Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an African-American songwriter, singer, and pianist, whose work significantly influenced rock and roll.
Born and brought up in New York City, he learnt the piano as a child and listened on the radio to rhythm and blues (then known as "race" music) and to country music in films starring such singing cowboys as Gene Autry and Tex Ritter. They were the two elements that were eventually to combine in the early 1950s to create the hybrid that was rock'n'roll. On leaving school in the late 1940s, he worked first as a lowly floor-sweeper at a New York theatre and then as a clothes-presser in a laundry. In 1952 he won a local talent contest at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and secured a recording contract with Joe Davis's Jay-Dee label. It was at Davis's suggestion that he began writing his own songs. "I was thrown into it," he later said.
His first release was the self-composed Daddy Rolling Stone. It failed to reach the charts but later became a big hit in Jamaica where it was recorded by Derek Martin. Blackwell made further recordings for RCA Records and the Groove label which were among the earliest examples of the emerging rock'n'roll style.
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But all the time he was developing his songwriting and on Christmas Eve 1955, he sold the demos of six songs he had written for $25 each. They included "Don't Be Cruel", which featured him singing over an accompaniment of piano and a cardboard box for a drum. Yet his first big hit as a writer came with the sultry and atmospheric "Fever". Originally an R&B hit in 1956 for Little Willie John, it became an even bigger pop hit for Peggy Lee.
His association with Presley began around the same time, when the singer covered "Don't Be Cruel". Originally released as the B-side of Hound Dog, the song had topped the American charts in its own right by September 1956. It simultaneously headed both the R&B and Country charts. Next, Presley recorded Blackwell's "Paralysed", which fared less well, although it later reached No 8 in the British charts. But by April 1957 a version of "All Shook Up",
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originally recorded by the little-known David Hill, had not only restored Presley to the top of the charts but also become the biggest selling single of the year. The song was written after Blackwell's publisher, "Goldie" Goldhawk, had shaken up a bottle of Pepsi and said to him: "You can write about anything. Now write about this!" Blackwell provided Presley with further hit songs, including "Return to Sender" and "One Broken Heart for Sale".
originally recorded by the little-known David Hill, had not only restored Presley to the top of the charts but also become the biggest selling single of the year. The song was written after Blackwell's publisher, "Goldie" Goldhawk, had shaken up a bottle of Pepsi and said to him: "You can write about anything. Now write about this!" Blackwell provided Presley with further hit songs, including "Return to Sender" and "One Broken Heart for Sale". There has been considerable speculation over the relationship between Blackwell and Presley, who never met. "We had a great thing going and I just wanted to leave it alone," Blackwell said in an interview in 1989. Their two names often appeared together on records as co-writers, but in truth Presley's role as a writer was negligible.
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It was common practice at the time to sell part or all of the rights of a song and Presley's astute manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was well aware of the value of the publishing royalties. It has also been said that Presley borrowed many of his vocal mannerisms from Blackwell. Certainly it was the singer's method at the time to copy wholesale the writer's demo of a song, arrangement and all. As Presley used Blackwell's demos to learn the songs, the debt was probably considerable.
A prolific writer, who sometimes used the white-sounding pseudonym John Davenport, Blackwell copyrighted more than a thousand compositions in his career. Among them was Jerry Lee Lewis's signature tune "Great Balls of Fire", as well as further hits for Lewis in "Breathless" and "Let's Talk About Us". There were more 1950s rock'n'roll hits with "Hey Little Girl" and "Just Keep It Up" by the now almost-forgotten Dee Clark, and Cliff Richard
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recorded his "Nine Times out of Ten". Jimmy Jones had a hit in 1960 with Blackwell's "Handy Man", which was revived by James Taylor in the 1970s, and Neil Diamond, Billy Joel and Tanya Tucker also recorded his songs. So, too, did Ray Charles and Otis Redding, although Blackwell was disappointed that few black artists ever had hits with his compositions.
recorded his "Nine Times out of Ten". Jimmy Jones had a hit in 1960 with Blackwell's "Handy Man", which was revived by James Taylor in the 1970s, and Neil Diamond, Billy Joel and Tanya Tucker also recorded his songs. So, too, did Ray Charles and Otis Redding, although Blackwell was disappointed that few black artists ever had hits with his compositions.
In 1991 he was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music's Songwriters Hall of Fame. That same year 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, Deborah Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Kris Kristofferson, Graham Parker, and bluesman Joe Louis Walker.Due to his debilitating stroke Otis had suffered from ill health the remainder of his life and eventually spent frequent visits to St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, where he died from a heart attack on May 6, 2002. (Edited mainly from Spectropop)