|
|
Songwriters Anonymous - Part Seven
by Mary Dawson
Of course...even as we start the coffee pot and get ready for the meeting...we know that nobody is really anonymous. Each of
us has many other people who know us. If that were not the case, we'd be completely invisible - instead of just anonymous.
Anonymity, however, means that there are certain things about us that are not publicly noticed or credited to us-as poet
Randall Jarrell once quipped, "The world goes by my cage and never sees me."
Most songwriters tend to live in Jarrell’s cage to some extent. While songwriters "write the songs the whole world sings,"
seldom are they ever mentioned or noticed - let alone credited - for their genius. Ironically, most people fall in love with the
artists who perform the songs, as if they were the sources of the hits.
This strange dynamic is much like the bittersweet story of Cyrano De Bergerac. You remember him, don’t you? According to the
French tale by Edmond Rostand, Cyrano is a brilliant swordsman and romantic poet with an unfortunately large and somewhat ugly
nose who has loved the beautiful Roxanne from afar for years. Painfully he learns that Roxanne is attracted to another man - the
handsome but somewhat awkward Christian who is inarticulate and tongue-tied around the lady. Realizing that he can never reveal
his own love for Roxanne, Cyrano pours his heart into romantic and exquisite love letters that he then gives to Christian to sign
and send to her. The beauty of the letters wins Roxanne’s heart for Christian, but she is actually really in love with Cyrano,
who is the source of the deep and passionate words. Only at the end of her life does she realize who it was that truly captured her love.
Such is often the case with the songs we fall in love with as music fans. Most of us never realize that there is usually a Cyrano
De Bergerac standing in the shadows who puts those wonderful notes and words into the mouths of singers who then deliver the songs
to our hearts. We fall for the singers who seem to own the songs without realizing that we may really be in love with the writers.
Take a look around the room tonight. The songwriters at this meeting may look like ordinary people (and they are in many ways) but
what fascinating talents lie beneath the surface! Let’s meet the African American gentleman who is sitting near the coffee pot.
We’ll discover that he’s one of those people who has spent most of his life in national anonymity, but who is very well known by
other artists and music business insiders. And his songs...well, they are nowhere near anonymous! In fact, most of us could sing
along with them and never miss a word. His name is...
Otis Blackwell
Otis Blackwell was born in Brooklyn on a cold February day in 1931. As a child, he learned piano and grew up listening to Rhythm
and Blues on the radio (in those days, R&B was called "race music"). But he also loved Country songs - especially the stylings of
Tex Ritter and Gene Autry. His love for both kinds of music would eventually fuse to make Otis one of the original architects
of the genre that has dominated American music ever since - the music of Rock n’ Roll.
But this exciting destiny was far from Otis' mind when he left school in the 40s. He worked as a floor sweeper and later as a
clothes presser in a laundry until he won a talent competition sponsored by the famous Apollo Theater. The prize was a recording
contract with Joe Davis’ Jay-Dee record label. At Jay Dee, Otis was encouraged to write his own songs and had some minor
successes as various artists covered his compositions. By this time, though, Otis had discovered that even more than performing,
he loved to write songs...so write he did!
On Christmas Eve 1955, Otis sold the demos for six of his songs for $25 each. The demos featured Otis as the singer and pianist,
with a cardboard box as the drum. Two of the songs in this collection were destined to break the anonymity barrier forever. The
titles? "Don't Be Cruel" and "Fever." (Ever heard of those?) If you need a little refresher, "Fever" became a huge pop hit for Peggy
Lee in 1956 and has subsequently been covered by hundreds of other artists. And of course, you know who recorded "Don't Be Cruel."
None other than Elvis P. (to protect his anonymity, you know).
Originally chosen as the "B" side for Elvis' "Hound Dog" ... "Don't Be Cruel" topped both the Country and R&B charts in 1956, beginning
what would become a long-term connection between Otis and Elvis. Elvis was somebody who certainly knew who Otis Blackwell was
and had admired his songs and artistry for a long time. Speculations have circulated for decades that many of Elvis’ distinctive
mannerisms and vocal stylings were adopted from Otis Blackwell himself. In the mid-Twentieth Century when segregation and racism
were commonplace, and Rock n’ Roll was just coming into its own, Elvis provided a voice and an image that catapulted Otis’ songs
into an international arena that perhaps would have not been possible for Otis alone. In fact, during that era Otis also wrote
under the more "white-sounding" pseudonym of John Davenport (his step father's name).
See what I mean about Cyrano De Bergerac? Although his own recordings never reached the Top Ten, Otis was like Cyrano...standing
in the wings, whispering words and melodies to artists like Elvis - who then won the ears and hearts of the world.
By now, Otis was a songwriting machine...cranking out hit after hit for many well-known artists. One day his publisher, "Goldie"
Goldhawk challenged Otis by shaking up a bottle of Pepsi and saying, "Otis, you can write about anything. Write about this!"
Otis took the challenge, and the result was "All Shook Up" (another pretty non-anonymous song, wouldn’t you say?). In fact, "Don't
Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up" became the two longest running hits of Elvis Presley’s career, and have been forever woven into the
fabric of American Music.
During his long songwriting career, Otis and Elvis never met in person. Otis was a bit superstitious that if the two ever met,
the magic might end. But Otis had inexhaustible supplies of magic to draw upon...composing more than 1000 songs with sales of
almost 200 million records. Many of these recordings never even credited Otis as the writer...often listing the artist as the
writer or co-writer, which was the common pracitce of that time. Do you recognize some of these titles? "Handyman," "Great Balls
of Fire," "Return to Sender," "Hey Little Girl," and "Breathless." Or, some of these artists? Jerry Lee Lewis, James Brown, James
Taylor, Otis Redding, The Who, Conway Twitty, The Judds, Dolly Parton and Mahalia Jackson. These are just a few of the songs
and artists that have etched Otis Blackwell’s name forever into the texture of our lives and into the prestigious Songwriters
Hall of Fame.
In addition to achieving success as a songwriter himself, Otis did what so many great composers of the past have done...he
mentored someone else. That someone was a young writer named Earl Toon, Jr. who later became Sir Earl Toon - an essential
member of the pop group, Kool and the Gang, where he penned hits like "Celebration" and "Ladies Night" (among dozens of other
Top Forty hits).
Over the last several years I have come to know Sir Earl personally as the result of Hurricane Katrina "relocating" him to
the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. In conversations with him, he has often reflected on the deep and personal mentoring relationship
he had with Otis Blackwell. Sir Earl recalls:
I was just a teenager performing in clubs all over NYC with a band called the Board of Directors. One night after a gig, I
was doodling around on the piano, playing some fragments of songs I had written, when an older gentleman called me to his table.
"What do you want to be doing the rest of your life, Son?" he asked me. "Do you want to spend the next 30-40 years jumping up
and down on stage peforming with bands in clubs, or do you want to do something that will create a legacy for you and carry
you the rest of your life?" I had no idea what he was talking about or who he was. He continued: "Boy, this is your lucky day.
I see something in you that you can't even see in yourself right now. If you want help becoming a songwriter, give me a call."
He grabbed the napkin under a glass and borrowed a pen, scralling his phone number on it. I watched as the ashes on his
cigarette grew to almost two inches without falling off. Then, like in a movie script, just as he finished writing - the
ashes fell to the table.
Stunned, I watched as he got up and left. Then the club owner, Billy Dawn, came over to me. "Do you know who that was you
were speaking with?" he asked. "No," I replied, " have no idea." "That was Otis Blackwell," he answered, "one of the greatest
songwriters alive today. He can teach you more about songwriting than you could learn in 8 years in a university music program.
If you have any sense at all, you will call that number he gave you."
I did...and Otis was true to his word. As his one and only mentee, we formed a songwriting partnership and friendship that shaped
my life and future forever. Working out of an office in the famous Brill Building in NYC, where most of the music industry of
the mid-Twentieth Century was created and published, I learned to write memorable hooks...great lyrics...catchy melodies, harmonies
and rhythms.
But Otis taught me more than music. He taught me lessons about life. Two things he said and lived in his own life stand out
in particular:
- Wherever and whenver you find someone with potential, extend a helping hand to them. No matter how low you may feel you
are on the music "food chain," there is always someone behind you that you can encourage and help.
- Keep an open mind because you can always learn something from everyone who crosses your path...even a child.
I think that’s just about enough inspiration for one meeting, don’t you? Glad you came tonight. Please keep coming back...it
works if you work it!
Hey…turn off the coffee pot and hit the lights, will you?
Thanks
(Fade to black)
| |
**From her earliest childhood years writing simple songs and poems with her father, through her twelve years as an overseas
missionary, to her present, multi-faceted career as an author, lyricist/songwriter and conference speaker,
Mary has always been adept at using words to communicate her heart to others. She is the President of
CQK Records & Music of Dallas, Texas, a company which creates and produces songs in a panorama of musical styles for a
variety of audiences, She is the host of "I Write the Songs," a nationally syndicated radio talk show,
especially created to inspire and instruct the more than 40 million aspiring songwriters in the U.S.
Mary is a frequent public speaker and seminar lecturer and teacher of songwriting in her popular Living Room Seminars.
She is a Contributing Editor for The Internet Writing Journal ®. You can visit her website at:
www.cqkmusic.com. You can reach Mary by email.
| |
