Otis Blackwell: 1931-2002
Otis Blackwell died on May 6 of a heart attack at the age
of 70. That might not mean anything to you, but whether you know it or not, you've
probably been a fan for years. Blackwell was a songwriter who wrote over 1000 songs and
was credited with selling more than 185 million records -- many of them considered
indelibly linked to the artists who made them hits.
A list of his most successful songs would have to include
"Don't Be Cruel," "Return to Sender," "All Shook Up," and
"One Broken Heart for Sale" for Elvis Presley; "Great Balls of Fire"
and "Breathless" for Jerry Lee Lewis; "Handy Man," a hit for Jimmy
Jones, Del Shannon, and James Taylor; "Hey Little Girl" and "Just
Keep It Up" for Dee Clark; and "Fever," which was an R&B hit for Little
Willie John and a huge pop hit for Peggy Lee.
Born in Brooklyn, Blackwell was exposed to gospel and blues
at home, but he was also fascinated early on by the music of Tex Ritter he heard in the
Western movies he loved to watch. In 1952, he won a talent show at the Apollo Theater as a
singer and signed a recording contract with RCA under the auspices of producer Joe Davis.
The following year, Blackwell switched to Davis' own Jay-Dee Records and, after selling
"Fever" to Little Willie John in 1955, dedicated himself to songwriting --
although Atlantic, Date, Cub, and MGM all issued Blackwell singles over the years.
Blackwell's relationship with Presley was complicated. The
two never met, but since Presley could not read music, Blackwell would record demo records
for Presley -- of his own material as well as other songs his publishers wished to pitch.
Many people, specifically Mike Stoller and Jerry Lieber, felt that Blackwell was a major
influence on the young singer. Blackwell was non-committal on the subject. " I don't
know except we both sound alike," he said. "When I would do these things, I
would figure this is me singing and this is the way he would sing them. So it came real
easy."
Presley's manager Col. Tom Parker began to insist that
Presley share publishing rights on all the material he recorded -- a move that prompted
Leiber and Stoller to stop submitting songs to him -- but Blackwell acquiesced. As a
result, most of his songs recorded by the singer list Presley as co-author, although
Presley freely acknowledged he had not worked on them. Blackwell, for his part, felt
access to the singer was worth the price and never complained about the arrangement.
"We had just a great thing going and I just wanted to leave it alone. I just wanted
to keep writing and let him do the singing."
Peter Guralnick, noted music writer and Presley biographer,
praised Blackwell's signature sound, calling the relaxed medium tempo shuffle an
"idiom that was immediately familiar" to its audience. It wasn't actually
anything the audience had heard before, but the songs' articulation of common feelings
used accessible language and humor in ways that made them seem familiar.
Blackwell seemed able to write songs about any subject. He
wrote "Great Balls of Fire" for Jerry Lee Lewis after Lewis asked him to come up
with something based on the title. The result seemed the perfect distillation of Lewis's
unique performance style. Goldy Goldmark of Shalimar Publishing once shook up a bottle of
soda and challenged Blackwell, saying, "Write about this." Blackwell went home
and wrote "All Shook Up."
Although Blackwell continued to have hits in the '60s, the
ascent of the Beatles and, later, the rise of the singer/songwriter changed professional
songwriting in a big way. Blackwell recorded an album for Inner City in 1978, These are
My Songs! A 1990 stroke paralyzed him, forcing him to communicate through his
computer. An all-star 1994 tribute album, Brace Yourself [Shannachie 5702],
starring Dave Edmunds, Joe Ely, Tom Verlaine, Graham Parker, Chrissie Hynde, and Chris
Spedding, among others, was a rare artistic success for that tired genre (and well worth a
first-rate re-issue -- you listening, Chad?).
Otis Blackwell was one of a kind. His songs remain
compelling and infectious -- and they'll probably remain fresh forever. At a time when
other African-American progenitors of rock 'n 'roll were almost universally exploited and ignored, Blackwell not
only received his due, but he was also extremely successful financially. Perhaps the
shrewdest assessment of his career was his own: "I wrote my songs, I got my money,
and I boogied."
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
|
