William Marvin Dees (January 24, 1939 – October 24, 2012) was an American musician known for his songwriting collaborations with singer Roy Orbison.
[1] Born and based out of Borger, Texas, United States, Dees played guitar and sang with a band called The Five Bops doing his first recordings with Norman Petty at his Clovis, New Mexico studio in May 1958.
Dees eventually made his way to Nashville, Tennessee, where his meeting with 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".
[3] 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.
Later he resided near Branson, Missouri, and continued to write songs with collaborator Jack Pribek until his death on October 24, 2012.