The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced it’s 2010 inductees yesterday (December 15, 2009) and among the artists going over this year is songwriter extraordinaire, Otis Blackwell.
Blackwell started off as an R&B singing artist, but he found his most success through song writing.
Blackwell has penned some of the nation’s most well known songs for artists like Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
Massive hits like “All Shook Up” and “Don’t Be Cruel” by Elvis Presley, “Great Balls of Fire,” by Jerry Lee Lewis, “Handy Man” by Jimmy Jones and “Fever” by Little Willie John are just a few of the titles credited to Blackwell.
Blackwell was discovered in 1952 after of victory at the Apollo theater.
Around 1955, Blackwell started to write compositions and sell them to other artists.
A young Elvis Presley had already been a fan of Blackwell, and when he heard “All Shook Up,” he wasted no time in getting to the studio to record the future #1 pop song.
Interestingly in a 1984 interview with David Letterman, Blackwell claimed he had never meet Elvis Presley during a five-year period, when he wrote some of The King’s biggest hit records.
He also claimed that he was only paid $25 for the song and that he had to put Presley’s name on the single as a writer.
Blackwell has sold well over 200 million records as the author of some of the best known songs.
The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony takes place March 15 in New York City.
Other artists being inducted this year include the Stooges, ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff and The Hollies.
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