Roger Jon Atkins (born 1944) is an American songwriter and lyricist. Among his most notable songs as a co-writer are " Make Me Your Baby" (written with Helen Miller and recorded by

Barbara Lewis Barbara Ann Lewis (born February 9, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues. Career Lewis was born in Salem Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan, Salem, Michigan, United States. She was writ ...

), " It's My Life" (written with Carl D'Errico and recorded by

the Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...

), and " Workin' On a Groovy Thing" (written with

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

and recorded by

the 5th Dimension The 5th Dimension is an American vocal group. Their music encompasses sunshine pop, pop soul, and psychedelic soul. They were an important crossover music act of the 1960s and 1970s, although both praised and derided for their particular music ...

Biography

Born in New York, he was inspired in his early teens to write for

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

s, after seeing ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'' on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. He began writing songs with Richard Costiera, and won a songwriting contract with

Hill & Range Hill & Range (originally "Hill and Range Songs, Inc.") is a music publishing company which was particularly responsible for much of the country music produced in the 1950s and 1960s, and had control over the material recorded by Elvis Presley over ...

music publishers. He then worked with Teddy Vann at Unbelievable Music, a company based at

1650 Broadway The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and farther uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. The Brill Building house ...

. His first major successes came in 1965, co-writing with Helen Miller the hit songs "Can't Let You Out of My Sight" by

Chuck Jackson Charles Benjamin Jackson (July 22, 1937 – February 16, 2023) was an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He performed with moderate success starting in 1961. Hi ...

and Maxine Brown; " Make Me Your Baby", recorded by

; and "Princess In Rags", recorded by

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 h ...

. He also wrote, with Carl D'Errico, the song " It's My Life", recorded by

. "It's His Life - the Roger Atkins interview", ''Rare Rockin Records'', April 23, 2011
Retrieved 8 November 2022 In the mid to late 1960s, Atkins worked as co-writer with

.Their successful songs included "Kissin' My Life Away", recorded by

the Hondells The Hondells were an American surf rock band. Their cover of the Beach Boys' " Little Honda" went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. History The Hondells were a band manufactured by Gary Usher, originally consisting of session music ...

, and " Workin' On a Groovy Thing", first recorded by

Patti Drew Patti Drew (born December 29, 1944, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American pop singer who achieved brief success in the late 1960s. Drew was raised in Nashville, Tennessee and Evanston, Illinois, where she sang in church with her sisters, Lorr ...

and later, with more success, by

. Atkins also wrote the lyrics for "The Kind of Girl I Could Love", composed by

Mike Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the Monkees and co-star of their TV series of the same name (1966–1968). His songwriting credit ...

and recorded by

the Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

. The compilation album ''It's My Life: Roger Atkins Songbook, 1963–1969'' was released in 2015."It's My Life: Roger Atkins Songbook, 1963-1969", ''Allmusic''
Retrieved 8 November 2022

References

External links

Compositions by Roger Atkins
''Music Vf'' 1944 births Living people {{US-songwriter-stub