Jerry Felder, a Brooklyn-raised Jewish kid who suffered from polio, became a champion songwriter for the likes of Elvis Presley (who recorded a couple dozen of his tunes), Ray Charles, The Drifters, Phil Spector, Dr John, BB King, Bobby Darin and many, many more.
He was originally a sax player, but in the early '40s he took the made-up name of "Doc Pomus" and started singing the blues in clubs. Fairly successful with this, he cut a bunch of records with Milt Jackson, King Curtis, Mickey Baker and others. By '57 he was a full-time songwriter in the Brill Building. He wrote or co-wrote several hit songs: "Save The Last Dance For Me", "A Teenager In Love", "Surrender", "This Magic Moment", "Lonely Avenue", "Viva Las Vegas" and many more. He also championed artists such as Lou Reed, Big Joe Turner (one of Doc's major heroes), Little Jimmy Scott, Dr John and Willy DeVille, all of whom were his friends.