Sept. 26, 1964 - Hitting No. 1 today on Billboard Hot 100 is “Oh, Pretty Woman,” a single recorded by 28-year-old Roy Orbison. The B-side of the single, which was released Aug. 15 by Monument Records, is “Yo te Amo María.” It is Orbison’s second single to top the U.S. charts; the first was “Running Scared.”
The title of the song, which was written by Orbison and Bill Dees, was inspired by Orbison’s wife, Claudette, who interrupted a conversation to announce that 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.”
Orbison recorded the song on Aug. 1. There were four guitar players at the session: Orbison, Billy Sanford, Jerry Kennedy, and Wayne Moss. Sanford played the song’s introductory guitar riff. Other musicians on the recording included Floyd Cramer on piano, Henry Strzelecki on bass, Boots Randolph and Charlie McCoy on saxophones, Buddy Harman on drums, and Paul Garrison on percussion. Dees sang harmony vocals, as he has on many Orbison songs.
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