From: Dik de Heer 
Date: Sat Nov 1, 2003 2:40am
Subject: Born To Be With You : Woody Harris

WOODY HARRIS

Born 1 November 1911, New York City, New York
Died February 1985, Broward, Florida

Woody Harris was a songwriter, best known for the songs
he wrote with and for Bobby Darin. I couldn't find anything
about his personal life, so this short bio will concentrate on
his songwriting achievements.
Harris was not a prolific writer. The ASCAP database lists
32 compositions by him and the BMI files 13 titles, with a
partial overlap. He had several co-writers : apart from Darin he
worked occasionally with Eddie Deane and Jack Reardon. With
Deane he co-wrote "Rock-A-Billy" for Guy Mitchell, a # 1 hit in 
the UK in 1957, and "I'm Coming Home Late Tonight" for Jo-Ann 
Campbell. "Dix-A-Billy", the rocking US flip of LaVern Baker's big 
hit "I Cried A Tear" (1959), was jointly written by Woody Harris, 
Paul Evans and Jack Reardon. The Bobby Darin hits "Queen of 
the Hop", "Early in the Morning" and "Clementine" were Darin/
Harris collaborations, as were "Brandnew House" (from Bobby's
first LP, also recorded by Otis Spann) and both sides of "School's 
Out"/ "Real Love" by the Jaye Sisters (Atlantic 1190). Harris wrote
the following songs for Darin all by himself: "Pity Miss Kitty", "I Want
You With Me" (also recorded by Elvis Presley in 1961) and "Was 
There A Call For Me", the B-side of "Mack the Knife", which must 
have made Harris a rich man, as royalty rates are the same for 
both sides of a hit. Darin and Harris also set up their own publishing
company, Anna Teresa Music.