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
Discografia
19 album • Ordinato per Bestseller
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The Smithereens (Live)
The Smithereens, Otis Blackwell
Musica alternativa e indie - Pubblicato da The Smithereens Record Company il 21 feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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These Are My Songs!
Jazz - Pubblicato da Inner City Records il 1 gen 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Otis Blackwell; An American Songwriter, Volume 3 (Original Recording Remastered)
Soul - Pubblicato da PROFOUND il 21 giu 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
They Called It Rock & Roll
Rock - Pubblicato da Essential Media Group il 9 ott 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pioneer of Rock and Roll (Remastered)
Rock - Pubblicato da Master Tape Records il 22 ott 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Otis Blackwell, 1953 - 1955
Blues - Pubblicato da Interstate Records il 15 set 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Daddy Rolling Stone!
Blues - Pubblicato da Poppydisc il 9 giu 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
These Are My Songs!
Blues - Pubblicato da Inner City il 1 gen 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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1952-1954
Blues - Pubblicato da Classics Blues & Rhythm Series il 4 ago 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 - Pubblicato da Jasmine Records il 28 ago 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of
Blues - Pubblicato da Brownbeats Records il 1 ott 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
2012 Midwest Clinic: Six O’Clock Jazz Band
Jazz - Pubblicato da Mark Records il 7 mag 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Let's Talk About Us
Rock - Pubblicato da Freewings il 1 nov 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fool That I Be / Number 000 (All Tracks Remastered)
R&B - Pubblicato da Hit Singles Records il 16 nov 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wake up Fool
R&B - Pubblicato da Milestones Records il 2 giu 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tears, Tears, Tears / Daddy Rolling Stone (All Tracks Remastered)
R&B - Pubblicato da Hit Singles Records il 11 gen 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo