1960 Carl Dobkins, Jr. – Lucky Devil
Carl Dobkins, Jr. grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents were amateur singers and his mother played guitar. They taught him enough to get him started on the road to professional musician.
Carl recorded a few songs for Fraternity Records, but they sold the masters to Decca. Carl then went to Nashville to record for Decca.
Songwriter Lee Pockriss teamed up several different lyricists and wrote hits including Catch A Falling Star, Johnny Angel, and Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini. Lyricist Hal David is best known as a co-writer who teamed up with Burt Bacharach and wrote a large number of hits in the sixties.
Lee and Hal co-wrote My Heart Is An Open Book, which Carl recorded in his Nashville sessions for Decca in 1959. The rockabilly standard sat on the charts for nearly six months, and his single eventually reached #3 on the Hot 100 in that year.
Wally Gold and Aaron Schroeder would later write two number one singles for Elvis (It’s Now Or Never and Good Luck Charm), but first they wrote Carl’s second top forty single. The single (Lucky Devil) got a slow start, but eventually peaked at #25 on the Hot 100 in 1960.
Carl would continue recording into the mid-sixties without reaching the top forty again, but he still managed to appear on American Bandstand fourteen times.
He later toured in oldies shows.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Dobkins_Jr.
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