Doc Pomus

[fasstrack]

Hope I spelled hls name right. Thought it might be Polmus. Anyway I had the, um, honor of being fired by him some 31 years ago. All good b/c the leader liked me and my replacement couldn't play. I've become real interested in pop tunes for my repertoire and b/c I teach songwriting now. I know Saue the Last Dance. Not a bad tune and kind of a sweet lyric. What else? Any pretty ballads?

[J.A.W.]

wiki bio - lots of songs mentioned there.

[jeffcrom]

I love Doc Pomus - "Lonely Avenue," "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere," "A World I Never Made." Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus: The Real Me is a fantastic album. The opening track, "Imitation of Love," is one of the great New Orleans R & B recordings, and maybe my favorite Johnny Adams performance on records.

[Christiern]

Whatever good things he had done in the past, I can tell you that Pomus was not a very nice man when I first met him, around 1972-3. In fact, he was rather nasty and dishonest, making money on young wannabes while pretending to help them. He drove around in a van that was custom-built to accommodate his physical handicap, which—I thought at the time—might have been a factor in his mean disposition.

[Dan Gould]

Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus: The Real Me is a fantastic album. The opening track, "Imitation of Love," is one of the great New Orleans R & B recordings, and maybe my favorite Johnny Adams performance on records.

+1 (and don't forget "My Baby's Quit Me" from the same CD!)

[paul secor]

The Swedish "Whiskey, Women, and ..." label issued two Doc Pomus albums in the 1980's - his early recordings (mid 40's to mid 50's), demos, and some live recordings. The liner notes contain interviews with Doc Pomus and are fascinating.

He began recording as a blues shouter - Joe Turner was an early influence - and recorded with Taft Jordan, Rex Stewart, Pete Brown, Chuck Wayne, King Curtis, Mickey Baker, Billy Butler, Sam "the Man" Taylor, and Jimmy Jones, among others.

[Pete C]

Whatever good things he had done in the past, I can tell you that Pomus was not a very nice man when I first met him, around 1972-3. In fact, he was rather nasty and dishonest, making money on young wannabes while pretending to help them. He drove around in a van that was custom-built to accommodate his physical handicap, which—I thought at the time—might have been a factor in his mean disposition.

He lobbied tirelessly for the resurrection of Jimmy Scott's career.

[jostber]

I read the biography on him last year and there seems to have been a lot of people that loved him as a friend and musical partner, among them Lou Reed and Dr.John in later years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/books/review/Light.t.html?_r=1

He contributed a lot of great songs to the pop and rock music business from the 40's to the late 80's. This is a fine compilation of his own recordings:

Blues in the Red (Rev-Ola)

[Pete C]

I saw this excellent Hal Wilner-produced tribute at Celebrate Brooklyn in 2007:

Hal Willner's Doc Pomus Project Featuring Lou Reed / Ben E. King / Howard Tate / Teddy Thompson / Shannon McNally / Steven Bernstein / Robin Holcomb / Joel Dorn / Mocean Worker / Peter Guralnick and many others

Maverick music producer HAL WILLNER, whose off kilter genius for dreaming up multi-artist concept shows is unparalleled, returns to the Bandshell after epic explorations of Leonard Cohen (2003) and Neil Young (2004) to celebrate the words and music of the late great Williamsburg born songwriter DOC POMUS, author of classics like "Lonely Avenue" and "Youngblood." Willner's eclectic crowd of artists will range, as always, from the emerging to the iconic. Check our Website for cast updates.

That was the scheduled lineup, and more artists were added. This blog post tells all:

http://blatherfrombrooklyn.wordpress.com/2007/07/21/the-doc-pomus-project/

Edited May 1, 2012 by Pete C

[Stereojack]

This compilation contains some of the many great songs written by Doc Pomus, mostly with lyricist Mort Shuman:

http://acerecords.co.uk/content.php?page_id=59&release=7474

[paul secor]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I always thought that Mort Shuman was mostly the music guy and that Doc Pomus was mostly the lyricist in that collaboration.

[Stereojack]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I always thought that Mort Shuman was mostly the music guy and that Doc Pomus was mostly the lyricist in that collaboration.

Actually, you are right. Don't know why I assumed the opposite.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

He made a 45 for UK Decca in 1959 or 1960 of 'Turn me loose', which he'd written for Fabian, and I saw him do it on TV. Great performance!

The songs he wrote for Ben E King's 'Don't play that song' album are great little ballads, Fastrack.

MG

[JSngry]

I've never heard "Save The Last Dance For Me" the same since learning that he wrote it about going out socially with his wife, with him being in a wheelchair. For me, that makes it one of the more poignant songs out there, countless shallow performances by countless others notwithstanding.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I've never heard "Save The Last Dance For Me" the same since learning that he wrote it about going out socially with his wife, with him being in a wheelchair. For me, that makes it one of the more poignant songs out there, countless shallow performances by countless others notwithstanding.

Yes, me too. Similar to 'Turn me loose'.

MG