ELVIS Presley will forever be known as the King of Rock and Roll, despite his untimely death aged just 42.
The superstar singer’s songs have gone on to influence generation after generation, long after his sad passing in 1977.
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During his career, Elvis Presley recorded over 600 songsCredit: Alamy
Who wrote songs for Elvis Presley?
Elvis Presley recorded more than 600 songs in his career.
He even won three Grammy Awards, but they were for his gospel recording rather than for his own writings, winning his first in 1967 for Best Sacred Performance for his rendition of How Great Thou Art.
This was renamed as Best Inspiration Performance, which he won in 1972 and 1974, for He Touched Me and How Great Thou Art again.
During his career, Elvis worked with many talented writers, who helped him score a number of hit singles.
Aaron Schroeder
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Aaron Schroeder penned many of Elvis’ hit songsCredit: LA Times
Top songwriter Aaron Schroeder helped compose 16 songs recorded by Elvis.
Six of those reached the top 25, starting with I Was the One in 1956.
Aaron also helped pen four of Elvis’s No. 1 records – twice as many of any other composer used by The King.
The talented songwriter stopped working with Elvis after a legal battle over publishing rights in 1962.
Otis Blackwell
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Otis Blackwell never met Elvis , despite writing some of his singlesCredit: Getty
Respected singer-songwriter Otis Blackwell composed many rock ‘n’ roll hits in the 1950s and 1960s.
Elvis recorded ten of his compositions including All Shook Up, and Return to Sender.
Otis also wrote Jerry Lee Lewis’ biggest hit, Great Balls of Fire.
Despite helping him with his hit singles, Otis never met Elvis.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
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Elvis worked a lot with Jerry Leiber and Mike StollerCredit: Getty
By the time Elvis came along, Leiber and Stoller were already successful R&B songwriters with hits such as Kansas City and Hound Dog.
Elvis’ recording and controversial TV performances of Hound Dog tied the composers and the singer together.
The superstar singer went on to record 23 Leiber-Stoller compositions, which included the No. 1 single Jailhouse Rock
The legendary duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Mac Davis
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Country music star Mac Davis penned songs for The KingCredit: Alamy
Texas singer-songwriter Mac Davis only wrote a few songs for Elvis – however, they came at a critical time when The King was reshaping his career in the late 1960s.
The biggest songs Mac wrote for Elvis were In the Ghetto, and Don’t’ Cry Daddy.
Mac went on to have a very successful career as a country singer in the 1970s and 1980s.
Ben Weisman
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Elvis Presley and Ben Weisman worked together on his movie soundtracksCredit: Getty
One of Elvis’ biggest writers was Ben Weisman who wrote more than 50 songs for him — more than any other songwriter.
Many of his compositions were written for Elvis’ movie soundtracks – which includes Rock-a-Hula Baby from Blue Hawaii.
In his later career, Ben had a recurring role on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as a pianist in the Club Allegro.
Other Elvis songwriters
Elvis employed many more songwriters throughout his a career.
Other notable people who also wrote tunes for The King include:
Florence Kaye
Wally Gold
Winfield Scott
Mort Shuman
Doc Pomus
Did Elvis write his own songs?
It is widely believed that, while Elvis is credited as a co-writer on many of his songs, he actually wrote very few of them.
The reason for this is because, it has been alleged, his record company demanded songwriters give up 50 percent of the credit before Elvis would record the song.
One biographer, Ken Sharp, wrote a book speaking about the stories of the songwriters who worked with Elvis, calling the singer’s work as “his own distinctive personal interpretation,” rather than writing.
What were Elvis Presley’s biggest hits?
Elvis racked up a HUGE amount of hit singles during his time as the King of Rock and Roll.
