Tidbits & Tales - WDVR

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Page 6
The Song and
the Story…
by Walt Haake
Oh Pretty Woman
It begins with a powerful walking
cadence played on the
drums. Then comes
the signature guitar
riff that repeats, expands
and builds
to the moment that
Roy Orbison takes
the microphone.
Then, in his haunting
tenor voice, we
hear: Pretty woman,
walkin’ down
the street/ Pretty
woman, the kind I’d
like to meet.
“Oh, Pretty Woman”
is musical drama. A beautiful
lady walking his way instantly becomes
his heart’s desire. Roy’s trademark growls and “Mercy!” underscore
the physical attraction. But she ignores his repeated pleas and walks by,
dashing all hopes he has of meeting her: If that’s the way it must be, okay/ I
guess I’ll go on home, it’s late.
Then--with just 30 seconds to go in this three-minute song-story comes
the part that every young man prays for each time he falls hopelessly in love
at first site: Wait!/ What do I see?/ Is she walking back to me?/ Yeah, she’s
walking back to me! Roy’s final Oh, oh, pretty woman! brings the story to a
sudden joyous climax.
What inspired this great record with the infectious beat, classic guitar
lick, impassioned vocals and everyman story line?
Her name was Claudette-Claudette Orbison, Roy’s pretty wife. Six years
earlier in 1958, she inspired Roy to write the song “Claudette,” which launched
his song writing career when the Everly Brothers recorded it and released it
as the flip side of their #1 hit “All I Have to Do Is Dream.”
In 1964, Roy and Claudette had recently reconciled after some tough
times in their marriage. Roy’s song writing partner, Bill Dees, was at the
house, kicking around ideas for songs with Roy, when Claudette came in
and said she was going into town to buy something. When Roy asked if she
needed money, Dees quipped, “Pretty woman never needs any money.” That
prompted Roy to started singing “Pretty woman, walking down the street”
with Dees keeping the beat by banging his hand on a table.
By the time Claudette returned
40 minutes later, Orbison and Dees
had just about finished the song.
They recorded it a week later, and
got the record released a week after
that. “Oh, Pretty Woman” shot up the
charts and landed in the #1 position
a month later. It also became a #1
hit in the UK.
The record was on the charts
for 15 weeks and sold seven million
copies in 1964 alone! The song that
Chet Atkins called the “best rock &
roll record ever made” never lost its
popularity or influence. Mick Jagger
acknowledged that “Oh, Pretty
Woman” was a direct influence on
The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No)
Satisfaction,” which was released
less than a year later.
The kick-off guitar riff in “Oh,
Pretty Woman” inspired quite a few
rock records over the years, including
The Beatles’ “Day Tripper” and arguably
“Ticket to Ride” and “Paperback
Writer.” “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith,
“Whip It” by Devo and “The One
I Love” by R.E.M. are among others
that were influenced by “Oh, Pretty
Woman.” And of course, Van Halen
had a hit with their cover version of
the song in 1982.
In 1990, “Oh, Pretty Woman”
inspired and became the title track
to the hit movie “Pretty Woman,” starring
Richard Gere and Julia Robert.
This introduced the song to a huge
new audience. Since then, “Oh,
Pretty Woman” received a Grammy
Hall of Fame Award in 1999 and was
added to the Library of Congress National
Recording Registry in 2007.
Just think: none of this would
have happened if Claudette had not
decided to go shopping that fateful
July day back in 1964.
Walt Haake hosts Wed-with-
Walt, 9 a.m. to noon, every week
on WDVR. §