Everything about Doc Pomus totally explained
Doc Pomus (
June 27 1925 -
March 14 1991) was an
American blues singer and
songwriter, active throughout the
20th century. He is best known as the
lyricist of many
rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category of non-performer in 1992. He was also inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. and the
Blues Hall of Fame.
Biography
Born
Jerome Solon Felder in
Brooklyn,
New York of
Jewish heritage, he became a
fan of the blues after hearing
Big Joe Turner on
record. He had
polio as a boy and got around on crutches. Due to
post-polio syndrome, exacerbated by an accident, he eventually used a
wheelchair. He died in 1991 from
lung cancer, at the age of 65. His
brother is the famous New York
attorney,
Raoul Felder.
Using the
stage name "Doc Pomus," he began performing as a
teenager, becoming one of the most successful
white blues singers of his time. In the
1950s, Pomus started songwriting in order to make enough money to support his wife. (Twenty-four performances by Pomus in the late 1940s and early 1950s can be heard on the 2006
CD released by Rev-Ola (
Cherry Red Records) titled
Doc Pomus Blues in Red.)
By 1957, Pomus had given up performing in order to devote himself full-time to songwriting. He collaborated with
pianist Mort Shuman to write for Hill & Range Music Co./Rumbalero Music at its offices in
New York City's Brill Building. Their songwriting efforts had Pomus write the
lyrics and Shuman the
melody, although quite often they worked on both. They wrote these hit songs: "
A Teenager in Love"; "
Save The Last Dance For Me"; "
Hushabye"; "
This Magic Moment"; "
Turn Me Loose"; "
Sweets For My Sweet"; "
Can't Get Used to Losing You"; "
Little Sister"; "
Suspicion"; "
Surrender"; "
Viva Las Vegas"; and "
(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame."
Their songs were recorded by, among many others,
Dion,
Andy Williams,
Bobby Rydell,
James Darren,
Twiggy,
Lorraine Ellison,
Brook Benton,
The McCoys,
Alexis Korner,
Bobby Charles,
Lil Green,
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,
Bobby Darin,
Fabian,
Dusty Springfield,
Ray Charles,
The Byrds,
Connie Francis,
Brenda Lee, The Lovelites,
The Crowns,
Laverne Baker,
Major Lance,
Manfred Mann,
Amen Corner,
The Birds,
Big Joe Turner, The
Beach Boys,
The Mystics,
Ben E. King,
Cissy Houston, The
Flamingos,
Ike and Tina Turner,
The Coasters,
Tom Jones,
Joe Cocker, The
Beatles,
Manfred Mann,
Dolly Parton,
Emmylou Harris,
Elvis Costello & the Attractions,
Johnny Thunders,
Harry Nillson,
The Drifters and
Elvis Presley.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s Pomus also wrote with
Phil Spector ("Young Boy Blues"; "Ecstasy"; "Here Comes The Night"; "What Am I To Do?"),
Mike Stoller and
Jerry Leiber ("
Young Blood" and "She's Not You") and other Brill Building-era writers. Pomus also wrote "
Lonely Avenue", which became a 1956 hit for
Ray Charles.
In the 1970s and 1980s out of his eleventh-floor, two-room apartment, at the Westover Hotel at 253 West 72nd Street, Pomus wrote songs with
Dr. John,
Ken Hirsch and
Willy DeVille for what he said were "...those people stumbling around in the night out there, uncertain of not always so certain of exactly where they fit in and where they were headed." These later songs ("There Must Be A Better World," "There Is Always One More Time," "That World Outside," "You Just Keep Holding On," and "Something Beautiful Dying" in particular), which were recorded by
Willy DeVille,
B. B. King,
Irma Thomas, and
Johnny Adams, are considered by some to be signatures of his best craft.
Pomus wrote "
Save the Last Dance for Me," although he couldn't walk, and the lyrics to "Viva Las Vegas" thirty years before ever going west of
Newark, New Jersey, and never, incidentally, to
Las Vegas.
Legacy and influence
Together with Shuman and individually, Pomus was a key figure in the development of
popular music. They wrote such hits as "
Save the Last Dance for Me",
"
This Magic Moment", "
Sweets for My Sweet", "
Viva Las Vegas",
"Little Sister", "
Surrender", "
Can't Get Used to Losing You", "
Suspicion", "
Turn Me Loose" and "A Mess of Blues". He was elected to the
Songwriters Hall of Fame and the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The songs written and co-written by Pomus are referenced as standards of songwriting by token of sheer prolific consistency, and continue to be covered by musicians of every generation, including: Charlie Rich;
Dwight Yoakam;
The Dead Kennedys;
Led Zeppelin;
ZZ Top;
Bruce Springsteen;
Michael Buble;
Tom Jones;
The Residents;
The New York Dolls;
Doyle Bramhall;
Ramsey Lewis;
The Grascals;
Pharaoh Sanders;
David 'Fathead' Newman;
Stray Cats;
Harry Connick, Jr.;
Elvis Costello;
Irma Thomas;
Emmylou Harris;
The Misfits;
Dolly Parton;
Diana Ross and many others.
The song "Doc’s Blues" was written as a tribute to Pomus by his close friend,
Andrew Vachss. The lyrics originally appeared in Vachss’ 1990 novel
Blossom.
Doc’s Blues was later recorded by bluesman
Son Seals, on Seals' last album,
Lettin’ Go.
In 1995,
Rhino Records released a
tribute album to Pomus titled
Till The Night Is Gone. It offers performances of Pomus songs by
Bob Dylan,
Brian Wilson,
Dion,
Dr. John,
Irma Thomas,
Solomon Burke,
John Hiatt,
Shawn Colvin,
Aaron Neville,
Lou Reed,
The Band,
B.B. King,
Los Lobos and
Rosanne Cash.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Doc Pomus'.
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