Robert Alexander "Bumps" Blackwell (May 23, 1918 – March 9, 1985) was an American bandleader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, best known for his work overseeing the early hits of

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

, as well as grooming

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, Lloyd Price,

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

, Herb Alpert,

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

, and Sly and the Family Stone at the start of their music careers.White, Charles (2003), p. 43. ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press, White, Charles (2003), p. 78-79. ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press,

Biography

Born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, Blackwell led a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

group in the late 1940s that included pianist

and trumpeter Quincy Jones. He moved to Hollywood, California, to continue studying composition, but he instead took a job at

Art Rupe Arthur Newton Rupe (born Arthur Goldberg; September 5, 1917 – April 15, 2022) was an American music executive and record producer. He founded Specialty Records, known for its rhythm and blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music reco ...

's Specialty Records as an arranger and producer. He worked with

, Lloyd Price and Guitar Slim, as well as producing Little Richard during his rise to stardom in 1955 and 1956. In addition to producing Little Richard's breakthrough hit " Tutti Frutti" following hearing him sing the song in the studio, Blackwell also produced Little Richard's other mid-1950s hits, co-writing some of them as well, including "

Long Tall Sally "Long Tall Sally", also known as "Long Tall Sally (The Thing)", is a rock and roll song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard. Richard recorded it for Specialty Records, which released it as a single in March ...

", "

Good Golly Miss Molly In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

", "

Ready Teddy "Ready Teddy" is a song written by John Marascalco and Robert Blackwell, and first made popular by Little Richard in 1956. Little Richard sang and played piano on the recording, backed by a band consisting of Lee Allen (tenor saxophone), Alvin " ...

", and " Rip It Up". They all quickly became rock and roll standards, and have subsequently been covered by hundreds of artists including

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 ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

. He also produced

's hit " You Send Me". Blackwell left Specialty in 1957, taking Sam Cooke with him to

Keen Records Keen Records was an American independent record label, founded by John and Alex Siamas in 1957 in Los Angeles. John Siamas was a successful businessman in the aerospace industry, and, as a music aficionado, started Keen as a side business. They ...

. He was the West Coast A&R director for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

from 1959 to 1963, and produced about an album's worth of Little Richard's

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

recordings for that label. "He got what he Wanted (But he lost what he Had)" was a big hit overseas, contemporaneously with his tour of Europe, with the Beatles as his opening act. He became Richard's manager and continued to work with him into the 1970s. In 1981, Blackwell produced some songs for

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's album '' Shot of Love'', including the title track. In 1985, he issued a 12-inch single called "Give it Up - Pay Little Richard", following Richard's latest comeback the year before . Blackwell died at his home in

Hacienda Heights, California Hacienda Heights () is an unincorporated suburban community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the community had a total population of 54,038, up from 53,122 at the 2000 census. For statistical purposes, the ...

, in 1985 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Selective discography

As co-writer and producer

*1956: "

" (Blackwell/Johnson/ Penniman) -

, US Pop No. 6, UK No. 3 *1956: "

" (Blackwell/ Marascalco) - Little Richard, US Pop No. 44 *1956: " Rip It Up" (Blackwell/Marascalco) - Little Richard, US Pop No. 17, UK No. 30 *1958: "

" (Blackwell/Marascalco) - Little Richard, US Pop No. 10, UK No. 8

As producer

*1957: " You Send Me" (

), US Pop No. 1, UK No. 29 *1964: " Ooh Poop A Doo" / " Merry Christmas Baby" (Warner Bros.) - Ike & Tina Turner *1964: ''

Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show ''Live! The Ike & Tina Turner Show'' is a live album by Ike & Tina Turner released on Warner Bros. Records in 1965. In 1967, ''The Ike & Tina Turner Show – Vol. 2'', consisting of different recordings from the same shows was released on Loma Rec ...

'', US Pop No. 126, US R&B No. 8 *1967: '' The Ike & Tina Turner Show – Vol. 2'' *1981: '' Shot of Love'' (

)

References

External links

*
Bumps Blackwell interviewed
on the Pop Chronicles, recorded March 4, 1968. ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Robert Songwriters from Washington (state) Record producers from Washington (state) 1918 births 1985 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in California Musicians from Seattle 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American songwriters