’Oh, Pretty Woman’
A Reason To Smile
This week’s reason to smile is a catchy little tune by a fellow Texan and one of my favorite singers, Roy Orbison. His song, “Oh, Pretty Woman,” hit No. 1 61 years ago this week.
Orbison, who wrote the song with his friend and collaborator Bill Dees, says he was inspired by his beautiful wife Claudette.
The song, which is now part of the fabric of American popular culture, was Orbison’s most popular and successful single. He was awarded a posthumous Grammy for a new recording of “Oh, Pretty Woman” in 1991.
Not surprising, it was the theme song for the Julia Roberts-Richard Gere film of the same name.
It has made all the lists: Grammy Hall of Fame, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and the Library of Congress’s songs included in the National Recording Registry.
Regardless of the accolades, I bet you can’t stop singing it.
If you want to enjoy all the songs chosen for A Reason To Smile, you can listen to this Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Mercy!❤️
Roy had an amazing vocal range with so much feeling.