One of first black execs at a major record label

Clyde Otis, 83, a songwriter and record producer who was one of the first black executives at a major record label, died Jan. 8 at a hospital in Englewood, N.J.

When he joined Mercury Records as director of artists and repertory in 1958, Otis became one of the first African Americans to hold such a high-profile position in a mainstream record company.

While at Mercury, he produced records, signed acts and developed a partnership with Brook Benton, producing more than a dozen hits for him.

Otis also wrote and collaborated with Benton on many of the hits, including “It’s Just a Matter of Time.”

Otis also produced and helped write “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” and “A Rockin Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love).” Benton recorded the songs with Dinah Washington and both made the top 10 in 1960.

Otis’ other hits for Mercury included Washington’s “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” and Sarah Vaughan’s “Broken-Hearted Melody.”

He worked briefly for Liberty Records after leaving Mercury in 1962. He later formed his own company, the Clyde Otis Music Group, and started a career as an independent producer.

Born in Prentice, Miss., in 1924, he became involved with music after meeting songwriter Bobby Troup in the Marine Corps during World War II.

Otis’ first big hit was Nat King Cole’s recording of his “That’s All There Is to That,” which became a Billboard Top 20 hit in 1956.