Otis Blackwell - Otis Blackwell; an American Songwriter, Volume 3 '2020

Tracks list

Few 1950s rock & roll tunesmiths were as prolifically talented as Otis
Blackwell. His immortal compositions include Little Willie Johns Fever, Elvis
Presleys Dont 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),
Blackwells 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, Blackwells 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 Blackwells 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 Blackwells 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 rocks
primordial royalty benefited from Blackwells 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

Tracklist: 
01. Otis Blackwell - Really Real (2:27)
02. Otis Blackwell - Wake up Fool (2:24)
03. Otis Blackwell - Please Help Me Find My Way Home (2:45)
04. Otis Blackwell - Fool That I Be (2:47)
05. Otis Blackwell - Number 000 (2:46)
06. Otis Blackwell - Tears, Tears, Tears (2:47)
07. Otis Blackwell - Daddy Rolling Stone (2:44)
08. Otis Blackwell - Oh! What a Babe (2:15)
09. Otis Blackwell - Here I Am (2:44)
10. Otis Blackwell - My Josephine (2:21)
11. Otis Blackwell - Aint Got No Time (2:21)
12. Otis Blackwell - Oh! What a Wonderful Time (2:45)
13. Otis Blackwell - Let the Daddy Hold You (2:24)
14. Otis Blackwell - My Poor Broken Heart (2:51)
15. Otis Blackwell - You Move Me Baby (2:33)
16. Otis Blackwell - Daddy Rollin Stone (2:46)
17. Otis Blackwell - Youre My Love (2:37)
18. Otis Blackwell - Bartender Fill It up Again (2:43)
19. Otis Blackwell - Im Travelin On (2:35)
20. Otis Blackwell - Nobody Met the Train (2:41)
21. Otis Blackwell - Im Standing at the Doorway to Your Heart (2:25)
22. Otis Blackwell - Dont Know How I Loved You (2:01)
23. Otis Blackwell - On That Power Line (2:18)
24. Otis Blackwell - O-O-O-Oh! (2:32)
25. Otis Blackwell - I Face This World Alone (2:45)
26. Otis Blackwell - Go Away Mr. Blues (2:34)
27. Otis Blackwell - Im Coming Back Baby (2:10)
28. Otis Blackwell & The Majors - Its Love and Its Real (2:41)
29. Otis Blackwell - Make Ready for Love (2:20)
30. Otis Blackwell - What a Coincidence (2:09)
31. Otis Blackwell - Turtle Dove (2:32)
32. Otis Blackwell & His Orchestra - Dont Run Away (2:03)
33. Otis Blackwell & His Orchestra - Handle with Care (2:11)
34. Otis Blackwell - Id Rather Kiss You Than Eat (2:29)
35. Otis Blackwell - Jeannies Wedding (1:57)
36. Otis Blackwell - When Youre Around (2:20)

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