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My Place: Songwriter Otis Blackwell

Vermont Public | By Joel Najman

Published January 27, 2017 at 11:14 AM EST

Songwriter Otis Blackwell wrote lots of memorable songs, including the Elvis Presley hit, "Don't Be Cruel".

Otis Blackwell grew up in Brooklyn in the 1930s, listening to cowboy music. Blackwell went on to write some of the biggest seminal hits of the early rock-and-roll era.

This week on My Place, we'll spotlight some of the compositions written by Blackwell as recorded by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.

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Joel Najman

Joel has been a part of Vermont's radio scene since 1964. He began his career at WIPS in Ticonderoga, New York. In 1965, he moved to WFAD in Middlebury, Vermont, where he attended Middlebury College. Over the years, Joel worked at radio stations WJOY, WQCR, WDOT, WDEV and WVAA where he served at various times as Morning Announcer, Program Director and News Director.

See stories by Joel Najman