Clyde Otis, a songwriter and record producer who was one of the first black executives at a major record company, died on Jan. 8 in Englewood, N.J. He was 83. His death was announced by his son Isidro.Born in rural Mississippi in 1924, Mr. Otis did not become seriously involved in music until he met the songwriter Bobby Troup, best known for “Route 66,” when both men served in the Marines during World War II. Inspired by Mr. Troup, he began writing songs when he moved to New York after his discharge, with limited success. After several years of struggle, he finally hit the charts in 1956 when Nat King Cole’s recording of his song “That’s All There Is to That” reached the Billboard Top 20.
In 1958 Mr. Otis joined Mercury Records as director of artists and repertory, an unusually high-profile position for an African-American in the mainstream music business at the time.
At Mercury, where he produced records and was responsible for signing acts, he forged an enduring partnership with the singer Brook Benton. He produced more than a dozen hits for Benton, also writing or collaborating on most of them, beginning with “It’s Just a Matter of Time,” which he and Benton wrote together. He also produced and helped write Benton’s two Top 10 duets with Dinah Washington, “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” and “A Rockin’ Good Way (to Mess Around and Fall in Love),” both released in 1960. His many other Mercury hits included Washington’s “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” and Sarah Vaughan’s “Broken-Hearted Melody.”
After leaving Mercury in 1962 Mr. Otis worked briefly for Liberty Records before forming his own music publishing company, the Clyde Otis Music Group, and establishing himself as an independent producer. He spent some time in Nashville, where he shifted his focus to country music, producing sessions by Charlie Rich and others, before returning to the New York area and settling in Englewood.
Mr. Otis is credited as the writer or co-writer of almost 800 songs, according to Broadcast Music Inc., the music licensing organization. Among the countless artists who have recorded his compositions are Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis and Natalie Cole, whose recording of his “Take a Look” won a Grammy Award for best jazz vocal performance in 1994.
In addition to his son Isidro, of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., Mr. Otis is survived by his wife, Lourdes; another son, Clyde Otis III of Maplewood, N.J.; a daughter, AnaIza Otis of Bloomfield, N.J.; and five grandchildren.
