Following the theme which Jetblack set in with "The Elvis Songs of Aaron Schroeder" (http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=93460#p1499533), and which was followed by "The Elvis Songs of Winfield Scott" (http://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=93535#p1500657) and "The Elvis Songs of Jerry Chestnut", we now dig into:
The Elvis Songs of Roy C. Bennett*
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_C._BennettRoy C. Bennett
Songwriter Roy C. Bennett, left, with writing partner Sid Tepper.
Roy C. Bennett (August 12, 1918 – July 2, 2015) was an American songwriter known for the songs he wrote with Sid Tepper, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 songs, including 42 recorded by Elvis.
Biography
Born as Israel Brodsky into an Eastern European immigrant family in Brooklyn, New York, as a young boy he befriended a newly arrived neighbor by the name of Sid Tepper. Their mutual interest in music led to a highly successful music collaboration that spanned more than twenty-five years.
Bennett graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn, then he studied music at City College of New York. Although blessed with a good singing voice he chose to pursue his lifelong interest in writing words and music. His career plans were interrupted by World War II, however, when he served with the United States Army Air Forces. After the war he joined ASCAP and worked as a staff writer for Mills Music Inc. (now EMI Mills Music Inc.)
Partnered with Tepper, between 1945 and 1970 Bennett had close to three hundred musical compositions published. In 1948 they wrote "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" first recorded by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians (credits Roy Brodsky and Sid Tepper) and was a No.3 hit single for vocalist Vaughn Monroe.
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The song has been recorded by others such as Wayne Newton, Vic Dana, Eddy Arnold and Andy Williams. Bennett and Tepper scored big again in 1951 when Rosemary Clooney recorded their composition "Suzy Snowflake."
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In 1955, their 1954 composition of "Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" was a top-10 hit for both Dean Martin and the Ames Brothers and the novelty song "Nuttin' for Christmas" by the Art Mooney band and singer Barry J. Gordon went to No. 6 on the music charts and was recorded by four other singers. In 1958, the popular singer and TV variety show host Perry Como had a top-10 hit with their "Kewpie Doll."
Other successful artists who recorded Bennett & Tepper songs include The Beatles ("Glad All Over" which appears on The Beatles At The BBC), Connie Francis, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Robert Goulet, Dinah Shore, Burl Ives, Eartha Kitt, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Marty Robbins, Jo Stafford, Wayne Newton, and Sarah Vaughan. While these songs were very important in the music world, they prospered significantly with the onset of rock and roll music. They wrote fifteen songs for British superstar Cliff Richard, including his biggest selling single ever, "The Young Ones" which was also used in Richard's 1961 motion picture of the same name and two decades later in the 1982–84 UK television series with the same title, The Young Ones. In 2002, Mr. Bennett was invited to England to meet Cliff Richard and sang "The Young Ones" with him before an audience of 12,000 people in Birmingham.
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Most significant in his career are the forty-two songs recorded by Elvis Presley. These songs, co-written with Tepper, appear on a number of Presley's music albums and film soundtracks.
Their collaboration ended in the 1970s when Tepper suffered a heart attack and retired to Florida. Bennett remained active, and published the Choral Singer's Handbook[1] which still in print today.[2] Fascinated by the desktop computer, he created a software program called PowerMacros for WordPerfect.
In 2002 Bennett and Tepper were honored at ceremonies in Memphis, Tennessee by Lisa Marie Presley for their contribution to her father's success. They were also honored for having written almost half the album in Presley fans favorite, Blue Hawaii. Tepper died in April 2015, while Bennett died on July 2 of the same year in Queens, New York, at the age of 96
Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-roy-bennett-20150719-story.htmlRoy C. Bennett dies at 96; co-creator of movie songs for Elvis Presley
By David Colker | July 19, 2015
Songwriter Roy C. Bennett co-wrote more than 40 songs recorded by Elvis Presley. None of them were major hits, but Bennett and writing partner Sid Tepper were not rock 'n' roll tunesmiths — they wrote ballads and novelty songs that Elvis sang in his popular movies.
Some Elvis historians look down on the movie songs — such as the duo's "Song of the Shrimp" from "Girls! Girls! Girls!" or "The Bullfighter was a Lady" from "Fun in Acapulco" — but not Bennett.
"I have always been disappointed that Elvis' movie songs are not considered worthy of him," Bennett said in a 2005 interview. "It should be remembered that these songs were written for specific situations in the scripts."
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Bennett, 96, died July 2 in a hospital in New York City of age-related conditions, said his son, Neil.
Bennett and Tepper, who wrote about 300 songs together, had hits with several non-Elvis titles, including "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" that charted in both the 1940s and 1960s, and was covered by a wide variety of performers including Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Wayne Newton, Perry Como and Paul Anka.
Their mid-'50s novelty hit, "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane," was recorded by Ray Charles, Dean Martin and, in 2007, The Roches. And in the early 1960s, "The Young Ones" was a chart-topper for singer Cliff Richard in the U.K.
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Although their "Glad All Over" (not to be confused with the better-known Dave Clark Five number of the same title) wasn't a big hit, it had the distinction of being performed in the early 1960s by the Beatles.
Bennett and Tepper were extraordinarily successful at writing songs for Elvis, even though they never met him. The process of writing for the singer's movies kept them at least one step removed.
The duo would get a movie script, with spots marked for songs. But Bennett and Tepper, who both wrote music and lyrics, weren't the only songwriters receiving the script — it was a competition.
"There were about a dozen teams and individuals vying for the song spots," Bennett said in the 2005 interview for the book "Elvis Presley: Writing for the King," by Ken Sharp.
"The money spurred us on. I believe we had two or three weeks to come up with songs."
Out of the several songs submitted for a spot, a few would be chosen by music executive Freddy Bienstock, who specialized in screening songs for Elvis. These chosen few were recorded in demonstration versions with hired musicians, then sent on to Elvis and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to pick the winner.
Their decision would be delivered to the songwriters by Bienstock.
"Our biggest thrill was when he told us we had five songs in 'Blue Hawaii,'" Bennett said.
For "Fun in Acapulco," which featured a female bullfighter, they wrote a comic song for Elvis to sing in a nightclub setting about Pedro the bull.
The bullfighter was a lady
And it was true love at first sight
Her red cape was waving but Pedro was shaving
He wanted to date her that night
"We believed the scenes were fun," Bennett said in an interview for the site elvis-collectors.com, "and it was a challenge to write for them."
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He was born Israel Brodsky on Aug. 12, 1918, in Brooklyn. He changed his name to the less ethnic-sounding Roy C. Bennett in 1952. "The 'C' didn't stand for anything," said his son, Neil.
After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School, Bennett enrolled at City College of New York to study accounting, but dropped out and served in the Army in World War II. Many years later he retuned to the college and got a degree, because "he wanted to set a model for his children," Neil Bennett said.
Tepper, who died in April, retired from song writing in the 1970s when he began to have health problems.
Bennett never worked much with other songwriters, but he went on to write three books: on songwriting, choral singing, and improbably, word processing.
"It was early in word processing, when WordPerfect was coming in," Neil Bennett said. "He was frustrated it was not easier to do." His book was full of hints on using the program.
But his main interest remained in music. "He would never lay claim to being of the Irving Berlin or Cole Porter caliber," his son said. "But songwriting was his passion and he took it very seriously."
Bennett is survived by his wife, Ruth; twin sons Neil and Keith; and three grandchildren.
david.colker@latimes.com
01. Lonesome Cowboy
02. New Orleans
03. Shoppin' Around
04. G.I.Blues
05. A Cane And A High Starched Collar
06. Hawaiian Sunset
07. Slicin' Sand
08. Ito Eats
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09. Island Of Love
10. Beach Boy Blues
11. Angel
12. For The Millionth And The Last Time
13. Just For Old Time Sake
14. The Walls Have Ears
15. Song Of The Shrimp
16. A Boy Like Me , A Girl Like You
17. Earth Boy
18. Relax
19. Take Me To The Fair
20. Mexico
21. The Bullfighter Was A Lady
22. Vino Dinero Y Amor
23. Western Union
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24. The Lady Loves Me
25. Once Is Enough
26. It's A Wonderful World
27. Wheels On My Heels
28. Puppet On A String
29. Fort Lauderdale Chamber Of Commerce
30. Kismet
31. Beginner's Luck
32. Petunia The Gardener's Daughter
33. Drums of Island
34. Smorgasbord
35. Am I Ready
36. All That I Am
37. I Love Only One Girl
38. A House That Has Everything
39. Confidence
40. Five Sleepy Heads
41. Mine
42. Stay Away
*And Sid Tepper
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