William Marvin Dees (January 24, 1939 – October 24, 2012) was an American musician known for his songwriting collaborations with singer

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

Career

Born and based out of

Borger, Texas Borger ( ) is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 12,551 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also est ...

, United States, Dees played guitar and sang with a band called The Five Bops doing his first recordings with

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, and radio station owner. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. With Vi Ann Petty—his wife and vocalist—he ...

at his

Clovis, New Mexico Clovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico. The population was 38,567 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Clovis is located in the New Mexico portion of the Llano Estacado, in the eastern part of the state. A ...

studio in May 1958. They later became The Whirlwinds, gaining enough recognition to perform on an

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

radio station. Dees eventually made his way to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, where his meeting with Roy Orbison led to a collaboration that produced a string of successful songs for

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

, including the hits "

Oh, Pretty Woman "Oh, Pretty Woman", or simply "Pretty Woman", is a song recorded by Roy Orbison and written by Orbison and Bill Dees. It was released as a single in August 1964 on Monument Records and spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, '' ...

" and " It's Over". In 1967, Dees co-wrote all the songs for the Orbison album and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

motion picture ''

The Fastest Guitar Alive ''The Fastest Guitar Alive'' is a 1967 American Musical film, musical Comedy film, comedy western (genre), Western film directed by Mickey Moore, Michael D. Moore and starring singer Roy Orbison in his only acting role. The film features Orbison ...

''. Beyond his work with Orbison, Bill Dees wrote hundreds of songs, a number of which were recorded by performers such as

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

Billy Joe Royal Billy Joe Royal (April 3, 1942 – October 6, 2015) was an American country soul singer. His most successful record was " Down in the Boondocks" in 1965. Life and career Born in Valdosta, Georgia, to Clarence and Mary Sue Smith Royal, and ra ...

, Frank Ifield, Mark Dinning, and

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 h ...

. 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. Bill Dees lived in

Ozark, Arkansas Ozark is a city in Franklin County, Arkansas, Franklin County, Arkansas, United States and one of the county's two county seat, seats of government. The community is located along the Arkansas River in the Arkansas River Valley on the southern edg ...

& New Boston, Texas, for a number of years. There he continued writing and playing his music. Later he resided near

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...

, and continued to write songs with collaborator Jack Pribek until his death on October 24, 2012. He was living at a nursing facility in

Mountain Home, Arkansas Mountain Home is a city in and the county seat of Baxter County, Arkansas, Baxter County, Arkansas, United States, in the southern Ozark Mountains near the northern state border with Missouri. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, th ...

, at the time of his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dees, Bill 1939 births 2012 deaths American country singer-songwriters American country guitarists American male guitarists American rock guitarists American male singer-songwriters Guitarists from Texas People from Borger, Texas Roy Orbison Singer-songwriters from Texas 20th-century American guitarists People from Hutchinson County, Texas