gold star for USAHOF

Don't Be Cruel

Don't Be Cruel
24 Jan
2016
Not in Hall of Fame
September 15 – November 2, 1956
Elvis Presley
Don’t Be Cruel

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You may have noticed that we have yet to have anyone hit number ones that wrote the song themselves. This is not an indictment of these acts, that is just how it was as we were years away from John Lennon and Paul McCartney becoming not only the core of the most successful rock band in history, but would also become the most successful songwriters ever. Basically, in the 1950’s nobody looked down on an artist for not writing their own material, and the general listening public gave little thought (if any) to who actually penned the song.

That being said, this allows us to take a look at one of the unsung architects of Rock and Roll, Otis Blackwell.

Maybe unsung isn’t the right word. Great songwriters received a lot of respect within the industry and Blackwell was no different. He would enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his songwriting contributions in 2010, which arguably was a decade too late based on a man who was estimated to have written or co-written songs that generated sales of 185 million!

These weren’t just pop songs that did not pass time’s test. These were Rock and Roll staples that are well known today. To name a few (and we could name a hell of a lot) Blackmore wrote Elvis’ Presley’s “All Shook Up”, Jerry Lee Lewis biggest hit, “Great Balls of Fire” and the sultry “Fever” for Little Willie John, which would later become the biggest song of Peggy Lee’s career.[1]

It’s funny for as much as I have just extolled the talent and impact of Otis Blackwell, technically we have the first time in the Rock era where the performer was also the writer.

Huh?

Let me explain.

On “Don’t Be Cruel”, Presley received co-writing credits, and if you were thinking that Elvis’ percentage of the writing was zero, you would be correct. On the surface this seems like another case of exploitation but that wasn’t the case, and to illustrate that I have to mention a man named Freddy Bienstock and what he brought to the Elvis Presley entourage.

You probably already know about Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s famed manager, who alone you could you write a five hundred page book about and still have room for more. Beinstock’s role in Presley’s entourage was as a music publisher and one who secured many of the hits for Elvis to perform.[2] The way he explained it, if Elvis Presley was enamored with a song, he would guarantee them a million record sales in lieu of one third percent of all future royalties to Elvis.

When I read that, I had to go over it as it just seemed so unfair for the songwriter; but according to Beinstock, the songwriters mostly jumped at the chance because there was only a handful of artists who could guarantee that kind of number and in the 1950’s, Elvis was as close to a sure thing as it got. Comments from Otis Blackwell reflect that as he repeated in multiple interviews that he jumped at the chance to have Elvis sing it, as he knew that the exposure and financial windfall he could get would be more substantial from him than anything he would have recorded himself.

So with all of this being true, and with Elvis aboard and Otis Blackwell a more than willing participant, this was all above board, and a case where all parties benefited: Elvis got a great catalogue of songs to sing, and Blackwell and others had a vessel for their song to be heard and make some money for himself in the process.[3]

The most interesting thing though was not that the strange songwriting credit of Otis Blackwell and Elvis Presley on a record, but that the two never once met, which is baffling how two of the most influential players in the 1950’s Rock and Roll scene never once crossed paths. Now maybe if they had Skype back then…

As discussed earlier, Heartbreak Hotel hit the top of the charts in the spring of 1956, but a timeline of what he accomplished in the middle of ’56 really should be revealed before we go any further.

June 5. Elvis performs “Hound Dog” on Milton Berle’s very successful variety show, Texaco Star Theatre though this would be his final appearance on the show as (older) viewers were outraged with Elvis’ gyrating hips.

July 1. Steve Allen had Elvis on his show, capitalizing on the controversy of Presley’s performances by having the star croon “Hound Dog” to a basset hound.

July. “Blue Suede Shoes” goes to #20, while “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” goes number #3, but does go to #1 on the Country Charts.

September 9. Elvis debuts on the Ed Sullivan Show where he sings four songs; Don’t Be Cruel, Love Me Tender, Hound Dog and Ready Teddy. This show captured 82.6 percent of the viewing audience. This was the first of Elvis’ contractual three appearances on the Ed Sullivan show.

That is just a sample over that brief timeframe. What we are looking at is the most rapid ascension of a music star using the medium of television to become bigger than any other musician ever had before. Elvis Presley became the dominant
fixture on popular radio and was a much watch event whenever he appeared on television. Generation gaps will always exist in pop culture’s grasp but only a select few at a certain time can capture a country and make it must conversation regardless of what four walled building you were in. Elvis Presley in 1956 was one of those rare examples.

Here we were, twenty-five years before MTV, and we had a man who had already conquered the combination of radio and television medium. It makes you wonder how music videos took so long to come to fruition.

I think another very interesting component of “Don’t Be Cruel” was that it was the B-Side, of another monster smash, “Hound Dog” which went as high as number two, only to be overtaken of course by “Don’t Be Cruel”.  

This was not the era of the album, and double-sided vinyl singles was the purchase of choice. Normally, the B-Side of a record was a throwaway, but this would feature two of Elvis’ top songs of not only 1956 but of his entire career and of course would be his most successful record in terms of sales of the year. It almost makes you wonder what teenager in ’56 didn’t own this record?

Another interesting fact is that this song would also go #1 on both the R&B and Country Charts. We have seen (and still do) see songs that can go to the top in both Pop and R&B/Hip Hop or Pop and Country but all three? This is something that could never be duplicated today, as the chasm between the two charts is larger than the National Deficit, but in 1956 the diversity of popular music was only a fraction of what it is today where this could be possible.[4]

I will end here with this specific discussion of the pompadoured one. I think you already know he will reappear again very soon.

Other Notable Songs that charted but did not go to number one in this time period: September 15, 1956 – November 2, 1956

9/29/56: Sweet Little Angel by B.B. King did not appear on the Top 100 but did go to #6 on the R&B Chart.
10/6/56: Honky Tonk by Bill Doggett went to #2 and to #1 on the R&B Chart.
10/13/56: In the Still of the Night by The Five Satins went to #24 and made it to #3 on the R&B Chart.
10/20/56: The ABCs of Love by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers peaked at 77 and went to #8 on the R&B Chart.
10/20/56: Race With the Devil by Gene Vincent peaked at #96.
10/20/56: I Can’t Quit You Baby by Otis Rush never entered the Top 100, but did peak at #6 on the R&B Chart.
10/20/56: Lonely Avenue by Ray Charles did not enter the Top 100 but did go to #6 on the R&B Chart.[5]


[1] We won’t be talking about Great Balls of Fire. As I said in the introduction, “The Killer” never went number one on the Hot 100.
[2] In an interview on the Elvis.com Australia site, Beinstock estimated that he owned over 100,000 songs.
[3] It should be noted that this was the same deal they had with white songwriters. I guess from that you can assume that Otis Blackwell was black.
[4] Having that happen today is in this pop culture junkie’s mind the literal definition of impossible….and yes, I feel that is the correct use of the word “literal’.
[5] Both went to #6 on the R&B Chart at the same time, but different R&B Charts, as like the mainstream chart, it was still divided at the time by Best in Stores…etc, like the Pop Chart.
Last modified on Sunday, 24 January 2016 17:19
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