From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed May 1, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Titus Turner
 
TITUS TURNER (By Shaun Mather)

Born 1 May 1933, Atlanta, Georgia
Died 13 September 1984, Atlanta, Georgia

Rhythm and blues singer Titus Turner made some tasty records but is
ultimately remembered for writing the songs that became hits for others.
After making his recording debut in 1951 for Okeh (Got So Much Trouble)
he also recorded for Wing, Enjoy, Columbia, Atco and Josie among others.
In 1955 Little Willie John scored big-time (# 5 R&B) with the Turner compo-
sition All Around The World. The song is also known as Grits Ain't Groceries,
and it was under that title that Little Milton had a hit (# 13 R&B) with it in
1969.
LWJ also scored with their collaboration, Leave My Kitten Alone (1959), which
was revived by Johnny Preston in 1961 and also recorded by the Beatles in
1964 (unreleased until 1995). A spell at King in 1959 saw Turner himself
succeed with two answer songs to Lloyd Price hits, The Return Of Stag-O-Lee
(# 29 R&B) and We Told You Not To Marry (on the Glover subsidiary, # 83 pop).
In 1961 he had another pop hit (# 77) with Sound Off on Jamie. His next
major songwriting success was Sticks And Stones which did the biz for
Ray Charles and was also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis. Other Turner
compositions include Tell Me Why (recorded by the Crew Cuts and Elvis
Presley) and Hey Doll Baby (Clovers, Everly Brothers).

Recommended listening:
Sound Off: The Jamie Master Recordings - Bear Family BCD 15532