Doc Pomus

Doc Pomus, a wheelchair-bound songwriter who penned more than two dozen hits for Elvis Presley and scores for other popular groups during a 40-year career, died Thursday in Manhattan. He had been suffering from lung cancer, said a representative of his publishing company, BMI. He was 65. Either alone or with his cousin Mort Shuman, Pomus wrote such hits for Elvis Presley as "Little Sister," "Viva Las Vegas," and "Suspicion."

Ever since the 1970s, well-to-do hippies have flocked to Laurel Canyon, the tree-lined neighborhood perched high in the hills above Los Angeles. Aside from a country store, a cozy restaurant whose name means "peace" in Italian and a mass of post-and-beam houses, there isn't actually much to the area other than the omnipresent sense that something magical once took place there. Forty years ago, Laurel Canyon was home to a collective of artists who wrote some of their most famous music while living there.

Most pop fans may have probably heard more in the last two weeks about the late Doc Pomus than they did during the late songwriter's five decades on the pop, rock and R&B scenes. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week in recognition of writing or co-writing hits for such artists as Elvis Presley ("Little Sister" and "Viva Las Vegas"), Ray Charles ("Lonely Avenue"), the Coasters ("Young Blood"), the Drifters ("Save the Last Dance for Me") and Dion ("A Teenager in Love").

"Save the Last Dance for Me" is one of the most endearing romantic hits of the modern pop era, but the story behind the Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman ballad is even more touching than the song. Once you hear that story during a coming two-hour documentary on the A&E channel, you'll never again be able to listen to Pomus' lyrics (printed below the picture) without thinking of the poignant footage.

*** Various artists, "Till the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus," Rhino. Pomus was a songwriting marvel--able to turn out lightweight rock hits (Fabian's "Turn Me Loose"), yet gifted enough to write such memorable ballads as the Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me."

Ever since the 1970s, well-to-do hippies have flocked to Laurel Canyon, the tree-lined neighborhood perched high in the hills above Los Angeles. Aside from a country store, a cozy restaurant whose name means "peace" in Italian and a mass of post-and-beam houses, there isn't actually much to the area other than the omnipresent sense that something magical once took place there. Forty years ago, Laurel Canyon was home to a collective of artists who wrote some of their most famous music while living there.

"Save the Last Dance for Me" is one of the most endearing romantic hits of the modern pop era, but the story behind the Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman ballad is even more touching than the song. Once you hear that story during a coming two-hour documentary on the A&E channel, you'll never again be able to listen to Pomus' lyrics (printed below the picture) without thinking of the poignant footage.

Composer and singer Mort Shuman, who wrote hits for American and French stars, including Elvis Presley, and also produced the musical "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris," died early Sunday in a London hospital, his agent said. He was 52. The announcement in Paris by Charley Marouani did not list a cause of death. Shuman underwent a liver operation last spring and was hospitalized again two weeks ago.

* * * "STRANGE WEATHER." Marianne Faithfull. Island. If a very hip, late set at an especially psychotic cabaret is your particular cup of espresso, you're sure to enjoy this mondo depresso mini-masterwork from veteran chanteuse/cult heroine Marianne Faithfull.

*** Various artists, "Till the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus," Rhino. Pomus was a songwriting marvel--able to turn out lightweight rock hits (Fabian's "Turn Me Loose"), yet gifted enough to write such memorable ballads as the Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me."

Most pop fans may have probably heard more in the last two weeks about the late Doc Pomus than they did during the late songwriter's five decades on the pop, rock and R&B scenes. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week in recognition of writing or co-writing hits for such artists as Elvis Presley ("Little Sister" and "Viva Las Vegas"), Ray Charles ("Lonely Avenue"), the Coasters ("Young Blood"), the Drifters ("Save the Last Dance for Me") and Dion ("A Teenager in Love").

Doc Pomus, a wheelchair-bound songwriter who penned more than two dozen hits for Elvis Presley and scores for other popular groups during a 40-year career, died Thursday in Manhattan. He had been suffering from lung cancer, said a representative of his publishing company, BMI. He was 65. Either alone or with his cousin Mort Shuman, Pomus wrote such hits for Elvis Presley as "Little Sister," "Viva Las Vegas," and "Suspicion."

Is there something in the millennial air that's driving pop singers of fiftysomething vintage back to their roots? First Rod Stewart comes swaggering out with an effort to recapture his old rocker's joie de vivre, and a few weeks later Linda Ronstadt releases an album that's being touted as a return to her classic '70s country-rock form.

With mournful rhythm and a lot of blues, the musical community of Los Angeles gathered Saturday for a tuneful farewell to Big Joe Turner, the "grandfather of rock 'n' roll." Turner, who died last Sunday of a heart attack at 74, "was a big man with a big voice that was as smooth as silk," said Rev. Dennis Woods, a former radio disc jockey turned preacher, at Turner's funeral in South Los Angeles.