Edward James Cooley (April 15, 1933 – April 15, 2020) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, who co-wrote the much-recorded song "

Fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

." He also had a US pop hit in 1956 with "

Priscilla Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from Latin ''Prisca'', derived from ''priscus''. One suggestion is that it is intended to bestow long life on the bearer. The name first appears in the New Testament of Christianity variously as ...

," credited to Eddie Cooley and the Dimples.

Life

Cooley was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, later moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he befriended singer and songwriter

Otis Blackwell Otis Blackwell (February 16, 1931 – May 6, 2002) was an American songwriter whose work influenced rock and roll. His compositions include "Fever" (recorded by Little Willie John), "Great Balls of Fire" and " Breathless" (recorded by Jerry Le ...

. Around 1955 he contacted Blackwell with an idea for a song he had written, "

." According to Blackwell, Cooley said to him: "Man, I got an idea for a song called 'Fever,' but I can´t finish it." Blackwell finished writing the song, and it was recorded by

Little Willie John William Edward "Little Willie" John (November 15, 1937 – May 26, 1968) was an American R&B singer who performed in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is best known for his successes on the record charts, with songs such as " All Around the World" (1 ...

, becoming an R&B #1 hit in 1956, and later being recorded by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

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Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, and many others. Cooley and Blackwell continued to collaborate on songs for musicians on the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

label, including

The 5 Royales ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

. Later in 1956, Cooley presented a song, "Priscilla," to singer

Boyd Bennett Boyd Byron Bennett (December 7, 1924 – June 2, 2002) was an American rockabilly songwriter and singer. His two biggest hit singles, both written with John F Young and performed by him (Boyd) were "Seventeen (Boyd Bennett song), Seventeen" ...

, who turned it down. A demo version reached Teddy Reig of

Royal Roost Records Roost Records (also known as Royal Roost Records) was a jazz record label established in 1949 by music producer Teddy Reig in New York City. The label was named after a club in New York City. Saxophonist Stan Getz, early in his career, recorded ...

, and he arranged for Cooley to record it with a backing trio of girl singers, The Dimples – Beverly Coates, Carolyn Coates and Barbara Sanders – who Blackwell had discovered. The record was "something of an anomaly: a black man performing in a rockabilly style." It was promoted by DJ

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

, and after first becoming successful on the

east coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

rose up the national charts, reaching #20 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

in November 1956. Although Cooley was not primarily a singer, he promoted it by touring. The song was released in the UK on the Columbia label, and also covered by

Frankie Vaughan Frankie Vaughan (born Frank Fruim Abelson; 3 February 1928 – 17 September 1999) was an English singer and actor who recorded more than 80 easy listening and traditional pop singles in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after his ...

. Eddie Cooley and the Dimples recorded several further singles for the Royal Roost label, but none were successful. He then returned to songwriting, and his songs were recorded by the female R&B singer

Tiny Topsy Otha Lee Moore (May 22, 1930 – August 16, 1964), better known as Tiny Topsy, was an American R&B singer. The music journalist, Mark Lamarr, noted "Tiny in the same spirit you'd call a bald man curly, Tiny Topsy definitely had the lungpower to ...

("Aw! Shucks, Baby"), and by

Buzz Clifford Reese Francis Clifford III (October 8, 1941 – January 26, 2018), known professionally as Buzz Clifford, was an American pop singer and songwriter. His biggest success came with his recording of "Baby Sittin' Boogie" (1961), which peaked at No. ...

and

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

. In 1959, he made his last recordings, for

Herb Abramson Herbert C. Abramson (November 16, 1916 – November 9, 1999) was an American record executive, record producer, and co-founder of Atlantic Records. Life and career Abramson was born in 1916 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn. He studied to be a den ...

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

label, but again they were unsuccessful. In the early 1960s, after Blackwell had had continued success as a songwriter for Elvis Presley, in particular, he approached Cooley to contribute tracks to the album ''We Wrote 'Em, We Sing 'Em''. Cooley performed "Fever" and "Lay It On" on the album, released by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

in 1961. In 2015, Eddie Cooley was reported to be living in

Rose Hill, Jasper County, Mississippi Rose Hill is an unincorporated community in Jasper County, Mississippi, United States. Its ZIP code is 39356. History Rose Hill was named by early settlers for the wild roses that grew in the surrounding area. The community was formerly home to ...

. He died at

Anderson Regional Medical Center Anderson Regional Medical Center is a hospital located in Meridian, Mississippi. Overview Anderson Regional Medical Center (also known as Anderson Regional Medical Center-North) functions as a short-term acute care hospital with 260 beds and is t ...

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

on April 15, 2020, his 87th birthday. Obituary: Eddie Cooley
''Meridian Star'', April 15, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Eddie 1933 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Atlanta African-American male singer-songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)