Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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BLACKWELL, Otis

(b 16 Feb. '31, Brooklyn; d 6 May 2002, Nashville) Singer, songwriter, pianist; one of the most successful writers in rock'n'roll, influenced by R&B singers such as Chuck Willis, but also by cowboys such as Tex Ritter. He won a talent contest at the Apollo Theatre; played early gigs with Doc Pomus, who encouraged him; his early record 'Daddy Rollin' Stone' '53 on Jay-Dee was later revived by the Who. He sold six songs for $25 each on Xmas Eve '55, including 'Don't Be Cruel', of which he made a demo playing piano, using a cardboard box for a drum. The subsequent Elvis Presley record was no. 1 for nine weeks; the only Presley hit to match it was also a Blackwell tune: 'All Shook Up'. He wrote 'Return To Sender' and 'One Broken Heart For Sale' for Presley, 'Fever' for Little Willie John (later a bigger hit for Peggy Lee); 'Great Balls Of Fire' and 'Breathless' for Jerry Lee Lewis; 'Hey Little Girl' for Dee Clark.

Blaxkwell sometimes wrote under the name of his stepfather John Davenport (e.g. 'I Sit By The Window' for the Four Fellows, and 'Fever'): co-writing with his friend Eddie Cooley, he used a pseudonym for royalties because he was under contract to RCA at the time. Selling part or all the rights to a song was not unusual, and Blackwell admired Presley; but Presley's method at early RCA sessions was to choose a demo that he liked and copy it if he liked it, arrangement and all: 'Don't Be Cruel' was Presley's first hit with a slick pop song, rather than R&B or country songs, and the style was probably influenced by Blackwell, who recorded for many labels but never had hits of his own. He wrote 900 songs and received overdue recognition when Stevie Wonder acknowledged him when Wonder received a Best Male Vocalist award in 1976. Blackwell was writing a score for a biographical film about Presley when Presley died; he recorded 'The No. 1 King Of Rock'n'Roll' on his own Fever label. LPs: These Are My Songs! '77 on Inner City, Singin' The Blues on Flyright.