Author(s): Alex Halberstadt

Biography & Memoir

One of the most original, influential and commercially successful American songwriters, Doc Pomus (1927-1991) is remembered best for the dozens of hits he wrote during rock 'n' roll's first decade. A role model for several generations of composers, Doc was renowned for his mastery of virtually every popular style, from the gutbucket rhythm and blues of "Lonely Avenue" and the symphonic invention of "Save the Last Dance for Me" to the pop confection of "Viva Las Vegas". His songs have been recorded by everyone from Ray Charles, Elvis Presley and B.B. King to Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen. Despite his successes, few acquaintances knew that this writer of jukebox hits led one of the most dramatic lives of his time. Born Jerome Felder to middle-class Jewish parents, Pomus was crippled by polio at the age of seven and thereafter always used crutches. His disability did not stop him singing with some of the best black musicians of the 1950s before he met Mort Shuman, who would become his partner in one of the great songwriting teams of the 60s.