It would not be an exaggeration to call Doc Pomus a mythic figure in the history of American popular music. Physically and creatively he was a powerful presence. With his full beard and robust figure, he looked like some great prophet who had just come down from the mountain to preach the gospel of rhythm n' blues. And preach he did, through his pen. Pomus is the author or co-author of an almost unbelievable number of classics, including Little Sister, Boogie Woogie Country Girl, Can't Get Used to Losing You, Devil in Disguise, Do the Freddie, Save the Last Dance for Me, Here Comes the Night, This Magic Moment, Teenager in Love, and a host of others.
All told, Pomus has written over 1500 songs, for a dazzling array of stars: Bobby Darin, Elvis Presley, Paul Anka, LaVern Baker, Ray Charles, Martha & The Vandellas, The Coasters, Big Joe Turner, The Righteous Brothers, Gene Pitney, Patti Paige, Clyde McPhatter, Dean Martin, Connie Francis, Neil Diamond, and literally hundreds more. (The Pomus & Shuman Story: Double Trouble 1956-1967
is an excellent collection of Doc Pomus numbers sung by various legendary artists.)Pomus has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, and the New York Music Hall of Fame. He has received numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and a Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award. His song Save the Last Dance for Me (co-written with frequent partner Mort Shuman) was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame as a "recording of lasting, qualitative and historical significance." He has scored over 100 domestic and foreign Top Ten Hits, and his songs have charted in every decade from the 1950s to the present.
Born Jerome Solon Felder on June 27th, 1925 in Brooklyn, New York, Pomus was crippled by polio as a child, but he did not let this get in the way of his dreams of being a blues singer. Big Joe Turner was his early inspiration, and Pomus would later write Boogie Woogie Country Girl for the legendary rhythm and blues performer.
At 18, Pomus was singing and playing sax in Greenwich Village clubs. By his early 30s, he decided to pursue a new path toward musical success, as a songwriter. This was, to say the least, a momentous decision. Almost from the moment he took pen in hand, Pomus began to crank out hit after hit. Taking a young songwriter named Mort Shuman under his wing, Pomus became half of one of the most prolific and lauded teams of the Brill Building era.
As the '60s came to a close, the enigmatic Pomus took a ten-year hiatus from the business, and became a professional gambler, running a weekly poker game out of his West 72nd street apartment. This stage of his life came to an end, so the story goes, when two masked gunmen crashed the game one night, to take their cut.
Pomus returned to songwriting in the late '70s, collaborating with New Orleans singer/pianist Dr. John, and Willie DeVille of the band Mink DeVille. Dance the Night Away, from the 1978 Dr. John LP City Lights, is a prime example of the Pomus touch, mixing humor and romance to create a catchy, down n' dirty blues number. Just to Walk That Little Girl Home from the 1980 Mink DeVille LP Le Chat Bleu is a love ballad harkening back to the tender beauty of Save the Last Dance for Me.
Today, the great Pomus compositions live on, in new versions by contemporary artists, and in their original recordings, playing forever in our hearts, in our souls, and on our radios.
