Sharon Kathleen Sheeley (April 4, 1940 – May 17, 2002) was an American songwriter who wrote songs for Glen Campbell, Ricky Nelson, Brenda Lee, and Eddie Cochran. Female songwriters were almost unknown before the rock'n'roll era, and Sharon Sheeley and Jackie DeShannon were the first female songwriting team to have any success. In 1958, Sheeley became the first female writer to compose an American No 1 – "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson – without any help from a male partner.
Sheeley was born of Irish extraction in California. She attended Newport Harbour High School in Newport Beach, and briefly worked as a teen model. She loved the explosion of rock'n'roll in the mid-1950s and went to Hollywood to meet the stars firsthand. She dated Don Everly and hung around with Elvis Presley and his entourage. She also met Gene Vincent, whom she found "drunk and obnoxious". One of her boyfriends was called P.J. Proby and she used his name to rechristen James Marcus Smith, a demo singer being given a recording contract of his own.
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| Shheley & Ricky Nelson |
"Poor Little Fool" was the first song that Sheeley ever wrote. It was recorded by Ricky Nelson in 1958, and became Nelson's first US No. 1 and the Billboard Hot 100's first No. 1. At age 18, Sheeley was the youngest woman to write an American number-one hit. Sheeley had dated Ricky Nelson, who appeared in his parents' popular television sitcom The Ozzie and Harriet Show and who had capitalised on the success of the show with several Top Twenty hits. Sheeley told him that "Poor Little Fool" had been written by her godfather for Presley but that she thought it would be ideal for him. Nelson, delighted at being given one of Presley's songs, recorded it and it became his first US No 1. He was annoyed when he discovered that Sheeley had written the song herself.
Jerry Capehart, then Eddie Cochran's manager and songwriting partner, agreed to look after Sheeley's interests and asked if she had anything suitable for Cochran. She dashed off "Love Again", which Cochran recorded as the B-side of "Summertime Blues", a Top Ten record in 1958. In 1988 a television advertisement for Levi's 501 jeans recreated the start of the romance between Cochran and Sheeley. Sheeley would buy new dresses to impress Cochran, but he took little notice. When she went to his New Year's Eve party at the end of 1958, she dressed down with sweatshirt and jeans. Cochran said, "Are you in love with me, Charlie Brown?", which was his nickname for her. When she replied that that was no question to ask, he continued, "You'd better be, 'cause I'm sure in love with you."
For all that, Cochran did not write love songs for her, although he did refer to her habit of walking around barefoot in "C'mon Everybody". She would often be late and she wrote a song about this for Cochran, called "Hurry Up". Their friend, Ritchie Valens, liked it so much that he recorded it instead. Cochran recorded her songs "Think of Me", "Lonely", the poignant "Cherished Memories", and "Somethin' Else", a Top Thirty hit in 1959. Many have assumed that Sheeley wrote "Somethin' Else" with Eddie Cochran but the "Cochran/Sheeley" credit on the song refers to Eddie's brother, Bob. Sheeley wrote most of the song but asked Bob to help her with some details about cars.
Following the accident she returned to the US, where she collaborated with musician-songwriter Jackie DeShannon on a string of hits, including Brenda Lee's "Dum Dum" and "Heart in Hand", The Fleetwoods'"He's the Great Imposter" and Irma Thomas's "Breakaway". She also co-wrote songs with Chris Curtis of The Searchers, including "Night Time" recorded by Paul and Barry Ryan.
In 1961, Sheeley married Los Angeles radio personality Jimmy O'Neill. The two created the ABC TV series Shindig! (1964–1966). They divorced five years after marrying, but remained friends. After her divorce, Sheeley moved away from the music scene, apart from some public appearances at Eddie Cochran conventions in the 1990s.
Five
days after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage, Sheeley died on May 17, 2002, at
Sherman Oaks Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 62. She has a
cenotaph marker next to Eddie Cochran at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cypress, in
Orange County, California.
(Edited
from Independent obit by Spencer Leigh & Wikipedia)
Here’s an Eddie Cochran Documentary from 2001 called Cherished Memories, which tells the story of Eddie Cochrans last days on tour in Bristol. It features Eddies girlfriend at the time Sharon Sheeley who comes back to the Bath Hospital where Eddie died. Also features people who knew him at the time and fans who were at the last concert at the Bristol hippodrome in 1960.