"Oh, Pretty Woman" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Roy Orbison and the Candy Men | ||||
from the album Oh, Pretty Woman (non-US) | ||||
B-side | "Yo te Amo María" | |||
Published | August 26, 1964 Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc. [1] | |||
Released | August 15, 1964 | |||
Recorded | August 1, 1964 [2] | |||
Studio | Fred Foster Sound Studio, Nashville, Tennessee [2] | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Length | 2:55 | |||
Label | Monument | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Fred Foster | |||
Roy Orbison and the Candy Men singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Oh, Pretty Woman", or simply "Pretty Woman", is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees. [3] It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 from September 26, 1964, the second and final single by Orbison (after "Running Scared" to top the US charts. [4] It was also Orbison's third single to top the UK Singles Chart (for a total of three weeks). [5]
The single version (in mono) and the LP version (in stereo on the Oribisongs LP) have slightly differing lyrics. The LP version with the intended lyric: "come with me baby" was changed for the single to "come to me baby" as the former was considered too risque. The record ultimately sold seven million copies and marked the high point in Orbison's career. [6] In October 1964, the single was certified gold by the RIAA. [7] At the year's end, Billboard ranked it the number four song of 1964. [8]
"Oh, Pretty Woman" was later used for the title of the 1990 film Pretty Woman and its 2018 Broadway musical adaptation.
Acuff-Rose Music's lawsuit over a parody of "Oh, Pretty Woman" by 2 Live Crew led to a Supreme Court ruling establishing that parody was a valid form of fair use. [9]
The title was inspired by Orbison's wife, Claudette, interrupting a conversation to announce that she was going out. When Orbison asked if she had enough cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected, "A pretty woman never needs any money." [10]
Orbison's recording of the song was produced by Fred Foster [3] and engineered by Bill Porter [11] on August 1, 1964. There were four guitar players at the session: Orbison, Billy Sanford, Jerry Kennedy, and Wayne Moss. [12] Sanford, who later played on sessions for Elvis Presley, Don Williams, and many others, played the song's introductory guitar riff. Other musicians on the recording included Floyd Cramer on piano, Henry Strzelecki on upright bass, Boots Randolph and Charlie McCoy on saxophones, Buddy Harman on drums, and Paul Garrison on percussion. [12] Dees sang harmony vocals, as he did on many Orbison songs. [13] Billboard described the song as having a "great dance beat coupled with fine arrangement." [14] Cash Box described it as "a catchy, quick-beat salute with a number of ear-catching rockin' ingredients." [15]
Orbison posthumously won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the recording of "Oh, Pretty Woman" from his 1988 HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night . In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at number 224 on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. On May 14, 2008, the Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
A promotional video for the song directed by Stanley Dorfman [16] [17] was filmed on October 19, 1964, in the rooftop garden of the Derry and Toms department store in Kensington, London. The clip was filmed to air on Top of the Pops on October 22, as Orbison was unable to attend the show's live taping. It subsequently aired on October 29, November 12, and November 19. [16] [17]
In 1989, Miami bass group 2 Live Crew recorded "Pretty Woman", a parody of "Oh, Pretty Woman", for their album As Clean as They Wanna Be . The group sampled the distinctive bassline from the Orbison song, but wrote new lyrics about a hairy woman, her bald-headed friend, and their appeal to the singer, as well as denunciation of a "two-timing woman."
Orbison's music publisher, Acuff-Rose Music, sued 2 Live Crew on the basis that fair use did not permit reuse of their copyrighted material for profit. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2 Live Crew's favor in 1994, greatly expanding the doctrine of fair use and extending its protections to parodies created for profit. [9]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada | — | 180,000 [40] |
Germany | — | 350,000 [40] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [41] | Platinum | 680,000 [40] |
United States (RIAA) [42] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
"(Oh) Pretty Woman" | ||||
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Single by Van Halen | ||||
from the album Diver Down | ||||
B-side | "Happy Trails" | |||
Released | January 18, 1982 [43] | |||
Studio | Sunset Sound, Hollywood | |||
Genre | Hard rock | |||
Length |
| |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Ted Templeman | |||
Van Halen singles chronology | ||||
|
Van Halen recorded a cover of "Oh, Pretty Woman" to be released as a non-album single in January 1982 before a planned hiatus. However, its sudden success brought much pressure from Warner Bros. Records, the band's label, to produce an entire LP; the resulting album, Diver Down, was released in August 1982.
On the Diver Down album and in the song's music video, "(Oh) Pretty Woman" is preceded by the instrumental "Intruder", which features frontman David Lee Roth playing an Electro-Harmonix synthesizer. [44]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(August 2021) |
David Lee Roth wrote "Intruder" because the video the band had filmed for "(Oh) Pretty Woman" was longer than the song's running time. [44]
In the music video, filmed at Indian Dunes near Valencia, California, the band members appear dressed as a samurai (bassist Michael Anthony), Tarzan (drummer Alex Van Halen), a cowboy (guitarist Eddie Van Halen), and Napoleon (Roth). [45] Per a hunch-backed onlooker's request, they rescue a captive girl. It was one of the first videos banned by MTV, due to its opening sequence featuring the captive girl (played by International Chrysis) being tied up and fondled against her will by a pair of dwarves. At the end of the video, she is revealed to be a man cross-dressing. The ban was eventually lifted, as MTV Classic would later air the video. [46]
"Oh, Pretty Woman" was Van Halen's second Top 20 hit in the United States, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, [47] and peaked at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
Chart (1982) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [48] | 59 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [49] | 40 |
Canada RPM Top Singles [23] | 15 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [49] | 28 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [49] | 47 |
UK Singles (OCC) | 47 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [50] | 12 |
US Billboard Mainstream Rock | 1 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [51] | 10 |
Chart (1982) | Rank |
---|---|
Canada [52] | 51 |
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard) [53] | 88 |
US Cash Box [54] | 66 |
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's music is mostly in the rock genre and his most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. His music was described by critics as operatic, earning him the nicknames "The Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O". Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers projected machismo. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.
"I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and originally intended for Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until 1992. Cyndi Lauper recorded the song and released it as a single for her A Night to Remember album. Her version became a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1989 and was also her final top 40 hit on the American pop charts. Lauper still regularly performs the song in her live concerts. The song has also been covered by Canadian singer Celine Dion, whose version topped the Canadian Singles Chart and reached number 7 on the US Adult Contemporary chart in 2003.
Diver Down is the fifth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on April 14, 1982. It spent 65 weeks on the album chart in the United States and had, by 1998, sold four million copies in the United States.
"Baby Love" is a song by American music group the Supremes from their second studio album, Where Did Our Love Go. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland and was released on September 17, 1964.
"I Ran (So Far Away)", also released as "I Ran", is a song by English new wave band A Flock of Seagulls. It was released in 1982 as their third single and it was the second single from their self-titled debut album. It topped the chart in Australia, and reached number seven in New Zealand and number nine in the United States. It was not successful in Europe and only reached number 31 in Germany. In the band's home country of the United Kingdom it reached number 43. However, the song was certified silver by the BPI.
"Blue Bayou" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. It was originally sung and recorded by Orbison, who had an international hit with his version in 1963. It later became Linda Ronstadt's signature song, with which she scored a Top 5 hit with her cover in 1977. Many others have since recorded the song.
"Crying" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson for Orbison's third studio album of the same name (1962). Released in 1961, it was a number 2 hit in the US for Orbison and was covered in 1978 by Don McLean, whose version went to number 1 in the UK in 1980.
"It's Over" is an American song composed by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees and sung by Orbison. The single was produced by Fred Foster and engineered by Bill Porter.
"Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969. Written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the song topped the charts in nine countries.
"Jump" is a song by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in December 1983 as the lead single of their sixth studio album, 1984. It is Van Halen's most successful single, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song differs from earlier Van Halen songs in that it is driven by a keyboard riff, although the song does contain a guitar solo. David Lee Roth dedicated the song to martial artist Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, of whom he was a student. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Jump" at number 177 on its updated list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Roy Orbison was an American singer-songwriter who found the most success in the early rock and roll era from 1956 to 1964. He later enjoyed a resurgence in the late 1980s with chart success as a member of the Traveling Wilburys and with his Mystery Girl album, which included the posthumous hit single "You Got It". At the height of his popularity, 22 of Orbison's songs placed on the US Billboard Top 40 chart, and six peaked in the top five, including two number-one hits. In the UK, Orbison scored ten top-10 hits between 1960 and 1966, including three number-one singles.
"You Got It" is a song from American singer Roy Orbison's 22nd studio album, Mystery Girl (1989). The song was released posthumously on January 3, 1989, after Orbison's death from a heart attack on December 6, 1988. The song was issued with "The Only One" as the B-side and was later released with "Crying". The single reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, returning Orbison to the top 10 for the first time in 25 years. "You Got It" also reached number three on the UK Singles Chart and entered the top five in 10 other countries. Although it is an Orbison solo single, Orbison's fellow Traveling Wilburys bandmates Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne co-wrote the song and played instruments on the record.
"I'll Wait" is a song by American rock band Van Halen, taken from their sixth studio album, 1984 (1984). It was written by band members Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, along with Michael McDonald, and produced by Ted Templeman.
"Maneater" is a song by American duo Hall & Oates, featured on their eleventh studio album, H2O (1982). It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 18, 1982. It remained in the top spot for four weeks, longer than any of the duo's five other number-one hits, including "Kiss on My List", which remained in the top spot for three weeks.
"Why Can't This Be Love" is a song by the American rock band Van Halen for their seventh studio album, 5150 (1986). The song was the group's first single with Sammy Hagar, replacing founding member David Lee Roth. It was released on both 7" and 12" formats with the latter having an extended version featuring extra lyrics.
"Can't Stop Lovin' You" is a song by American band Van Halen. It was released in March 1995 as the third single from their 10th album, Balance (1995). The song emerged after producer Bruce Fairbairn asked for a more pop-oriented song. Instead of searching for his archives, Eddie Van Halen decided to write new music from scratch. The song was written by all members of Van Halen and pays homage to Ray Charles' song "I Can't Stop Loving You", particularly in the line where Sammy Hagar sings "Hey Ray, what you said is true..."
"Beat It" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, Thriller (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones and co-produced by Jackson. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson later said: "I wanted to write a song, the type of song that I would buy if I were to buy a rock song... and I wanted the children to really enjoy it—the school children as well as the college students." It includes a guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen.
The Harden Trio was an American country music group. It comprised Bobby Harden and his sisters, Robbie and Arlene. The trio recorded for Columbia Records between 1964 and 1968, charting six times on the Hot Country Songs charts. The trio's highest-peaking single was the No. 2 country and No. 44 pop hit "Tippy Toeing."
"Bread and Butter" is a 1964 song by American pop vocal trio the Newbeats. Written by Larry Parks and Jay Turnbow, "Bread and Butter" was the group's first and most popular hit.
"Candy Man" is a song by Roy Orbison, released as the B-side to his international hit "Crying" in July 1961. It was later covered by British beat group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, becoming a top-ten hit in the UK.
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