Roy Orbison

Certain Songs #2129: Roy Orbison – “She’s A Mystery To Me”

June 18, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mystery Girl
Year: 1989

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Man, life is cruel, ain’t it?

After hitting the very top of the charts with the utterly undeniable “Oh, Pretty Woman!” Roy Orbison would never ever break the U.S. top 20 again in his lifetime. That’s just how fast the pop world changed as the British invaded and bands became ascendent.

Certain Songs #2128: Roy Orbison – “Oh, Pretty Woman”

June 17, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1964

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Inspired by an off-hand comment Roy Orbison’s co-writer, Bill Dees, made about Oribison’s wife, “Oh, Pretty Woman” is an absolute masterclass in how to pare a song down to the absolute basics. In this case, the basics are a dynamite corkscrew guitar riff, the simplest of drumbeats, and of course, Orbison’s voice, which mostly mitigates the somewhat problematic lyrics.

Certain Songs #2127: Roy Orbison – “Mean Woman Blues”

June 16, 2021 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1963

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With his utterly soaring voice and flare for big arrangements, Roy Orbison was an absolutely key figure in the post-Elvis, pre-Beatles era, and also a key figure in the sub-genre of rock ‘n’ roll made by nerdy looking dudes.

And while — with the exception of the eternal marvel that is tomorrow’s song — he’s probably best known for his ballads, I prefer Orbison the rocker, and nowhere does he rock harder than on his cover of Claude Demetrius’s “Mean Woman Blues,” a bit of proto rockabilly that features a clever turnaround on the lyric.