A Rock and Roll Icon

You may not know the name Otis Blackwell. But without Otis, rock and roll wouldn’t be what it is. Blackwell, born on this day in 1931, composed such hits as “Fever”, “Great Balls of Fire” and “All Shook Up”.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Blackwell learned to play the piano at a young age and grew up listening to both R&B and country music. The influence of both would come to play a significant role in his songwriting later on.

He found early success winning amateur night at the Apollo Theater which led to a recording contract with RCA. While he found some early success recording and performing, it was his songwriting that was his true love. He was just 24 years old when he wrote “Fever” which was first recorded by Little Willie John, but it was Peggy Lee’s sultry version that most people know.

It was shortly after that Blackwell wrote his signature song, “Don’t Be Cruel”. It’s been said that Steve Sholes, a prominent recording executive, played a demo of it for Elvis Presley (telling him that it was a new song from Otis Blackwell). It took just a few bars of the song to convince Elvis that it was the perfect song for him.

Because it was such a huge hit, Presley was anxious to record another song from Blackwell. Eventually, Blackwell came around with “All Shook Up”. Presley liked it but was not completely satisfied with it and with Blackwell’s consent, re-wrote part of the lyrics.

When Presley went into the Army in 1958, Blackwell worked on songs for Jerry Lee Lewis including “Great Balls of Fire”.

Blackwell wrote as many as a thousand songs over his lifetime, and they’re said to have sold more than 200 million copies. Blackwell of course didn’t see much come his way. And as the rock-n-roll era became focused on groups that wrote their own material, his influence faded.

Later on in life, Blackwell recorded R&B songs for various labels and even toured and recorded with The Smithereens as his backing band. Blackwell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Maybe Blackwell’s crowning moment came in the late 1980s when the Black Rock Coalition, a prominent organization of black rock musicians, led by Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, held a tribute for him in his native Brooklyn.

Blackwell would become paralyzed in 1991 by a stroke and died of a heart attack in 2002. Gone was one of the most influential songwriters in rock and roll history. But his music and influence will live on and on.