[6] Enjoying some early recording and performing success, he found his first love was songwriting and by 1955 had settled into the groove that he would ride for decades.

His own records never cracked the Top 40, yet he wrote million-selling songs for Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dee Clark and others.

Presley learned the song within minutes—he had an inherent musical sense—and in short order a great master was put on tape.

Since the huge success of "Don't Be Cruel", Elvis had been anxious to record another song from the pen of Otis Blackwell.

[12] As the tide of Rock and roll receded, Blackwell recorded R&B songs for numerous labels, including Atlantic, MGM and Epic.

The partnership produced two self-funded albums, Let's Talk About Us and From the Beginning, which were released independently on Blackwell's ROC-CO imprint.

[4] Blackwell's crowning moment came in the late 1980s when the Black Rock Coalition, a prominent organization of black rock musicians, led by Vernon Reid, the lead guitarist of the band, Living Colour, held a tribute for him at the Prospect Park Bandshell in his native Brooklyn.

[citation needed] Blackwell was named one of the 2010 recipients of Ahmet Ertegun Award in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

[17] His songwriting style is as uniquely identifiable as that of Leiber and Stoller, Chuck Berry, or Willie Dixon and helped redefine popular music in America in the 1950s.

At other times in his career, Blackwell was also successful as a record producer, having helped turn out hits for artists as diverse as Connie Francis, Mahalia Jackson, and Sal Mineo.