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Roy Orbison — Oh, Pretty Woman
Album: Orbisongs
Avg rating:
8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1469









Released: 1964
Length: 2:54
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Pretty woman, walking down the street
Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet
Pretty woman
I don't believe you, you're not the truth
No one could look as good as you
Mercy

Pretty woman, won't you pardon me?
Pretty woman, I couldn't help but see
Pretty woman
That you look lovely as can be
Are you lonely just like me?
Wow

Pretty woman, stop a while
Pretty woman, talk a while
Pretty woman, give your smile to me
Pretty woman, yeah, yeah, yeah
Pretty woman, look my way
Pretty woman, say you'll stay with me

'Cause I need you
I'll treat you right
Come with me, baby
Be mine tonight

Pretty woman, don't walk on by
Pretty woman, don't make me cry
Pretty woman, don't walk away, hey, okay
If that's the way it must be, okay
I guess I'll go on home, it's late
There'll be tomorrow night, but wait
What do I see?

Is she walking back to me?
Yeah, she's walking back to me
Oh, oh, pretty woman
Comments (86)add comment
That GRRROWL at precisely the 1.00" mark: I melt 
What a fantastic, timeless recording this is. Nearly sixty years old and still sounds fresh.
Damn! I always thought he was an old man when he died. I was  a teenager at the time, and it seemed like he was ancient. I am the same age now as he was when he passed. <SIGH> 
GODLIKE!!! ICONIC!!!
So was he:
lookin' back to see if you were lookin' back at me To see me lookin' back at you


 Skydog wrote:
Lacking the photogenic looks of many of his rock and roll contemporaries, Orbison eventually developed a persona that did not reflect his personality. He had no publicist in the early 1960s, no presence in fan magazines, and his single sleeves did not feature his picture. Life magazine called him an "anonymous celebrity". After leaving his thick eyeglasses on an airplane in 1962 or 1963, Orbison was forced to wear his prescription Wayfarer sunglasses on stage and found that he preferred them. His biographers suggest that although he had a good sense of humor and was never morose, Orbison was very shy and suffered from severe stage fright; wearing sunglasses helped him hide somewhat from the attention. The ever-present sunglasses led some people to assume, then and now, that the stationary performer was blind. The black clothes and desperation in his songs led to an aura of mystery and introversion. Years later Orbison said, "I wasn't trying to be weird, you know? I didn't have a manager who told me to dress or how to present myself or anything. But the image developed of a man of mystery and a quiet man in black somewhat of a recluse, although I never was, really."
.
{#Arrowd} 
 

<3 <3 <3

Touching
There's no denying his talent and class.
 Sam_Hill wrote:

Yes but I never seem to get tired of it. The "Rowrrr!" alone is worth the price of admission.
 
at the opening chords, I am always disappointed that it isn't the BoxTops' The Letter...a/k/a Give Me A Ticket for an Aeroplane - oldie but goodie and I am more a child of the 60s. [Mercy!]
 ebanzai wrote:
Good song, but sadly it's been overplayed way, way too much. : /
 
Yes but I never seem to get tired of it. The "Rowrrr!" alone is worth the price of admission.
What a voice!
I like this classic tune a lot, enough to stand firm w/ my 9 rating.  And yet another example of FLAC files yielding something 'new' to hear in a song I've heard hundreds of times....in this case it's the piano parts that I've never heard so clearly until now.  Thanks as always, BnR...and LONG LIVE RP!!
Good song, but sadly it's been overplayed way, way too much. : /
 Webfoot wrote:
Ardent wood??
 
The best kind.
 lasker98 wrote:
Maybe just me but that picture could easily be of kd lang.

 .....
 

Hilarious.  Thankfully looks do not always count in the contemporary pop music world.
 kcar wrote:
head shot of Roy Orbison, looking a little dorkier than usual


Mer
-cy! 

Would love to know how long it took him to perfect that growl. Conan O'Brien must be green with envy. 

What gets me about Roy is that he was a star even though he just didn't look like a rock 'n roll star. Buddy Holly wasn't exactly eye candy either but he had a geeky wholesomeness. All the pictures I've seen of Roy, even in his heyday, make me wonder whether he wasn't a record company executive who kept the guy actually singing locked away while Roy lived out some mid-life fantasy.

 
He wasn't really considered a "rock 'n' roll star" the same way as many of his contemporaries were; he was more of a rockabilly balladeer.  He was only around 20 years old when he signed to Sun Records (the first company to also record Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash) and his biggest hits (with his next label) were all before he was thirty years old - not really "mid-life".  It seems he eventually went to wearing dark glasses all the time - maybe to add an air of mystery or something - but he wasn't as visually marketable as his contemporaries were.
Maybe just me but that picture could easily be of kd lang.

 
kcar wrote:
head shot of Roy Orbison, looking a little dorkier than usual

 


Trying to listen to this like I was hearing it for the first time, without any baggage.
Lacking the photogenic looks of many of his rock and roll contemporaries, Orbison eventually developed a persona that did not reflect his personality. He had no publicist in the early 1960s, no presence in fan magazines, and his single sleeves did not feature his picture. Life magazine called him an "anonymous celebrity". After leaving his thick eyeglasses on an airplane in 1962 or 1963, Orbison was forced to wear his prescription Wayfarer sunglasses on stage and found that he preferred them. His biographers suggest that although he had a good sense of humor and was never morose, Orbison was very shy and suffered from severe stage fright; wearing sunglasses helped him hide somewhat from the attention. The ever-present sunglasses led some people to assume, then and now, that the stationary performer was blind. The black clothes and desperation in his songs led to an aura of mystery and introversion. Years later Orbison said, "I wasn't trying to be weird, you know? I didn't have a manager who told me to dress or how to present myself or anything. But the image developed of a man of mystery and a quiet man in black somewhat of a recluse, although I never was, really."
.
{#Arrowd} 
 car wrote:Ha Ha !!!
head shot of Roy Orbison, looking a little dorkier than usual


Mer
-cy! 

Would love to know how long it took him to perfect that growl. Conan O'Brien must be green with envy. 

What gets me about Roy is that he was a star even though he just didn't look like a rock 'n roll star. Buddy Holly wasn't exactly eye candy either but he had a geeky wholesomeness. All the pictures I've seen of Roy, even in his heyday, make me wonder whether he wasn't a record company executive who kept the guy actually singing locked away while Roy lived out some mid-life fantasy.

 


10!
Big O!!
Mercyyyyyy! Rowwwwwr!
damn Sam{#Tongue-out}
         I know why they said  ' exceptions proves the rule'.
Oh, pretty Woman, she's  really scared stiff of rolling thunders.
 Lazarus wrote:

The voice of an angel...
 

 
MERCY!!! {#Bananajam}
 Webfoot wrote:

Ardent wood??

 
I'm guessing she meant "wooed", but 'Ardent Wood' could make a good band name.
Okay.....
Timeless classic!  :-)
Classic..........always , just always 
 helenofjoy wrote:
I was wood most ardently with this recording when I was a fresh lass of 20.

 
Ardent wood??
I'm listening to this on Shoutcast and it just gives the title as "Oh" {#Lol}
 ckcotton wrote:
If I NEVER hear his again it will be too soon!

 
Amen!
Hard to replace Mr O and I don't mean el presidente!
I was wood most ardently with this recording when I was a fresh lass of 20.
The. Voice.  
If I NEVER hear his again it will be too soon!
head shot of Roy Orbison, looking a little dorkier than usual


Mer
-cy! 

Would love to know how long it took him to perfect that growl. Conan O'Brien must be green with envy. 

What gets me about Roy is that he was a star even though he just didn't look like a rock 'n roll star. Buddy Holly wasn't exactly eye candy either but he had a geeky wholesomeness. All the pictures I've seen of Roy, even in his heyday, make me wonder whether he wasn't a record company executive who kept the guy actually singing locked away while Roy lived out some mid-life fantasy.

The voice of an angel...
 
 johnjconn wrote:
hey Bill
Somethings wrong with your equipment.  That hardly sounds like Van Halen
 

I grew up with that version.  I can remember one or two VH songs that were not so bad.  Now, I am going to Youtube to listen to Love Comes Walking In, from the "Van Hagar" era.  There are some really nice aspects to that song.  A brilliant hook.
 johnjconn wrote:
hey Bill
Somethings wrong with your equipment.  That hardly sounds like Van Halen
 
Won't you be surprised if he segues into VH...
Amazing delivery of a truly great song.
Mercy! This is why I love RP.
I want his sunglasses.
First time I ever heard this was as a kid when he was on the Dukes of Hazzard.  My dad's like, "You know who that is?". I'm like, "Err... no." {#Tongue-out}

GOD I hate this.....

VOLUME OFF

 
OMG——-10!
Ahh..Jukebox memories !{#Smile}

Bruce Springsteen and John Fogerty - Pretty Woman, Live (2009) 

25th ANNIVERSARY ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME CONCERT
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band w. John Fogerty - Pretty Woman - Madison Square Garden, NYC - 2009/10/29&30


 drtjdel wrote:
 Hannio wrote:
That's a freakishly skinny right leg he's got, there.

Edit:  Maybe it's not his leg.
Real nice.  Roy had polio. You insensitive bastards.
 
that's very funny, but it's not true. (You are joking, right? Right.)

Classic tune, of course, but I'm not sure this is the "right" version for my memory.  Roy re-recorded all his hits two or three times. . .
He said RrrrRrrr! )))
 Shaker wrote:
When I was younger and would drive passed  my sister walking, I  would sing 'pretty women' to her. I just called her {#Angel}

 

Kind of sad, of all the women in the world you sing it to your sister... {#Neutral}
When I was younger and would drive passed  my sister walking, I  would sing 'pretty women' to her. I just called her {#Angel}

This was my favourite song when I was about 7 years old. It has definitely aged well. A master of his craft and he died too early. Legendary!
I never forget his face, always forget his name. My bad. {#Yell}
.............mercy...............  Makes me  want to strutt.
One of the true pioneers, with a gifted voice to boot!

An effortless singer who smoked his ass off(and drank a lot of Cokes).
 crockydile wrote:

As Chris Isaac....

 

LOL!!!!!!

{#Roflol}
 Hannio wrote:
That's a freakishly skinny right leg he's got, there.

Edit:  Maybe it's not his leg.
Real nice.  Roy had polio. You insensitive bastards.


Oh Roy is a sure nuff pioneer ! Don't ya'll think so?  In all actuality, Roy helped bring "THE ROCK-n-ROLL era where it is today....hmmm except that u-bangy head stuff . In my lil-ole book  he (Roy) is top notch!!!{#Guitarist}
 cutterjudd wrote:
Roy Boy will live on forever................
 
As Chris Isaac....

That's a freakishly skinny right leg he's got, there.

Edit:  Maybe it's not his leg.
Great transition. One of the main reasons I tune in so often. Great job Bill!
Roy Boy will live on forever................
folkalta wrote:
White Stripes then Roy Mercy! Interesting to think, how many bands or performers can make an album with *50* greatest hits?
The Beatles come to mind...
White Stripes then Roy Mercy! Interesting to think, how many bands or performers can make an album with *50* greatest hits?
who would have thought White Stripes to this would have worked? Way to go Bill!
Mercy!
Halloween morning, and Bill is playing my upload of Roy. Sweet!
OH, OH, NO!
My father and I had no common ground on which to build a relationship and ignored each other for years. One day, we discovered that we both like Roy Orbison. From that one small bit of common interest, we've managed to form a relationship. It's a tentative one, and requires avoidance of topics like religion or politics, but it's still a relationship. Thanks, Roy, for helping to bring my family together. RIP--love you forever.
Lyrical gripe: "Are you lonely just like me?" They never are, are they? 8, mind you.
To grasp his stature in the Rock & Roll/Pop music world, you only need to look at the faces joining him onstage in "Roy Orbison & Friends: A Black & White Night".
Paraphrasing the lyrics from his stint with the Wilbury's "I'm so tired of being dead"!!!!!
webslinger48 wrote:
Some people spend their entire lives trying to build a legacy that will endure long after they are gone. And most fail. Roy Obison wrote and performed "Oh, Pretty Woman." He will never have that problem.
Orbison doesn't really have too many problems these days ... none in this world anyway.
Some people spend their entire lives trying to build a legacy that will endure long after they are gone. And most fail. Roy Obison wrote and performed "Oh, Pretty Woman." He will never have that problem.
Boy, you walk away from the computer for 24 hours, and one of your uploads gets added and played! Huh. The most famous example of Roy's swagger as opposed to his lachrymose melodrama (which I still love, but the guy was a rockabilly rebel as well as a pop crooner!). His tiger growl is alone worth the price of admission. Rock and roll history.
One of those songs that speaks to -- and from -- the heart of rock 'n' roll. Thanks, Roy.
Classic. A+
chartbound!
classic!!
Amazing vocal range! We miss you, Roy!
ha