Sid Tepper, the man behind hundreds of popular rock and pop hits sung by artists including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, died on 24 April, aged 96.
His most recognised songs included Puppet on a String and All That I Am.
The songwriter began his career in the 1940s in Brooklyn, New York, and his creations have also been sung by Carl Perkins, Jeff Beck, Herman’s Hermits, the Dave Clark Five, the Beatles, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong.
His first big hit, written with songwriting partner Roy Bennett, was Red Roses for a Blue Lady — a top 10 hit for both Vaughn Monroe and Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians. It was inspired by a falling out with his wife: “I sent her some red roses and wrote on the card: ‘I’m sorry, red roses for a blue lady.’ And about a week later, I thought ‘What a great idea for a title’, and the song wrote itself,” Tepper told the Miami Herald on his 90th birthday.
With Bennett, Tepper penned more than 40 songs for Elvis Presley during the rock’n’roll star’s film period, such as GI Blues, Once Is Enough and Stay Away. The pair earned five songwriting credits on Elvis’s 1961 film Blue Hawaii.
“I believe that Elvis’s movies and their songs made a mighty contribution to his career,” Tepper said in a 2005 interview. “They brought him to the attention of millions of people who otherwise would never have known the greatness of the King.”
Tepper died of natural causes at his home in Miami Beach, Florida.
