Special thanks to ThisDayinMusic.com.
There weren’t too many female songwriters in the early days of rock and roll. But in 1958, Sharon Sheley, who died on this day in 2002, became the first female to compose a U.S. # 1 hit – “Poor Little Fool” for Ricky Nelson.
Born in California in 1940, Sheley fell in love with the power and glamour of rock and roll and infiltrated the scene any way she could. In Hollywood, she dated Don Everly, and hung out with Gene Vincent. She got to meet Elvis, and became friends with him and joined his Hollywood entourage.
She told Photoplay magazine in 1959 about an adventure at the move theater with Elvis and the gang: “It was intermission and while people were out buying popcorn and stuff they played records. The first record that came on was ‘Don’t Be Cruel.’ That was followed by three other Presley records. The manager knew Elvis was there and was trying to be nice, but Elvis got embarrassed. I was sitting way down front, but I could hear a voice in the back calling out, ‘Ah, lay off that Presley music. C’mon, put on somethin’ else!’ It was Elvis heckling his own tunes!”
Elvis also gave the young Sharon Sheeley some sage advice.
Sheely later recalled him saying, “Shari, you say you want to be an actress. That you’d like to have a career, but that you are afraid and that you don’t know how. Well, honey, all I can tell you is just do what I did. Just have faith in yourself and faith in God and nothing will stop you.”
She also dated teen heartthrob Ricky Nelson. Once she penned “Poor Little Fool,“ she presented it to Nelson, saying her godfather had wriiten it for Elvis but she thought it was perfect for Ricky. The song became Nelson’s first #1 and by all accounts he was none too pleased to discover Sheeley had written the song herself.
Eddie Cochran’s manager and songwriting partner took Sheeley under his wing and she wrote the B-side to “Summertime Blues,” “Love Again.”
She wrote “Somethin’ Else” with Eddie Cochran’s brother Bob (who mostly contributed some factual snippets about cars) and settled in as Cochran’s girlfriend. In 1960, Cochran headed to England for a three-month tour. A few weeks in, Cochran wasn’t enjoying the tour. He flew Sheeley over, telling people they were engaged.
Then, tragedy struck on April 17 when the car Cochran, Sheeley and Gene Vincent were driving in crashed. Cochran died of his injuries and on her return to America, Sheeley – devastated by the loss – became something of a recluse.
A year or so later, she agreed to write a song with Jackie DeShannon, “Baby (When Ya Kiss Me),” for her next single. Back in the business, she co-wrote Brenda Lee’s “Dum Dum” and “Heart in Hand,” Irma Thomas’ “Breakaway” and “(He’s) The Great Impostor” for the Fleetwoods. Sheeley eventually married Jimmy O’Neill, presenter of television's Shindig!, and pretty much disappeared form the music business.
In 1990, however, she re-appeared briefly with an album of old ’60s demos that had been recorded by the likes of Glen Campbell, David Gates, Leon Russell and drummer Hal Blaine called simply Sharon Sheeley: Songwriter. It was a fitting tribute to a significant, and often overlooked, architect of the golden era of rock and roll.
