Viva Doc Pomus, a True Hall of Famer

Most pop fans may have probably heard more in the last two weeks about the late Doc Pomus than they did during the late songwriter’s five decades on the pop, rock and R&B; scenes.

Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week in recognition of writing or co-writing hits for such artists as Elvis Presley (“Little Sister” and “Viva Las Vegas”), Ray Charles (“Lonely Avenue”), the Coasters (“Young Blood”), the Drifters (“Save the Last Dance for Me”) and Dion (“A Teenager in Love”).

On a more bittersweet note, Pomus, who died last year at age 65, is also cited by Lou Reed as one of the two inspirations for Reed’s new “Magic and Loss” album, a deeply affecting reflection on death and mourning. “(Pomus) was one of those people who are like the sun,” Reed said last week. “You just feel great when you are around them.”

A Brooklyn native whose real name was Jerome Solon Felder, Pomus fell in love with the blues as a teen-ager and began singing in clubs while in college. Because of a childhood case of polio, he was unable to walk without crutches, but handicapped doesn’t appear to be a word that anyone ever applied to him. He was, by all accounts, a man of immense energy and enthusiasm.

Though the bearded songwriter enjoyed his greatest commercial success in the ‘50s and ‘60s, he continued to write up until his death--and it is his later, frequently poignant songs that are the focus of Rounder Records’ just-released “Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus: The Real Me.”

Dr. John, the New Orleans singer and pianist, co-wrote seven of the 11 songs with Pomus and co-produced the album with Scott Billington.

In the album’s liner notes, rock author and historian Peter Guralnick describes Adams, a veteran New Orleans singer, as one of Pomus’ favorite vocalists--”not because of the tricks Johnny can put into his voice, but because of the feeling. That was what Doc’s songs were all about. They never showed off, they never strained for self-conscious poetics, they didn’t sacrifice specificity but at the same time frequently achieved a true universality.”

In the Stores: Elmore James, the hugely influential blues singer and slide guitarist who was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week, is saluted in “Dust My Broom,” a Tomato Records album that contains recordings from the early ‘60s, including “The Sky’s Crying” and “Shake Your Moneymaker.” . . . Columbia Records has just released a “best of” album culled from a multi-disc set. The single disc “The Byrds--20 Essential Tracks From the Boxed Set: 1965-1990” includes most of the L.A. band’s best-known tunes, including “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Eight Miles High,” as well as the four tracks recorded for the 1990 set.