| By Joe Yezukevich |
AKA Doc Pomus tells the rise and occasional stumble of Doc Pomus, the Brill Building’s Shakespeare of Doo Wop and teen pop in the late 50s/ early 60s.
Doc Pomus wrote songs like “Save The Last Dance” for Me” that became timeless in their touching lyrical content while defining the musical style of the era.
The documentary is bittersweet and insightful with lots of photos and video from the various times in Doc’s life.
It is essential viewing for any fan of 20th Century pop culture.
Doc Pomus was born Jerome Felderin 1925 in Brooklyn.
He was a good Jewish boy living with Polio who becomes a blues singer and successful songwriter like so many people do: through a combination of innate talent and being in the right place at the right time.
His travels through the rhythm and blues nightlife of New York the time brought him into contact with fathers of the style such as Big Joe Turner (with whom Doc remained a loyal friend until his death) and Atlantic Records founder/guru Ahmet Ertegun. As a writer in the Brill Building, Doc Pomus wrote hits for the Coasters, the Drifters, Dion & the Belmonts, and Elvis Presley (“Viva Las Vegas”!!).
As the 60’s marched on and luminaries like Bob Dylan and the Beatles redefined the role of the pop artist as the song writer AND performer, Doc Pomus became somewhat marginalized. Some of his contemporaries from Brill (Neil Diamond and Carole King, in particular) stepped into the spotlight to keep their careers viable, whereas Doc fell into a depressive slump for a few years.
At this time he turned to the New York underworld of gambling to keep himself and his family solvent. While this is receives relatively brief coverage in the movie, it is important to remember that this semi-crippled man is surrounding himself with some incredibly dangerous characters, which inevitably informs the tone of his later work.
His story is full of characters like these, but it is also full of unlikely friendships due to the degree of societal segregation at the time. AKA Doc Pomus quietly walks through the 20th Century documenting the slow melting together of race in America. His career starts at a time when Black Americans were treated like second class citizens. Like parallel lines declining together (thanks Bob Pollard), Doc Pomus is writing his songs for mostly black artists, helping to bring himself fortune while bringing the invisible faces of Black Americans into the limelight.
As he fell out of favor due to the Beatles and Dylan, it is partially with the help of John Lennon and Bob Dylan that he returns to his place as hit songwriter. Both in the 70s and 80s seek him out for help and advice. Doc goes on to start teaching songwriting, training such young artists as Shawn Colvin and Joan Osbourne. When he dies in 1991, it is at a time that his own personal popularity is at an all-time high.
AKA Doc Pomus is not a documentary that will change the world. Like the Doc Pomus, it is a movie that fills the hearts of its audience with hope and gives a new perspective on what it means to live an artistically fulfilling life. For music fans of all genre, AKA Doc Pomus cannot be missed.
