Oh, pretty woman

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Oh, Pretty Woman (originally published as Pretty Woman ) is the title of one of the world's most successful hits of 1964 by Roy Orbison , who topped the charts in many countries .

History of origin

Orbison has been recording records since March 1956. He left Sun Records due to lack of prospects in September 1958 in the direction of RCA Records , from September 1959 he was under contract with Monument Records . Orbison met with his new writing partner, William "Bill" Dees, at his house on Saturday, July 25, 1964 to work out new songs. When Orbison's wife, Claudette, left town to go shopping, Roy asked her if she needed any more money. Dees responded charmingly: “Pretty woman never needs any money”; the idea for the title was born. When Claudette came back from shopping after about 40 minutes, the song was finished. "We wrote the song on a Friday, we recorded it the next Friday, and it was released the following Friday".

Studio shot

On August 1, 1964, the song and the B-side Yo Te Amo Maria were recorded in the Fred Foster Sound Studio in Nashville under the production direction of the studio owner and co-partner of Monument Records , Fred Luther Foster. The recording studios were in Hendersonville , not far from Orbison's home. Although only two takes were required for the recording , they were preceded by a preparation time of 3 hours. During this time before the first take, various arrangements were experimented with. Orbison had brought his touring drummer Paul Garrison, who played in tandem with Buddy Harman . The instrumental line-up consisted of session musicians from the so-called Nashville A-Team , namely Jerry Kennedy (lead guitar Gibson ES-335), from whom the characteristic repetitive eighth note riff comes, Ray Edenton (rhythm guitar), Billy Sanford and Wayne Moss (electric guitars ), Floyd Cramer (piano) and Boots Randolph (tenor saxophone). Guitarists Jerry Kennedy, Wayne Moss and Billy Sanford created one of the most famous guitar intros in popular music. This memorable intro alone deserves a description. The bass drum is struck on every beat , while the snare drum doubles that beat, and the closed hi-hat is struck on every upbeat. After one bar Grady Martin starts on his acoustic 12-string guitar with a broken chord - riff . After one repetition, the electric bass and the electric lead guitar begin, after two more repetitions the second electric guitar starts and is punctured by the saxophone.

Oh, Pretty Woman presented a completely different style of music than the previous singles, which were performed with melancholy intensity. It was a riff-heavy rock ballad. There are some unusual passages in the simple lyrics. While the “yeah, yeah” was being adapted by the Beatles, there was a hissing sound that Orbison had taken from a Bob Hope film , which is unusual for music recordings . In terms of content, large parts of the story take place in the mind of the singer, who is watching an attractive woman passing by. He wonders if the pretty woman is feeling lonely. He wishes her to talk to him, laugh to him and stay with him, but she walks past him. Only at the last moment does she turn around and approach him.

publication

Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman

The single was released on August 8, 1964 as Oh, Pretty Woman / Yo Te Amo Maria (Monument # 851) and hit the US charts on August 29, 1964, where it took first place for three weeks from September 26, 1964 . In Great Britain, the record came on the market in September 1964 and held first place for two weeks from October 8, 1964. From December 19, 1964, it occupied the top position in the German charts for three weeks. This was also the case in all other major music markets around the world. The title would remain the singer's only number one hit . By October 1964, the single was already a million seller in the USA , another 680,000 copies were sold in Great Britain, 500,000 in Germany and 180,000 in Canada. A total of over seven million pieces were marketed worldwide. This made the record Orbison's most successful hit.

By the way, a new studio recording was made for the LP version (audible in the Liedbrücke ). While he sings in the single version: "Come to me, baby, I'll treat you right ...", the LP version says "Come with me, baby ...". The original version was closed for its time sensual.

Cover versions, awards and plagiarism process

A total of 14 cover versions are registered with BMI . The song won a BMI award. In 1991, Orbison received a posthumous Grammy for Pretty Woman . In the list of the 500 best songs of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, the piece takes place 222.

The most successful cover version came from Van Halen (February 1982), which reached number 12 on the US charts. The German version appeared under the title Pretty Woman by Gerd Böttcher in 1964, without being noted in the German charts. The track also formed the theme music for the movie Pretty Woman , which was released on March 23, 1990 in the United States.

In 1989 there was a plagiarism process with 2 live crews . This rap quartet had released the LP As Clean As They Wanna Be on July 15, 1989 , which also contained "Oh, Pretty Woman" (with a mention of the authors Orbison / Dees). On July 5, 1989 Orbison's music publisher Acuff-Rose Publishing was informed of the intended parody of the 2 Live Crew , but they refused to approve. Regardless, the parody was released. After almost 250,000 LPs had been sold, a lawsuit was filed. 2 Live Crew took over the characteristic guitar / bass / drum riff from the original as a sample and changed the text and slightly also the rhythm for their version. The changes were not substantial, so that the original remains recognizable even to the layman. The lawsuit was brought to an end in the US Supreme Court on March 7, 1994. The court saw no copyright infringement, but a permissible case of fair use - doctrine as part of a - not explicitly valued by the court - parody . 2 Live Crew's version was, to a certain extent, a critical commentary on the original.

Selection of artists who recorded cover versions:

Others

Blues and rock musician Gary Moore released a song called Oh Pretty Woman on his LP Still Got the Blues in March 1990 . There is no connection between this and Orbison's song; Text and melody are from AC Williams. The recording by Gary Moore is a cover version of the blues song recorded by Albert King on August 3, 1966 . John Mayall with his Bluesbreakers already recorded this song on July 12, 1967 for his LP Crusade .

Literature and Sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Monument Records was founded shortly before in September 1958
  2. ^ Alan Clayson, Only the Lonely - The Life and Artistic Legacy of Roy Orbison , 1990, p. 132
  3. ^ Jon Kutner / Spencer Leigh, 1000 UK # 1 Hits , 2005, p. 149
  4. ^ A b Colin Escott, Roadkill on the Three-chord Highways - Art And Trash in American Popular Music , 2002, p. 34 f.
  5. ↑ Jerry Kennedy played a. a. at Harper Valley PTA or In the Ghetto
  6. ↑ Michael Kosser, How Nashville Became Music City, USA , 2006, p. 61.
  7. ^ Walter Everett, The Foundations of Rock , 2008, pp. 85 f.
  8. ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet - German chart singles 1956-1980 . 1st edition. Verlag popular music-literature, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 445 .
  9. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 196
  10. ^ Mary-Lou Galician / Debra L. Merskin, Critical Thinking About Sex, Love And Romance in the Mass Media , 2007, p. 151 f.
  11. ↑ Oh, Pretty Woman ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , BMI entry @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / repertoire.bmi.com
  12. ↑ fair use ("permitted use") is, according to American copyright law, the permitted reproduction for criticism, commentary, learning or research purposes that does not constitute a copyright infringement; 17 USC § 107
  13. ↑ SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, No. 92-1292, 510 US 569 court decision of March 7, 1994 ( memento of the original of January 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bc.edu