From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Sun Feb 16, 2003 2:22 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Otis Blackwell OTIS BLACKWELL (By Phil Davies) Born 16 February 1932, Brooklyn, New York City, New York Died 6 May 2002, Nashville, Tennessee Few 1950s rock & roll tunesmiths were as prolifically talented as Otis Blackwell. His immortal compositions include Little Willie John's Fever, Elvis's Don't Be Cruel, All Shook Up & Paralysed, Jerry Lee's Great Balls of Fire, Livin' Lovin' Wreck and Breathless, and Jimmy Jones' Handy Man (just for starters). Though he often collaborated with various partners on the thriving '50s New York R&B scene (Winfield Scott, Eddie Cooley and Jack Hammer), Blackwell's songwriting style is as identifiable as that of say Leiber & Stoller's. He helped formulate the musical vocabulary of rock & roll when the genre was barely breathing on its own. Befitting a true innovator, Blackwell's early influences were a tad out of the ordinary. As a lad growing up in Brooklyn, he dug the Westerns that his favourite nearby cinema screened. At that point, Tex Ritter was Otis Blackwell's main man. Blues singers Chuck Willis and Larry Darnell also made an impression. By 1952, Blackwell parlayed a victory at an Apollo Theatre talent show into a recording deal with veteran producer Joe Davis for RCA, switching to Davis' own Jay-Dee logo the next year. He was fairly prolific at Jay-Dee, enjoying success with the throbbing Daddy Rollin' Stone. From 1955 on, though, Blackwell concentrated primarily on songwriting (Atlantic, Date, Cub, and MGM later issued scattered Blackwell singles). Fever, co-written by Cooley, was Blackwell's first winner (he used the pen name of John Davenport, since he was still contractually obligated to Jay-Dee). Blackwell never met Elvis in person, but his material travelled a direct pipeline to the rock icon. Elvis recorded 10 songs by Otis including Return to Sender, One Broken Heart for Sale, and (Such An) Easy Question. Also from his pen came Dee Clark's Just Keep It Up, and Hey Little Girl. Established stars like Thurston Harris, Clyde McPhatter, Brook Benton, Ral Donner and Cliff Richard recorded classic Blackwell tunes before the British Invasion forever altered the Brill Building scene. His songwriting even managed to make a star of a teen idol like Johnny Restivo, via the classic The Shape I'm In (later recorded Cajun style by Dave Edmunds). In 1976, Blackwell returned to recording with a set for Inner City comprised of his own renditions of the songs that made him famous. His voice and performance are fine but the heavy fuzz guitar styled rock is not sympathetic to the quality of the songs, this album is available on a cheapo label ABM. A 1991 stroke paralyzed the legendary song scribe, but his influence remained so enduring that it inspired Brace Yourself (an all-star 1994 tribute album that included contributions by Dave Edmunds, Joe Ely and Kris Kristofferson). He died on May 6, 2002 in his Nashville home. (Adapted from All Music Guide) Recommended Reading: Elvis The Man & His Music, issue 11, 1991, interview with Otis from 1984. Recommended Listening: Singing The Blues - Davis lp These Are My Songs - ABM Daddy Rollin' Stone - Blue City Perhaps Ace or someone could do a cross label anthology of the classic Blackwell songs, along the lines of their Earl Palmer cd.