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Jazz had Duke Ellington, the blues had Willie Dixon and rock & roll had Otis Blackwell. While Ellington and Dixon found fame, Blackwell was not that well known to the general public despite being a colorful singer. It was his songwriting skills that made him immortal. In fact along with Chuck Berry and just a few others, one could say that Otis Blackwell was the top early rock and roll composer.
Born in Brooklyn in 1932, Blackwell won an Apollo Theater talent show in 1952 that resulted in a recording contract. While he had a minor hit with “Daddy Rollin' Stone,” Blackwell's skills as a performer were soon overshadowed by his writing talents. He wrote “Fever” which became Peggy Lee's signature song, “Great Balls Of Fire” (Jerry Lee Lewis' biggest hit), and several songs that made Elvis Presley famous even though Blackwell apparently never met Elvis. One cannot imagine Elvis Presley without “All Shook Up” and “Don't Be Cruel.” Other hits included “Breathless” (Jerry Lee Lewis), “Handy Man” (Jimmy Jones), “Return To Sender” (Presley), “Hey Little Girl” (Dee Clark) and songs recorded by Bobby Darin, the Drifters, Ben E. King, Brook Benton, Gene Vincent and others.
After the Beatles and their contemporaries invaded the U.S., Blackwell's hits stopped. He performed on an occasional basis through the years until a stroke in 1991 ended his career; he passed away in 2002.
In 1976 Otis Blackwell made his first recording in many years and it turned out to be his definitive album. These Are My Songs has Blackwell performing 11 of his originals (plus Leiber and Stoller's “Searchin'”) with backing by guitarists Gordon Inyard and Bob Goldring, pianist Chris Townes, bassist Bob Tinerino and drummer Jeffrey Zollher. The musicians also provide background vocals.
Review
"Otis Blackwell is in the spotlight throughout, performing his versions of all of the songs that are mentioned in this blurb. Sometimes he sounds a bit like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and even Screamin' Jay Hawkins, singing with plenty of feeling and a bit of show biz bravado. But the truth is that they actually sounded like him rather than the other way around for Otis Blackwell's versions of his own tunes preceded and influenced the renditions of Elvis Presley and the others. He had a perfect right to be proud of what he was doing, because these were his songs." -Scott Yanow
"Otis Blackwell was a colorful singer but it was his songwriting skills that made him a musical giant. One of the top early rock and roll composers, Blackwell was often overlooked because others had hit recordings of his songs including “Fever” (Peggy Lee), “Great Balls Of Fire” (Jerry Lee Lewis), “All Shook Up” and “Don’t Be Cruel” (both made famous by Elvis Presley). These Are My Songs from 1976 gave Otis Blackwell a rare opportunity to record as a singer, and 11 of the 12 songs are his." -Scott Yanow
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