Otis Blackwell
Few 1950s rock & roll tunesmiths were as prolifically talented as Otis Blackwell. His immortal compositions include Little Willie John's "Fever," Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up," Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless," and Jimmy Jones' "Handy Man" (just for starters).
Though he often collaborated with various partners on the thriving '50s New York R&B scene (Winfield Scott, Eddie Cooley, and Jack Hammer, to name three), Blackwell's songwriting style is as identifiable as that of Willie Dixon or Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. He helped formulate the musical vocabulary of rock & roll when the genre was barely breathing on its own.
Befitting a true innovator, Blackwell's early influences were a tad out of the ordinary. As a lad growing up in Brooklyn, he dug the Westerns that his favorite nearby cinema screened. At that point, Tex Ritter was Otis Blackwell's main man. Smooth blues singers Chuck Willis and Larry Darnell also made an impression. By 1952, Blackwell parlayed a victory at an Apollo Theater talent show into a recording deal with veteran producer Joe Davis for RCA, switching to Davis' own Jay-Dee logo the next year. He was fairly prolific at Jay-Dee, enjoying success with the throbbing "Daddy Rollin' Stone" (later covered by the Who). From 1955 on, though, Blackwell concentrated primarily on songwriting (Atlantic, Date, Cub, and MGM later issued scattered Blackwell singles).
"Fever," co-written by Cooley, was Blackwell's first winner (he used the pen name of John Davenport, since he was still contractually obligated to Jay-Dee). Blackwell never met Elvis in person, but his material traveled a direct pipeline to the rock icon; "Return to Sender," "One Broken Heart for Sale," and "Easy Question" also came from his pen. Dee Clark ("Just Keep It Up" and "Hey Little Girl"), Thurston Harris, Wade Flemons, Clyde McPhatter, Brook Benton, Ben E. King, the Drifters, Bobby Darin, Ral Donner, Gene Vincent, and plenty more of rock's primordial royalty benefited from Blackwell's compositional largesse before the British Invasion forever altered the Brill Building scene.
In 1976, Blackwell returned to recording with a Herb Abramson-produced set for Inner City comprised of his own renditions of the songs that made him famous. A 1991 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. He died on May 6, 2002 in his Nashville home.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
Diskografie
19 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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The Smithereens (Live)
The Smithereens, Otis Blackwell
Alternativ und Indie - Erschienen bei The Smithereens Record Company am 21.02.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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These Are My Songs!
Jazz - Erschienen bei Inner City Records am 01.01.1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Otis Blackwell; An American Songwriter, Volume 3 (Original Recording Remastered)
Soul - Erschienen bei PROFOUND am 21.06.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
They Called It Rock & Roll
Rock - Erschienen bei Essential Media Group am 09.10.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pioneer of Rock and Roll (Remastered)
Rock - Erschienen bei Master Tape Records am 22.10.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Otis Blackwell, 1953 - 1955
Blues - Erschienen bei Interstate Records am 15.09.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Daddy Rolling Stone!
Blues - Erschienen bei Poppydisc am 09.06.1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
These Are My Songs!
Blues - Erschienen bei Inner City am 01.01.1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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1952-1954
Blues - Erschienen bei Classics Blues & Rhythm Series am 04.08.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Sing 'Em and I Write 'Em: The Early Recordings of Rock & Roll's Greatest Tunesmith
Rock - Erschienen bei Jasmine Records am 28.08.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of
Blues - Erschienen bei Brownbeats Records am 01.10.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
2012 Midwest Clinic: Six O’Clock Jazz Band
Jazz - Erschienen bei Mark Records am 07.05.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Let's Talk About Us
Rock - Erschienen bei Freewings am 01.11.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fool That I Be / Number 000 (All Tracks Remastered)
R&B - Erschienen bei Hit Singles Records am 16.11.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wake up Fool
R&B - Erschienen bei Milestones Records am 02.06.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tears, Tears, Tears / Daddy Rolling Stone (All Tracks Remastered)
R&B - Erschienen bei Hit Singles Records am 11.01.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo