Sonny Curtis, rocker of crickets and prolific singer-songwriter behind the theme of the Mary Tyler Moore television show, died at 88

Sonny Curtis, a Rock ‘N’ Rock Vintage who wrote the Raw Classic I fought the law And asked the lasting question “who can light the world with his smile?” As a writer-Crooner of the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore show died at the age of 88.

Curtis was inducted at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the crickets in 2012. He died on Friday, his wife more than half a century, Louise Curtis, confirmed to the Associated Press.

Her daughter, Sarah Curtis, also posted on her Facebook page on her death.

“My heart is broken to tell you that my father Sonny died yesterday after a sudden illness,” she wrote in the post. “I am so grateful to be with him at the end, with my mother. It was peaceful and he did not suffer.”

His message said that his father “lived a more exceptional life than anyone I have ever met. He made a brand on this world, and he made a brand on the hearts of all those who knew him. It is a sad day, but what life. May see his life with joy rather than sadness. He would have liked this.”

Curtis wrote or co-write hundreds of songs, from Keith Whitley Country I am not unrelated to the rain To the Everly brothers Turn overA favorite Curtis completed in the basic formation of the army. Bing Crosby, Glen Campbell, Bruce Springsteen and The Grateful Dead were among other artists who covered his work.

Early with Buddy Holly

Born during the great depression of cotton producers outside Meadow, Texas, Curtis was a childhood friend of Buddy Holly and an active musician during the years of rock training, whether guitar with Holly in the mid -1950s or opening for Elvis Presley when Elvis was still a regional act.

Touching the writing of Curtis songs also appeared soon: before he was 20 years old, he had written success A day For Webb Pierce and Rock Around With Ollie Vee For Holly.

Curtis had left Holly’s crickets before Holly became a major star. But he returned after Holly’s death in a plane crash in 1959 and was presented the following year on the album In style with the cricketswho understood I fought the law. Curtis said he had written the song in an afternoon and had no direct inspiration for that. He also collaborated with Jerry Allison on More than I can sayA successful song for Bobby Vee and later for Leo Sayer.

It took until 1966 to I fought the law And his now immorative chorus “I fought the law – and the law won” to make up for it. The Bobby Fuller Fuller based in Texas has made it a top 10.

During the following decades, it was covered by dozens of artists, from Punk (The Clash) to Country (Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith) in Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and other rock stars.

“This is my most important copyright,” Curtis told Tennessean in 2014.

Do alone with Mary Tyler Moore Tune

Curtis’ other signature song was as edifying as I fought the law was resigned.

In 1970, he wrote commercial jingles when he found the theme of the new sitcom CBS with Mary Tyler Moore as a single woman hired as a television producer in Minneapolis. He called her Love is all aroundUsing a fluid melody to possibly serve words as indelible as anyone in the history of television: “Who can excite the world with his smile? Who can take a day of nothing, and suddenly, all this is worth it? Well, it’s your daughter, and you should know it. With each look and each small movement, you show it.”

The endurance of the song was sealed by the images it was heard, in particular the triumphant launch of Moore of his hat while Curtis proclaims: “You will do it after all.”

In tribute, other artists have started to record it, including Sammy Davis Jr., Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Hüsker Dü du Minnesota. A commercial outlet featuring Curtis was released in 1980 and was a modest success, culminating in n ° 29 on the Billboard country list.

Curtis would remember having been commanded by his friend Doug Gilmore, a director of the road to the music industry who had heard that the developers of the sitcom were looking for an opening song.

“Naturally, I said yes, and later in the morning, he filed a four -page format – you know,` `daughter of the midwest, moves to Minneapolis, gets a job in an editorial room, I cannot afford his apartment, etc., which gave me the flavor of what was,” said Curtis. He quickly met the co-creator of the show (and later the filmmaker winner of an Oscar) James L. Brooks.

“James L. Brooks entered this huge empty room, no furniture apart from a telephone lying on the ground, and at the beginning, I thought it was rather cold and somehow distant, and he said:” We are not yet at the stadium of the selection of a song, but I will listen to “,” recalls Curtis. “So I played the song, just me and my guitar, and the next thing, he started calling to people, and the play filled, then he sent for a tape recorder.”

Curtis would eventually write two versions: the first used in season 1, the second and better known for the six remaining seasons. The original words were more temporary, opening with: “How are you going to do it for yourself?” And ending with: “You could just do it after all.”

In season 2, the show was a success and the lyrics were reworked. The producers had wanted Andy Williams to sing the theme song, but he refused it and the relaxed baritone of Curtis was heard instead.

Sell ​​in loop with crickets

Curtis has made a handful of solo albums, including Sonny Curtis And Spectrumand struck the country’s top 20 with the 1981 single Good old girls. In recent years, he has continued to play with Allison and other members of the crickets.

The group has released several albums, among them The crickets and their friendsWith appearances of Eric Clapton, Graham Nash and Phil Everly. One of the most notable songs in Curtis was The real Holly Buddy storyA 1978 biopic reprimand The story of Buddy HollyWith Gary Busey in a role that earned him an native nomination.

Curtis settled in Nashville in the mid -1970s and lived there with his wife, Louise.

He was inducted at the temple of the famous Nashville songwriters in 1991 and, as part of the crickets, the temple of renown and the Museum of Musicians of Nashville in 2007. Five years later, he and the crickets were induced in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The group was congratulated as “the plan for rock and roll groups (which) inspired thousands of children to start garage groups around the world”.