Otis Blackwell was a songwriter who played an important part in shaping today's rock and roll. Coming from Brooklyn, he managed to combine his experience as both singer and pianist with the abilities of a writer to compose melodies easy to perform and remember. Although many of his melodies have been performed and recorded by the most prominent singers of the epoch, many listeners do not know their real author.
Brooklyn beginnings
Otis Blackwell was born on February 16, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York City. Living and being raised in one of the largest cities in the USA, Blackwell got acquainted with many types of music like gospel, blues, R&B, pop, and country. He turned into a writer interested equally in music and lyrics and knowing what good melodies and good performances are like.
Even though his singing career did not provide him with as much recognition as his songwriting, it still contributed to his growth as a composer. As a singer, he enjoyed performing his own songs with simple and understandable words, short verses, and catchy tunes.
Songwriting for rock and roll
Otis Blackwell started to gain fame when other musicians began to play and record his songs, and some of them turned out to be hits. "Fever" by Little Willie John is an example of such a song. The main feature of the song created by Blackwell is the use of simple elements to create a specific mood. It is one of those melodies that people like coming back to because of its simplicity and mystery, which help to understand what rock and roll and R&B songs should be like.
In 1956, he wrote "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up" for Elvis Presley. Those two melodies play a key role in the writer's biography as they demonstrate the skills of a composer in a perfect way. "Don't Be Cruel" is a very interesting composition based on a very relaxed and powerful groove at the same time. As for "All Shook Up," it is more carefree and joyful, using the short phrase as its main element. Both those songs are a perfect match for Elvis's style, but they also show the attention of a writer to such aspects as pacing, phrasing, and emotions. Melodies created by Blackwell were catchy and remained in the listeners' memories for a long time.
In 1957, he created the melody "Great Balls of Fire" for Jerry Lee Lewis, and he succeeded in making the song inseparable from its author. One of the main talents of this writer lies in his ability to write songs which suit performers well but do not take away anything from their individuality. Both of those artists had their styles, and Blackwell's melodies seemed to be created exactly for them. His work included a blues atmosphere, the simplicity of country music, and the strength of rock and roll. This was one of the reasons why his melodies were so powerful.
Also, it should be noted that this writer understood that the songs were supposed to go from one performer to another, and he created melodies having a good musical structure. Catchy beginning, clear emotional center, and good rhythm are the things necessary for a good song, and many of Blackwell's songs had those features. The writer created chart material but also created songs with an opportunity to survive for decades through different variations.
Lasting influence
For a songwriter, the influence usually manifests itself not only through fame but also through the ability of other performers to learn something new from the works of this person. Songs by Blackwell became the basis for rock and roll songwriting techniques and taught performers to use several carefully chosen words to show huge amounts of energy. Fans of rhythm and blues turn out to be the admirers of Blackwell's songs as many of the hits of the epoch were created with the usage of this writer's techniques.
Sometimes, he used the name of John Davenport in his works. It has to do with rather complicated issues of the credits and publishing of the songs written in the middle of the 20th century. However, it is evident that Otis Blackwell is one of the writers who played a key role in creating rock and roll. Later fans and musicians treated his songs as something basic, and his melodies continued to work in favor of Blackwell's fame. This writer died in 2002, but the records associated with his name became an inseparable part of the history of American popular music.
The uniqueness of the biography of Otis Blackwell lies in the presence of two truths in it. He wrote songs which became the hits of the epoch, but he was also the kind of craftsman whose success mostly belonged to other singers. Such a combination can make a songwriter less noticeable to people but gives him one more chance to live on for years. Every time one of the songs like "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up," "Fever," or "Great Balls of Fire" returns to circulation again, his career gets another chance to become more noticeable. For every person interested in rock and roll, this composer should be one of the key people to study.