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Otis Blackwell
Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless" (recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis), "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", and "Return to Sender" (with Winfield Scott; recorded by Elvis Presley), and "Handy Man" (recorded by Jimmy Jones).[1] BiographyBlackwell was born in Brooklyn, New York.[2] He learned to play the piano as a child and grew up listening to both R&B and country music.[3] His first success was winning a local talent contest ("Amateur Night") at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in 1952.[4] This led to a recording contract with RCA and then with Jay-Dee. His first release was his own composition "Daddy Rolling Stone",[5] which became a favorite in Jamaica, where it was recorded by Derek Martin.[6] The song later became part of The Who's mod repertoire.[6] Enjoying some early recording and performing success, he found his first love was songwriting and by 1955 had settled into the groove that he would ride for decades.[7] His first successes as a songwriter came in 1956, when Little Willie John's R&B hit with the sultry "Fever" was an even bigger pop success for Peggy Lee, and "Don't Be Cruel" began a highly profitable association with Elvis Presley.[6] Blackwell was one of the leading figures of early rock and roll, although he was not well known by the public. His own records never cracked the Top 40, yet he wrote million-selling songs for Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dee Clark and others. He also recruited other songwriters to write for Presley, such as Winfield Scott.[8] In the liner notes of Elvis' Golden Records (1958), Anne Fulchino of RCA Records, wrote,
During an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, Blackwell said he never met Presley in person.[9] When he was having a contract dispute with his publishing company, he also wrote under the white-sounding pen name John Davenport.[4] Blackwell composed more than a thousand songs, garnering worldwide sales of close to 200 million records.[10] Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, asked Blackwell to appear in the Presley movie Girls! Girls! Girls!, for which he had written "Return to Sender", but a superstition about meeting Presley kept him from accepting.[11] In 1956, Blackwell gave "Don't Be Cruel" to friend Frankie Valli's group, The Four Lovers, but as they were recording it he asked to take it back and in turn gave it to the up-and-coming Presley. In exchange for this song, he gave them "You're the Apple of My Eye", which became a chart hit for the Four Lovers (Billboard number 64).[12] As the tide of Rock and roll receded, Blackwell recorded R&B songs for numerous labels, including Atlantic, MGM and Epic. In later years, he was in semi-retirement, making only occasional live appearances.[6] In the 1980s, Blackwell toured and recorded with the Smithereens as his backing band for both live shows and studio recordings. The partnership produced two self-funded albums, Let's Talk About Us and From the Beginning, which were released independently on Blackwell's ROC-CO imprint.[13] In 1991, Blackwell was paralyzed by a stroke. Three years later, Shanachie released the album Brace Yourself! A Tribute to Otis Blackwell, containing 15 songs written by Blackwell and recorded by the likes of Kris Kristofferson ("All Shook Up"), Blondie's Debbie Harry ("Don't Be Cruel"), the Smithereens ("Let's Talk About Us"), Graham Parker ("Paralyzed"), and Ronnie Spector ("Brace Yourself").[14] Blackwell died of a heart attack in 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee, and was interred in Woodlawn Memorial Park. Awards and recognitionOtis Blackwell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and in 1991 into the National Academy of Popular Music's Songwriters Hall of Fame.[4] Blackwell's crowning moment came in the late 1980s when the Black Rock Coalition, a prominent organization of black rock musicians, led by Vernon Reid, the lead guitarist of the band, Living Colour, held a tribute for him at the Prospect Park Bandshell in his native Brooklyn. Many prominent musicians and singers took part including Blackwell himself, who performed an assortment of his best songs, including "One Broken Heart for Sale", "Back Trail", "Don't Be Cruel" and "Daddy Rolling Stone".[citation needed] Blackwell was named one of the 2010 recipients of Ahmet Ertegun Award in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[15] This category encompasses those who primarily work behind the scenes in the music industry.[citation needed] In 2022, Blackwell was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.[16] LegacyBlackwell is considered one of the greatest R&B songwriters of all time.[17] His songwriting style is as uniquely identifiable as that of Leiber and Stoller, Chuck Berry, or Willie Dixon and helped redefine popular music in America in the 1950s.[10] This is true even though he often collaborated with such partners as Winfield Scott, Eddie Cooley, and Jack Hammer. Blackwell was one of the most important innovators who helped invent the musical vocabulary of rock and roll at its very beginning.[1] His works have been recorded by a host of major artists, including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, James Brown, The Who, Johnny Thunders, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty, the Judds, Carl Perkins, Lonnie Lee, and Peggy Lee, among numerous others. At other times in his career, Blackwell was also successful as a record producer, having helped turn out hits for artists as diverse as Connie Francis, Mahalia Jackson, and Sal Mineo.[18] SongsSongs composed by Blackwell, with the performers who made them famous, include the following:[6]
Selected discography
References
Sources and further reading
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