How a single lyric change and a Supreme Court battle shaped music history
In short: When Roy Orbison recorded his 1964 masterpiece, a small edit was made to avoid scandal. Decades later, a parody of that same song would reach the highest court in the United States, fundamentally changing the legal definition of creative fair use forever.
In August 1964, Roy Orbison and Bill Dees released "Oh, Pretty Woman," a track that would become a global phenomenon, selling seven million copies and reaching number one on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. The song's creation was famously spontaneous, inspired by a moment when Orbison's wife, Claudette, interrupted a conversation. When Orbison asked if she had enough cash, Dees quipped, "A pretty woman never . . . never needs any money."
The recording session, held on August 1, 1964, featured a precise ensemble including guitarist Billy Sanford, who played the iconic opening riff, and a full rhythm section. Interestingly, the version heard on the Orbisongs LP contained the original lyric "come with me baby," but this was altered to "come to me baby" for the single release because the original phrasing was deemed too risky for radio.
The song's legacy extends far beyond the 1960s, influencing everything from Van Halen's 1982 cover to landmark legal precedents. In the 1990s, Acuff-Rose Music sued the Miami bass group 2 Live Crew for their parody of the track. The resulting U.S. Supreme Court case, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. (1994), became a cornerstone of copyright law by unanimously ruling that parodies can constitute valid fair use, even when created for profit.
Today, the song's cultural weight is cemented by its induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame and its preservation in the National Recording Registry. It remains a standard of rock and roll, having been adapted into various languages, such as the 1965 French version "L'homme en noir" by Sylvie Vartan.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Oh, Pretty Woman
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