Cooley 1933–2020 · Blackwell 1931–2002 · American songwriters
Eddie Cooley (1933–2020) and Otis Blackwell (1931–2002) wrote ‘Fever’, with Blackwell credited under the pseudonym ‘John Davenport’ — a pen name he adopted during a publishing dispute. Blackwell is one of the great hidden hands of early rock and roll, author of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ and ‘Great Balls of Fire’. They are the figures the song’s fame obscures entirely: not the famous performer, not the original singer, but the writers whose names almost no one attaches to it.