Bill Dees
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William "Bill" Dees (born January 24, 1939) is an American musician most famous for his song writing collaborations with singer Roy Orbison.
Career
Born in the small town of Borger in the Texas Panhandle, he played guitar and sang with a band called "The Five Bops," gaining enough recognition to perform on an Amarillo, Texas radio station. Dees eventually made his way to Nashville, Tennessee where his meeting Roy Orbison led to a collaboration that produced a string of successful songs for Monument Records including the hits Oh, Pretty Woman and It's Over.[1]
In 1967, Dees co-wrote all the songs for the Orbison album and MGM motion picture The Fastest Guitar Alive.[2]
Beyond his work with Orbison, Bill Dees wrote hundreds of songs, a number of which were recorded by performers such as Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Skeeter Davis, Glen Campbell, Billy Joe Royal, Frank Ifield, Mark Dinning and Gene Pitney. In 2000, he recorded his own album titled "Saturday Night At The Movies," a compilation of songs previously sung by Orbison that had been written with Dees and some that Dees had written alone.
Dees now resides near Branson, Missouri, and continues to write songs with collaborator Jack Pribek.
Songs with Roy Orbison (partial list)
- Oh, Pretty Woman (1964)
- It's Over (1964)
- Borne On The Wind (1964)
- Ride Away (1965)
- Crawling Back (1965)
- Sleepy Hollow (1965)
- Where Is Tomorrow (1966)
- Communication Breakdown (1966)
- Walk On (1969)
- Windsurfer (1989)
- There Won't Be Many Coming Home(1966)<ref> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6td9cl9Z9Fw</ref>
References
- ^ "Mercy: Behind Roy Orbison's 'Pretty Woman'". NPR. December 6, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ "The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967) - Soundtracks". IMDB. Retrieved March 15, 2010.