Otis Blackwell

Otis Blackwell ( born February 16, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York City; † 6 May 2002 Nashville, Tennessee ) was one of America's most successful composers of Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll, of his works, among other Elvis Presley or Jerry Lee Lewis benefited.

Career

Otis Blackwell had in 1952 won a singing contest at the Apollo Theater in New York and received as a reward a recording contract with RCA Records. As a performer and pianist, he is still playing in 1952 later for Elvis Presley RCA Victor label and other labels over 30 tracks, beginning with the single Wake Up Fool / Please Help Me Find My Way Home (recorded on October 22, 1952). 16 more singles followed in numerous other record labels. His most famous recording session, however, September 22, 1953, in his compositions Daddy Rolling Stone / Tears, Tears, Tears were leveled was (published: October 19, 1953). The A-side is now regarded as the characteristic, representative style of the complete works of Otis Blackwell. Dubbed Viola Watkins And The Otis Blackwell Quintet was published in September 1952 Really Real / Paint A Sky (Jubilee 5095 ). In all, he wrote nearly all the songs themselves; However, they remained without any hit parade resonance.

Composer

Otis Blackwell has a total of 11 songs for Elvis Presley written, without neglecting its service for other artists. He often collaborated with Winfield Scott or Bobby Stevenson.

Elvis Presley

On a cold Christmas Eve of 1955 Otis Blackwell hung moneyless by Musikverlag Shalimar Music in New York around where the owner greeted him Aaron " Goldie " Goldmark. This he sold 6 pieces for $ 25 a piece to " have a little Christmas bonus ." RCA Records had decided in May 1956 You're the Apple of My Eye at the Four Lovers, the predecessor of the later group Four Seasons, publish (Rank # 62 Pop ). You should really get Do not Be Cruel, but label - mate Elvis enjoyed priority. From the selection you chose Do not Be Cruel as the B-side of Hound Dog for the first recording session for RCA (on July 2, 1956, published on 13 July 1956). Unfortunately, Blackwell had to make the often usual compromise to waive 50% of his royalties, as Presley's manager "Colonel " Tom Parker wanted to let his protégé register as co-author, although Elvis had played no role in the composition. This " cut- in " should not be the only one. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller also as authors of the A- side ( Hound Dog ) had to forego one third of their royalties in favor of Elvis Presley. Well Blackwell came to money, because the single sold over 4 million copies. Both sides of the plate, so the A-side with Hound Dog and the B-side sold and placed uniformly good. Since then, Blackwell was on the staff of the few established authors whose material was regularly taken by Presley.

As Blackwell has been dropped and therefore a pressurized bottle of Coke held rather closed, he had the idea of All Shook Up. The next Elvis hit in March 1957 was born, a transatlantic number -one hit. For Presley's second LP was considered Paralyzed ( October 1956 # 1 LP charts ). After Presley's military absence in Germany he took during his first recording session on March 20, 1960 in Nashville Make Me Know It on, an R & B song for the LP Elvis Is Back ( March 1960, # 2 LP charts ). Just two years later, then surfaced ( Such An ) Easy Question on the LP Pot Luck (June 1962). The need for film music for many, cinematically slick movies with Elvis Presley was immense, so that this Blackwell compositions were needed. We're Coming In Loaded is on the soundtrack LP of Girls! Gils! Girls! contain ( November 1962 Rank 3 LP charts ). In the single-hit Return To Sender Elvis tells the story of a girl who rejects the contact wishes of a boy and even the letters unopened returns ( October 1962 Rank 1 Pop ). One Broken Heart For Sale for the film It Happened At The World's Fair was indeed sold over 1 million times, but achieved only moderate chart notes ( January 1963, rank 11). The tame Rocker Please Do not Drag That String Around then had the B-side of Devil In Disguise serve (May 1967 from the movie Double Trouble ). Stranger In The Crowd was Blackwell's last contribution to the Elvis catalog, hidden on the album That's The Way It Is ( December 1970 Rank 21).

Compositions for other Artists

One of the first composition of Otis Blackwell ( under the pseudonym of his stepfather John Davenport was recorded with Eddie Cooley Evergreen Fever, originally recorded by Little Willie John on March 1, 1956 and published in April 1956 (Rank 24 Pop ). Was to hit the piece until the jazzy version of Peggy Lee ( June 1958 Rank 8 ), and even Elvis Presley grabbed Fever fingerschnippend on (LP Elvis Is Back, April 1960 ). the list of cover versions ranging from the McCoys ( November 1965 ) about Helen Shapiro ( January 1964 ), Rita Coolidge ( December 1972 ) to Madonna ( March 1993, # 6 UK). Overall inventoried 65-72 versions.

Jerry Lee Lewis used the services Blackwells with Great Balls Of Fire from (. Taken on 6-8 October 1957, published in November 1957; Rank 2). The jointly developed with the session pianist Jack Hammer song sold 5 million times, making Lewis - former label - mate Elvis at Sun Records - Presley for the serious competitor was. The hit was the biggest sales success of Sun Records. This was followed by Breathless (taken at 16 to 17 January 1958) with an unusual intonation, because Lewis bridged the music breaks with audible breathing passages based on the title ( in February 1958, Rank 7 ). The destroyer of several pianos took over yet Let's Talk About Us (June 1959) and the B-side from the Ray Charles standard What'd I Say the composition Livin ' Lovin ' Wreck ( February 1961 ). Even Bobby Darin was with All The Way Home ( Otis Blackwell / Luther Dixon, taken on January 24 1958, LP For Teenagers Only, September 1960 ) not do without. Thurston Harris brought on a B-side I'm Out To Getcha out (May 1958), Johnnie Ray sang Up Until Now (recorded on June 15, 1958), Johnny Restivo The Shape I'm In took over ( September 1959 ), and Dee Clark Just Keep It made ​​up with the distinctive Bo Diddley beat to an average hit (May 1959 rank 18). Dee Clark took over as his follow-up single Hey Little Girl (recorded on March 27, 1959 Rank 20). Jerry Lee Lewis tried with Let's Talk About Us unsuccessful, his dwindling career to stabilize (July 1959). Ben E. King took over as soloist Brace Yourself, recorded on 17 December 1959, and published in January 1960.

Hard to understand is the author of the top-selling hit Handy Man, which was released in January 1960 by Jimmy Jones (Rank 2 Pop ). It is clear that the original has been published by the Sparks Of Rhythm in January 1956, to which Jimmy Jones had heard before the group recorded the song. The original recording leads as authors on the group member Andrew Barksdale and Charles Merenstein ( employee of the record label Apollo). BMI also registered next to Otis Blackwell in this BMI Award - winner in the version of Jimmy Jones. The cover of James Taylor only cut in June 1977 slightly worse ( Rank 4). Very successfully cut Cliff Richard in his native England with Nine Times Out Of Ten from (Rank 3). For the Drifters I Feel Good All Over was written that they had received on 28 June 1962, was published in October 1963 as the B-side of I'll Take You Home.

Was often gecovert Daddy Rolling Stone. As a first attacked Jimmy Ricks & the Raves (recorded on November 10, 1961 published in February 1962) on the piece, followed by Derek Martin ( January 1963 ), Hank Ballard ( November 1964 ), The Who took it as a B- side of their ( 12 to 14 April 1965 ) Hits Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, the Liverpool Beat Band Earl Preston's Realms (LP Earl Preston's Realms, Nov. 1965), Phil Alvin (LP Un ' Sung Stories', August 1986 ), Johnny Thunders & Friends (LP So Alone; October 1978) or The Blasters (live in Pittsburgh, March 17, 2011).

Statistics

The LP Brace Yourself: A Tribute To Otis Blackwell ( December 1993) includes 15 songs from one of the most important and influential authors style of rock music. In 1984, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Hall of Fame, 1992 Blackwell received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. For Blackwell total of 394 items are protected by copyright, with BMI, of which 8 received a BMI Award. His songs have sold more than 185 million times.

Otis Blackwell's early recordings

• Recording Session October 22, 1952: Fool That I Be; Wake Up Fool; Number 000; Please Help Me Find My Way Home;
• Recording session September 22, 1953: Tears, Tears, Tears; Daddy Rolling Stone, On That Power Line; Do not Know How I Loved You;
• Recording session December 30, 1953: You're My Love; Go Away Mr. Blues; Bartender Fill It Up Again; I'm Travelin ' On;
• Recording session May 14, 1954: My Josephine; Is not Got No Time; I'm Coming Back Baby;
• Recording session June 24, 1954: I Face This World Alone; O -O -O -Oh!; Oh! What A Babe; Here I Am.