Sid Tepper (June 25, 1918 – April 24, 2015) was an American songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with

Roy C. Bennett Roy C. Bennett (August 12, 1918 – July 2, 2015) was an American songwriter known for the songs he wrote with Sid Tepper, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 songs. Biograp ...

, which spawned several hits for

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 songs.

Biography

As a youth, Tepper's family moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, where Tepper met his future musical collaborator, Roy C. Bennett. Their first hit was " Red Roses for a Blue Lady" (1948), recorded by

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was a Canadian and American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racing, hydroplane racer whose unique "sweet jazz" style remained popular with audiences for nearly five decade ...

and his Royal Canadians. Over the next 22 years, the songwriting team wrote for

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

, and many more. Tepper and Bennett adjusted well to the advent of rock 'n roll. In 1961 their song " The Young Ones" was instrumental in boosting the career of

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

, for whom they wrote 21 compositions. They went on to write 43 songs for Elvis Presley, the most of any songwriter, or song writing team (all related to his movies). In the 1970s Tepper suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, which necessitated the end of his songwriting partnership with Bennett. Tepper retired in Surfside, Florida. In 2002 he and Bennett were honored in Memphis for their part in Elvis Presley's career. Tepper lived in Surfside until 2004, when he moved to Williams Island in Aventura just north of the Miami area. He was honored by the town of Surfside for his works in 2008 as Sid Tepper Day. Tepper died on April 24, 2015, in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, aged 96. More about the songwriting partnership of Tepper and Bennett, including YouTube play links to many of their songs, is at this ''commemorative web site'' created in 2020.

References

1918 births 2015 deaths People from Miami Beach, Florida Songwriters from New York (state) Musicians from Brooklyn Jewish American songwriters Songwriters from Florida People from Surfside, Florida 21st-century American Jews {{US-songwriter-stub