Today's song comes from my man Ben Folds with lyrics by the English author, Nick Hornby and it's a biographical song about Doc Pomus. There's a documentary called "AKA Doc Pomus" that I just finished watching- wow what a life, what a character!
I'll try to be brief, but here are some reasons why this story is such a fascinating story to tell:
Doc Pomus was born in Brooklyn in 1925 to immigrant Jewish Parents.
At the age of 6 he contracted polio and was unable to walk unassisted (crutches, wheelchair) for the rest of his life.
Sometime in his teens he became enamored with the blues.
When he started performing in black-dominated clubs as a blues singer, he changed his name to Doc Pomus to hide his Jewish background.
He ended up writing over 1000 songs in his career for high profile performers like:
Elvis Presley, Ray Charles. BB King, Andy Williams, and many, many more.
As I watched the documentary, I was shocked at how many songs I knew that had been written by Pomus alone, or with various collaborators. His most famous song is "Save the Last Dance for Me."
He died in 1991 of lung cancer and was inducted to the Songwriters hall of fame the following year- he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame 10 years later.
And I suppose what I find most interesting is how Doc Pomus overcame the odds to find success in music, as a second generation immigrant who was crippled. It's a great story, both sad and lovely, and I recommend watching the documentary if you love music and have the time: "AKA Doc Pomus"
Now to get to the music stuck in my head....
....as you probably know, I'm a huge fan of Ben Folds' music and paired with Nick Hornby's lyrics he's produced some lovely songs. Today's is no exception. I would imagine that Folds was tempted to take a song about Doc Pomus and turn it into a bluesy/rock sort of thing. Knowing his music, I'm certain he's capable of doing such a thing. Instead, what we get with this song is a sort of rolling piano ballad with french horn.
In my short post so far, I've highlighted on some of the successes Pomus had as a writer. This song focuses more on some of the sadder aspects of his life, and has a very somber tone:
He could never be one of those happy cripples
The kind that smile and tell you life's OK
He was mad as hell, frightened, and bitter
He found a way to make his isolation pay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3WWnpfcYhE
I hope to have educated you in some way about the life of a legendary writer who probably didn't get the public recognition he deserved.
I love this.
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