Clyde Otis Story on the Chancellor of Soul's Soul Facts Show

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Chancellor of Soul, Mike Boone presents on his Soul Facts Show, one of the most gifted and prolific songwriters
and one of the first African- Americans, to obtain a high profile position in a major record company.

Mr. Clyde Otis.

Born on Sept 11, 1925 in Printess, Mississippi, Clyde Otis
first exposure was a set of drums as a teenager because his parents couldn't afford a radio and his induction into
the U.S. Marine Corp, where he met legendary songwriter,
Bobby Troup, the composer of the Nat 'King' Cole classic
'Route 66'. The inspiration of Bobby Troup, gave Otis his
drive to pursue his career in music.

After completing his stint from the military, Clyde relocated
to New York City, where he worked multiple jobs until he
settled working as a cab driver. His luck came one when
he picked up an important cab fare, who mention he was
attending a party given by music publisher, Sidney Kornhouser. In between conversations, Otis convinced his
fare into giving him a song he just composed to the publisher, 'That's All There Is To That'.

The song recorded by Nat 'King' Cole in 1956, zoomed
straight into the top twenty position, on Billboard's Top 100
chart.

The success of that song landed Otis a job as an A&R
executive at Mercury Records in 1958, after Kornhouser
published his song. Clyde Otis became the first Afircan-
American to obtain that position in a major record company.

At Mercury Records, Clyde teamed up with R&B great,
Brook Benton and keyboardist and arranger, Belford Hendricks and together, the floodgates opened with now masterpiece classics such as 'It's Just A Matter of Time',
'Endlessly' 'Kiddio' 'Baby (You've Got What It Takes)'
'A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall In Love)'
'The Bo Weevil Song' Otis' production with the Queen
Dinah Washington, 'What A Difference A Day Makes'
'This Bitter Earth' 'Take A Look' (Aretha Franklin)
I'll Take Care Of You' 'I'm Too Far Gone (To Turn Around)'
Bobby Blue Bland, Timi Yuro's 'Hurt' Sarah Vaughan's
'Broken-Hearted Melody' another Nat 'King' Cole classic
'Looking Back' and 'The Stroll' by The Diamonds.

Clyde Otis produced and co-wrote, 33 out of 51 charted hits
during his tenture at Mercury. Clyde Otis left Mercury in late
1962 for Liberty Records where he established his own
publishing companies, Clyde Otis Music Group and
Argon Productions. As an independent producer and
songwriter, Otis collaborated with legion of great artists
such as with country singers Sonny James and Charlie Rich ( The Silver Fox) along with Aretha Frankiln, Johnny Mathis, Patti Page and Elvis Presley.

According to B.M.I. (Broadcast Music Incorporated) Clyde Otis penned nearly 800 songs.

Being the first black songwriter/ producer to established
his self-owned music publishing company, his life has
been theaten many times by the underworld to relinguish
his company, but Otis stood his ground and not feel
intimidated by his peers to easily release any of his material, for what he worked so hard for.

In 1994, Clyde Otis won a Grammy Award for producing
Natalie Cole's version of 'Take A Look'. he would later
be honored as a recipient of the 2000 Rhythm & Blues
Pioneer Awards on Sept 8, in which myself, The Chancellor of Soul (Mike Boone) and legendary Northern
Soul great, Tony Drake attended.

On January 8, 2008 Clyde Otis passed wawy in his home
in Englewood, NJ. He was 83 years old.

Clyde Otis' legacy can not be measured, for his groundbreaking effords in the music industry to solisify a
foundation for African-Americans. Clyde Otis has cemented his legacy perminently his place in music history.

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[Classic63]

Thank you mnaicck.

[TruthSerum101]

I'm loving this channel.There's so much more to the R&B legacy than Motown and Philly!

I've seen Mr. Otis' name on records all my life, I know many of his songs but knew nothing about him until now. Somehow I missed that he produced Natalie's version of Take A Look too. I just remember Aretha's reaction to it in Vanity Fair.

[mnaicck]

Thank you