Clyde Lovern Otis (September 11, 1924 – January 8, 2008), was an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaboration with singer Brook Benton, and for being one of the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

A&R executives at a major label. According to the music licensing organization Broadcast Music Inc., Otis is credited as the writer or co-writer of almost 800 songs.

Early career

After serving in the Marines during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Otis moved 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 ...

and inspired by fellow Marine Bobby Troup, best known for " Route 66", began writing songs. Otis' first success was Nat King Cole’s recording of his song "

That's All There Is to That "That's All There Is to That" is a song written by Clyde Otis and Kelly Owens and performed by Nat King Cole featuring The Four Knights. It reached #15 on the U.S. R&B chart and #16 on the U.S. pop chart in 1956. The song reference's Ethel B ...

", which reached 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 adverti ...

'' Top 20 in 1956.

A&R executive

On joining

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 ...

as director of A&R in 1958, Otis began writing and producing material for Brook Benton. This collaboration led to " It's Just a Matter of Time", " Endlessly", "

So Many Ways ''So Many Ways'' is the debut album by American R&B vocal group The Braxtons. Released on August 6, 1996, the album produced four singles; "So Many Ways", " Only Love", " The Boss" – which peaked at number-one in the ''Billboard'' Dance Char ...

", " Kiddio" and the novelty song, " The Boll Weevil Song". Otis also produced a number of duets between Benton and

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

, among them " Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" and "

A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love) "A Rockin' Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love)" is a song first recorded in 1958 by Priscilla Bowman, on the Abner Records label (ABNER DJ 1018). Bowman was given vocal backing by The Spaniels. Dinah Washington and Brook Benton In 1960, ...

"; he worked on Washington's solo efforts, as well, most notably the classic " What a Difference a Day Makes" and "

This Bitter Earth "This Bitter Earth" is a 1960 song made famous by rhythm and blues singer Dinah Washington. Written and produced by Clyde Otis, it peaked to #1 on the U.S. R&B charts for the week of July 25, 1960, and also reached #24 on the U.S. pop charts. ...

". Otis also produced hits for

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and " The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Award ...

(" Broken-Hearted Melody"), Timi Yuro (" Hurt") and The Diamonds (" The Stroll"), which he also co-wrote. In 1962 Otis produced 33 of Mercury's 51 chart hits.

Clyde Otis Music Group

Upon leaving the label, he briefly worked at

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

before founding his own publishing firm, the Clyde Otis Music Group, and moving into independent production. Relocating to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, Otis produced sessions for country singers

Charlie Rich Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. His eclectic style of music was often difficult to classify, encompassing the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, soul, and gospel g ...

and Sonny James. His songs have also been recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

, and

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

. In the late 1970s, he collaborated again with Brook Benton on several albums for various labels.

Awards

Winner of a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in 1994 for producing Natalie Cole's "Take a Look",Jaeger, Barbara
"REBUILDING A FOUNDATION"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'', May 22, 1994. Accessed October 20, 2007. "Veteran songwriter, record producer, and music publisher Clyde Otis of Englewood, whose song "Take a Look" won a Grammy this year for best jazz vocal performance by Natalie Cole, has announced the reactivation of the Take a Look Foundation." Otis was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 2000.

Personal life

He lived in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from po ...

, for over 40 years, and died there on January 8, 2008. He was survived by his wife, Lourdes; two sons, Isidro and Clyde III; two daughters, AnaIza and Sharon M. Brodus; and five grandchildren.Obituary from ''The New York Times''
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References

External links

The Clyde Otis Music Group website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otis, Clyde 2008 deaths 1924 births American music industry executives People from Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi People from Englewood, New Jersey Mercury Records artists Liberty Records artists