Biography

Otis Blackwell (songwriting; born February 16, 1932, died May 6, 2002)Otis Blackwell’s songs have been recorded by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Peggy Lee and many others. The prolific Blackwell copyrighted over a thousand songs, and it’s been estimated that material written and cowritten by him has accounted for the sales of 185 million records. Blackwell was an African-American songwriter and performer whose material resonated with the R&B-smitten rockers from Memphis. Presley had great success with a string of songs from Blackwell, including “All Shook Up,” “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Return to Sender.” The first two of these had the ...