Oh, Pretty Woman

"Oh, Pretty Woman" or "Pretty Woman" is a song recorded by Roy Orbison, written by Orbison and Bill Dees.[1] 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 single by Orbison to top the US charts.[2] It was also Orbison's third single to top the UK Singles Chart (for a total of three weeks).[3]

For the film named after this song, see Pretty Woman. For the musical named after this song, see Pretty Woman: The Musical. For the other song of the same name by Gary Moore, see Still Got the Blues.
"Oh, Pretty Woman"
Single by Roy Orbison and the Candy Men
B-side"Yo te Amo María"
Released1964 (1964)
RecordedAugust 1, 1964
GenreRock and roll
Length2:55
LabelMonument
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Fred Foster
Roy Orbison and The Candy Men singles chronology
"It's Over"
(1964)		 "Oh, Pretty Woman"
(1964)		 "Goodnight"
(1965)
Audio sample
  • file
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The record ultimately sold seven million copies and marked the high point in Orbison's career.[4] Within months of its release, in October 1964, the single was certified gold by the RIAA.[5] At the year's end, Billboard ranked it the number four song of 1964.[6]

"Oh, Pretty Woman" was later used for the title of the 1990 film Pretty Woman starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and the 2018 Broadway musical Pretty Woman: The Musical.

Overview

The title was inspired by Orbison's wife, Claudette, interrupting a conversation to announce 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."[7]

Orbison's recording of the song was produced by Fred Foster[1] on August 1, 1964. There were four guitar players at the session: Roy Orbison, Billy Sanford, Jerry Kennedy, and Wayne Moss.[8] Sanford, who later played on sessions for Elvis Presley, Don Williams and many others, played the intro guitar. Other musicians on the record 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.[8] Bill Porter served as recording engineer.[9]

Orbison posthumously won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his live recording of "Oh Pretty Woman" on his HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award 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 it number 224 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." On May 14, 2008, The Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

Further information: Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.

In 1989, rap group 2 Live Crew recorded a parody of the Orbison song, using the alternate title "Pretty Woman", for their album As Clean As They Wanna Be. 2 Live Crew sampled the distinctive bassline from the Orbison song, but replaced the original lyrics with talk about a hairy woman and her bald-headed friend and their appeal to the singer, as well as denunciation of a "two-timing woman."

Orbison's publisher, Acuff-Rose Music sued 2 Live Crew on the basis that the fair use doctrine did not permit reuse of their copyrighted material for profit. The case, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided in 2 Live Crew's favor, greatly expanding the doctrine of fair use and extending its protections to parodies created for profit. It is considered a seminal fair use decision.[10]

Sales performance

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada — 180,000[32]
Germany — 350,000[32]
United Kingdom — 680,000[32]
United States (RIAA)[33] Gold 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Van Halen version
"(Oh) Pretty Woman"
Single by Van Halen
from the album Diver Down
B-side"Happy Trails"
ReleasedFebruary 1982 (1982-02)
RecordedJanuary 1982
StudioSunset Sound, Los Angeles
GenreHard rock
Length2:55
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Ted Templeman
Van Halen singles chronology
"Unchained"
(1981)		 "(Oh) Pretty Woman"
(1982)		 "Dancing in the Street"
(1982)

Van Halen recorded the song for their 1982 album, Diver Down. It was preceded by a synth-driven intro titled "Intruder". For the video of the single, the two songs were joined, giving a running-time of 4:34. This was done to lengthen the song in order to fit the video's running time.

In the music video, filmed at Indian Dunes, the band members dress as a samurai (bassist Michael Anthony), Tarzan (drummer Alex Van Halen), a cowboy (guitarist Eddie Van Halen), and Napoleon (frontman David Lee Roth). Per a hunchbacked onlooker's request, they rescue a captive girl (played by transgender entertainer International Chrysis). It was one of the first videos banned by MTV, due to its opening sequence, where the captive girl is tied up and fondled against her will by a pair of little people. The ban was eventually lifted, as MTV sister network VH1 Classic would later air the video.[34]

This was the band's second Top 20 hit, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100,[35] and also peaking at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 59
Canada RPM Top Singles[36] 15
Netherlands 33
UK [37] 47
US Billboard Hot 100[38] 12
US Billboard Mainstream Rock 1
US Cash Box Top 100[39] 10

Year-end charts

Chart (1982)Rank
Canada [40] 51
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[41] 88
US Cash Box [42] 66

Hindi version

The Indian musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the Hindi song "Pretty Woman", which samples "Oh, Pretty Woman", for the Bollywood film Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003).[43]

gollark: Oh, that's good, I don't think it has pOSsum.
gollark: RANDOM.
gollark: Also those 8102 digits of tau. Maybe I should compress them.
gollark: There's actually a bit of the code just listing words containing OS.
gollark: Basically, it always starts "PotatOS", then I have 8102 hardcoded digits of tau (from which it picks a random number of them), *then* a randomly picked word containing "OS", then a non-cryptographic hash of some of the code.

See also

References
  1. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 85. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 157.
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 186. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. Lehman, Peter. Roy Orbison: Invention of an Alternative Rock Masculinity. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2003, p. 2, 13
  5. "American certifications – Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman". Recording Industry Association of America.
  6. "Hot 100 Singles of 1964" (PDF). Billboard. January 2, 1965.
  7. Amburn, Ellis. Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story. New York: Carol Publishing, 1990, p. 127
  8. Phonograph Recording Contract, Local Union No. 257, Fred Foster Sound Studios, Nashville, TN: American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, 7 September 1964
  9. The Monument Story (Media notes). Various. New York, New York: Sony Music Entertainment. A2K66106.CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. Jackson, Matt (March 1995). "Commerce versus art: The transformation of fair use". Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 39 (2): 190–199. doi:10.1080/08838159509364298.
  11. Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  14. "Hits of the World". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 76 (50): 19. December 12, 1964. ISSN 0006-2510.
  15. "Top Singles – Volume 2, No. 5, September 28 1964". RPM. Walt Grealis. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  16. "Hits of the World". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 76 (49): 15. December 5, 1964. ISSN 0006-2510.
  17. "Accès direct à ces Artistes: Roy Orbison" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original (select "Roy ORBISON" and then click "Go") on September 24, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  18. "Hits of the World". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 77 (1): 19. January 2, 1965. ISSN 0006-2510.
  19. "Search the Charts". irishcharts.ie. Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original (enter "Roy Orbison" into the "Search by Artist" box, then select "Search") on July 21, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  20. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 1, 1965" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  21. "Dutchcharts.nl – Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman". VG-lista. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  23. "flavour of new zealand - Lever hit parades". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  24. "Hits of the World". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 77 (8): 24. February 20, 1965. ISSN 0006-2510.
  25. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  26. "Roy Orbison Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  27. "Offiziellecharts.de – Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 28, 2019. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Roy Orbison"
  28. "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1964". Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  29. Lane, Dan (18 November 2012). "The biggest selling singles of every year revealed! (1952–2011)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  30. "The 100 best-selling singles of 1964 [in the U.K.]". www.sixtiescity.net. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  31. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1964.htm
  32. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2, illustrated ed.). Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0-214-20480-4. Retrieved August 21, 2014. three weeks simultaneously.
  33. "American single certifications – Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 21, 2014. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  34. Chad Childers. "Van Halen, 'Oh Pretty Woman' – Banned Music Videos". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  35. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 656.
  36. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  37. "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  38. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  39. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 24, 1982
  40. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  41. "Talent in Action : Top Pop Singles". Billboard. 94 (51): TIA-20. December 25, 1982.
  42. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 25, 1982". Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  43. Upadhyay, Karishma (February 10, 2006). "'Roy would have loved the bhangra version'". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
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