Otis Blackwell
Otis Blackwell
Otis Blackwellwas an African-American songwriter, singer, and pianist, whose work significantly influenced rock and roll. His compositions include Little Willie John's "Fever", Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless", Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up" and "Return to Sender", and Jimmy Jones' "Handy Man". He should not be confused with another songwriter and producer Robert "Bumps" Blackwell...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSongwriter
Date of Birth16 February 1931
CountryUnited States of America
Otis Blackwell quotes about
I like this town, it's really great. They've put me in The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. This town is about music. It's about the kind of music I like.
There have been many times when I've been asked to appear and I'd say to myself, what am I going to talk about? Early on, when I did interviews, I'd tell everyone, Don't ask me about dates. I don't even remember what I did yesterday.
I used to be with a publishing house called Roosevelt Music. A gentleman there told me he had seen Peggy Lee perform Fever in Las Vegas and I found out later she wanted to record it.