Texas Music with Real Texas Blog
Yep, it’s number 16 in the series. That would be XVI to you Romans out there.
I first heard Roy Orbison sing Pretty Woman on a spontaneous, late evening trip to a city just across the border from Del Rio, Texas. It 
seemed the closer we got to Del Rio, the more times that song came on the radio. Each time the song came on the radio, we sang along with it loudly and enthusiastically as only a bunch of teen age hick West Texas boys could.
We went down there and back on one tank of gas in a Mercury Comet. There are lots more details I can tell you about that trip…but won’t until the statute of limitations runs out.
Roy Orbison is a Real Texan from Wink although he was born in Vernon, Texas. Yes, Wink is definitely in Real Texas. Rolling Stone Magazine listed this Real Texan at #13 on their all time singers/songwriters list.
Billboard listed him at #74 of their top 600 recording artists of all time. He toured with several acts including the Wink Westerners and The Traveling Wilbury’s, a supergroup which was composed of George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and a few more names you have heard of. He died of a heart Attack in 1988 at age 52 while touring with them.
He grew up in West Texas and played with his high school rock-a-billy band all over familiar places to Real Texans. At one point in the 1960’s 22 of his songs were in the Billboad top 40. Yes, that is big time.
He had some tragedy in his life and his first wife and two of his children were killed in separate accidents. However, he was a true gentleman and my friend H.F. Ritchie knew Roy Orbison personally and probably played a set or two with him. Roy Orbison was known to be remarkably polite to everyone.
And about those coke bottle glasses…it was said all the Orbison children were afflicted with very bad eyesight.
He was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Roy Orbison, a true son of Real Texas. There are just too many great Roy Orbison songs for me to play here. Go out and buy some of his greats and add them to your collection.
Here’s Pretty Woman…this is as cool as it gets.
And from the movie…
It’s a song you recognize as soon as the drum beat starts. For you folks of another generation, you know the song from the movie Pretty Woman starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. I have to tell you the girls I met on my pretty woman night were not as beautiful as Julia Roberts, but they were……friendly.
Blue Bayou
Dream Baby..with a few friends you might recognize
Only the Lonely…
Crying…with the fantastic k.d. Lang
And k.d. thought so much of Roy she sang it solo in many performances
Very powerful! A perfect song. A perfect rendition.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This song came about as Roy and a friend were in his kitchen in california, testing a new 12-string he had purchased. !st wife Claudette-( recall Everly Bros tune by that name-written by Roy) came into kitchen and said she would need to go to store if friend was staying for dinner. Friend stated that a pretty woman should never have to pay for a meal. Roy wrote the song while she was gone….
a perfect choice. remember when Muntz 4 trac car stereos first came into vogue? I got one and lit up my 55 chevy with this very song as well as every other song that was on that tape. no midkiff or rankin girl was safe when Roy was in the player!!!
notice I did not make reference to a big lake girl, because if they were around such good music, a guy was not safe……