ROY ORBISON
OH, PRETTY WOMAN
24KT GOLD PLATED RECORD [Gold disk]

“Oh, Pretty Woman” lyric
sheet
1970-1988
Orbison handwrite these lyrics sometimes
after the his song's original release.
...

Grammy for “Oh, Pretty
Woman”
1990
Roy Orbison, writer/performer
Orbison won six Grammy Awards, including
a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.
Loan courtesy of Orbison Enterprises
...

ES-335 “Dot” electric guitar
Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 1985
Gibson, Inc., maker

Used by Orbison in A Block and
White Night (1988); his supporting
band included Bruce Springsteen,
Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson
Browne, and T-Bone Burnett.
Loan courtesy of Orbison Enterprises

One afternoon in 1964, Roy Orbison's wife Claudette asked for money. In response,
Bill Dees--Orbison's songwriting partner--joken, “Pretty woman never needs any money.”

Dees tapped a rhythm on the kitchen
table, while Orbison sang: “Pretty woman,
waling down the street.” Orbison's
famous opening guitar riff was added
last. Within an hour, the pair wrote
“Oh, Pretty Woman.” The song hit number
one on the U.S. and U.K. charts weeks later.

From 1960 to 1966, twenty-two of
Orbison's singles made the Billboard Top
Forty. His best-selling album came after
his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1987. Orbison, Bob Dylan,
George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff
Lynne formed the Traveling Wilburys in
1988, then Grammy winning debut album
sold more than three million copies.