Honoring a legend

Otis Blackwell is one of the most underrated song writers ever. Elvis fans know him, but most people do not give him his proper due. He is by far my favorite songwriter ever. Otis was born in in Brooklyn and raised in New York. He grew up a fan of country and admired Tex Ritter. He gave performing a try but was not very successful. He kind of got thrown into song writing. in the mid fifties, at 24 Blackwell scored a big hit with the song Fever. In 1955 Blackwell was in New York and was trying to come up with some money. He sold a few songs, the Hill& Range people happened to be there. The bought a song for $25, it was called Don't Be Cruel. Blackwell did a demo of it along with another song, Paralyzed. Elvis would go on to record both of course. Blackwell would do several songs for Elvis in the 50's including All Shook Up. We all know the story of All Shook up. Blackwell's friend once said "Otis, you can write about anything. Write a song about this(shook up a Pepsi bottle) and call it All Shook Up." That's how that classic came to be. All Shook Up would be the biggest hit of 1957. Don't Be Cruel was the biggest hit of 56, and they both stand as Elvis' most successful singles. Blackwell would also write many other classics in the 50's. One of the was Great Balls Of Fire for Jerry Lee Lewis. Blackwell would also write several songs that would Elvis would record in the 60's including Return To Sender, One Broken Heart For Sale,(Such An) Easy Question, and Make Me Know It. All which are favorites of mine. Blackwell would make an attempt to do his own thing again. He had the album "These Are My Songs" and the tribute album "The No.1 King Of Rock and Roll".

Elvis and Otis never met. It is said it was because Elvis never met any of his song writers, which is false. I guess there was some reason behind it, I just can't say for sure. Blackwell did not mind, they both has a system down and it worked. Though I would have been pissed If I was Otis, he shared the writing credit with Elvis on the first few records. That was Parker's doing. Though When Elvis found out, it stopped. Health problems stopped Blackwell from performing in the early 90's and he could not even talk. He had to communicate by computer. He passed away at his home in Nashville in 2002. Otis is my man, he wrote most of the songs which I consider my all time favorites. All Shook Up was the song that got me into the whole Elvis thing so hardcore. (Such An) Easy Question is on of my all time favorites. Gotta respect the man who wrote the tow most successful songs ever for Elvis.Hey Little Girls and Priscilla are also songs I have loved for a long time by other artist. Of course I am big on The Killer and he is responsible for both Breathless and Great Balls of Fire. Classics, all of them. Also, I would have loved to have heard Elvis do Hey Little Girl. I think he could have rocked that pretty well.

Anyway, lets show Mr. Blackwell some love. For some reason most people do not even know of him. Unless you are up on Elvis are a serious rock historian, you probably have not heard of him. Damn shame, one of the most talented writers ever. Below are some of his songs not sung by Elvis that I dig.

The King of cool

I am going to talk tonight some more about the performers who influenced Elvis. Dean Martin was some Elvis really held in high regard and wanted to immolate him when he was trying to break into the business. One the night Elvis recorded That's All Right, he has spent most of the night singing ballads and stuff of that nature. I have read it is possible he even tried a Dean Martin song. This would not surprise me a bit. Elvis even did a number at Sun that Martin did,I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine. That song is personally one of my favorite Elvis tunes from the Sun era.

Many people do not realize just how much Martin influenced Elvis. Elvis sang a lot of Martin's while trying to catch on around Sun. If you notice Elvis' style of singing ballads in the 50's you can certainly hear the Martin influence. Elvis would go on to sing many songs in his time Martin recorded at one time or another. Martin wanted Elvis to be on his first TV show in the 50's but Parker wanted a ton of cash and Dean was not having that. It is a shame it did not happen. That would have been something really important to Elvis. In a book about Martin, it tells a story that you can absolutely believe about Elvis. in the 60's Elvis used to ride by Dean's house all the time, but never got gather the nerve to go up to see him. Elvis was the shy type, and probably would have been scared to death. Even though Elvis was the biggest thing ever, he had his own hero's. Dean Martin was one of his biggest. Once in 1970 during a Vegas concert Elvis noticed his idol in the audience and broke out into Everybody Loves Somebody. I have never heard this, but would love to get the chance. As important as the influence of Gospel, Blues, and Country are, the crooners can't be over looked. Elvis wanted to be a balled singer long before he became a rock and roller. Dean Martin was one of those singers Elvis greatly admired. Below is the version of I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine. It is brilliant. Also I can't do a blog about Martin and not post my favorite song as well. Please watch both and enjoy the King of Cool, Dean Martin.

You can tell Elvis was certainly doing his version with Martin's in mind. Also just notice his delivery and such. Then listen to some of Elvis' ballads from the 50's.

That song has always been on of my favorites of all time.

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup and his influence on Elvis

Tonight I am going to talk a little bit about one of Elvis's greatest influences, Arthur Crudup. I am also a huge fan of his and enjoy his original recordings every bit as much as the same ones Elvis would go on to cover. Crudup was born in Mississippi in 1905. He went to Chicago in the late 30's or early 40's and begin working as a street singer but could barely get by. He was later on discovered and would record a lot of songs in the 40's and early 50's. He actually got paid very little for his record sales and it would cause him to leave the business in the 50's. He tried to comeback in the 60's but never made it all that far with it. He wrote and sang three great blues numbers. That's All Right, So Glad Your Mine, and My Baby Left Me. All three Elvis would record early on. My favorite song on the three is So Glad Your Mine. I love Big Boy's and Elvis' version. We all know of course That's All Right helped Elvis as it was his first record and would go down in history. My Baby Left me is an awesome song Elvis did and I like even more then That's All Right. So Glad Your Mine though is a true blues song and Elvis keeps it true to its original form in his recording. When Elvis did honest to god blues, he was the baddest white boy to ever sing it. He just never sang it as much as he should have. Especially post 1970. Anyway, back to Big Boy. He would eventually just go to moon shining in his later days. Crudup would pass away in 1976 at the age of 70. Elvis really thought a lot of Big Boy and loved his music and fell back on it a lot in his early days. Elvis would even pay for one of Crudup's recording sessions in the 1960's since Arthur did not have the money to do so. Elvis said the fallowing in 1956, "I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place I could feel all old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw.". Elvis was right, he was a music man like nobody ever saw. We will never see one like him again either. Listen Arthur's classic My Baby Left Me. It is truly something great. Listen, you hear some of the ingredients of the early Elvis sound.

CLYDE MCPHATTER

Clyde McPhatter was one of the best vocalist of all time. For my money he is the best. This is an Elvis blog, so you might ask why am I rambling about Mr. McPhatter. Not only do I think Clyde is one of the greatest, but so did Elvis. Elvis had so many influences, but a great deal of them where r&b singers or groups. In 1950 Mcphatter would join a group called Billy Ward and his Domino's. This group was known as a favorite of Elvis's when he was a teen. Mcphatter was on the track Sixty Minute Man which was a big hit and one of the first few songs that could be put under the label rock and roll. After a few more hits Clyde would quite the group. Despite being the lead on most of the songs and being the strongest singers, he made little money. He would then would form a group called the Drifters. They are without a doubt one of my favorite groups of all time. The early stuff really stands out to me. The reason is simply Clyde. He would have a few hits with the group including Money Honey and Such A Night. Two songs Elvis would go on to record. No doubt he has a impact On Elvis. McPhatter would soon leave the Drifters to start a solo career. He would record the hits A Lovers Question and The Treasure Of Love. He never had a whole lot of success as a solo artist. McPhatter past away in 1972 at the age of 39 due to several health issues. McPhatter never has got the credit he deserved for whatever reason. Many of the great pure vocalist of the 50's and early 60's get overlooked for the most part. In early days when Elvis was asked who his favorite singer was he replied that is was Clyde McPhatter. I am with Elvis. McPhatter was truly something great.