Otis Blackwell

A songwriter, Blackwell was the brains behind some of rock and roll's greatest hits. He wrote over 1,000 songs, including All Shook Up, Return to Sender and Don't Be Cruel for Elvis Presley. "Otis wrote in a style that came to define a new synthesis that Elvis was groping for," said Presley's biographer, Peter Guralnick. "From the first moment Elvis heard Don't Be Cruel, he just snapped on it. It was a perfect song for him." Yet Blackwell and Presley never met. Blackwell also wrote Jerry Lee Lewis's classic Great Balls of Fire, as well as such Lewis hits as Breathless and Let's Talk About Us. Growing up in Brooklyn, Blackwell was inspired by Tex Ritter singing cowboy movies. "Like the blues, [cowboy music] told a story," he once said. "But it didn't have the same restrictive construction. A cowboy song could do anything." Blackwell died May 6 in Nashville from a heart attack. He was 70. From This is True for 5 May 2002 Suggestions for further reading: Hellfire: The Jerry Lee Lewis Story by Nick Tosches Amazon Price: $10.17 Customer Review: This book mingles Tosches' imagination with reseachable facts. I doubt he peeped in on Elvis to really know what color pajamas he wore on a specific night. Who cares? It's an interesting thought . . . !   Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found by Joe Bonomo Amazon Price: $13.57 Customer Review: This is a great "straight-forward", easy to read book, about Rock & Roll's living legend, Jerry Lee Lewis. It covers his adult live, his musical career, his "boogie woogie", style of Rock & Roll, and the making of the legendary live album, "Live at t...   Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis by Myra Lewis, Murray Silver Amazon Price: Customer Review: Jerry Lee Lewis is a fascinating man, given the many dramatic events of his life: a backwoods Louisiana boy catapulted to rock 'n roll fame, who deep down always believed that rock 'n roll was evil and that he was leading himself and his fans to the ...   Jerry Lee Lewis- Greatest Hits by Jerry Lee Lewis Amazon Price: $16.46 Customer Review: I started learning to play the piano because of Jerry Lee Lewis! When I was growing up, my friends all complained about their piano lessons because they were playing "boring classical music" - that didn't sound like fun to me. Then I saw "Great Ball...   Jerry Lee Lewis- Last Man Standing- Songbook by Jerry Lee Lewis Amazon Price: $14.96 Customer Review: If you love the piano and you love jerry lee lewis ... then this is it!! all the songs from his latest album (exept sweet little sixteen)great book!!!   Newsfeed display by CaRP

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