my favorite track, “The Comedians,” written by Elvis Costello and included on Mystery Girl, the 1988 platinum comeback album released shortly after Orbison’s death.)

Download “Pretty Paper” from Borders (available for a limited time), and then reacquaint yourself with more from the man whose four-octave voice remains one of the best in rock-and-roll history.