R.I.P.: Jerry Fuller, Iconic Songwriter-Producer

Jerry Fuller, a songwriter and producer whose No. 1 hits included Ricky Nelson’s “Travelin’ Man,” Gary Puckett & the Union Gap’s “Young Girl,” Al Wilson’s “Show and Tell” and the Knickerbockers’ U.K. chart-topper “Lies,” has died at 85.

Variety reports he died at home in Sherman Oaks Thursday night, where he was said to have been surrounded by family and loved ones; the cause was complications from lung cancer.

The Texas-born Fuller also had a short career as a recording artist himself, releasing a lone solo album and several modestly charting singles in a pop-rockabilly vein in 1959-61, before he found far greater success writing and producing for his contemporaries in multiple genres.

Among the hundreds of artists who recorded his 1,000-plus compositions were Reba McEntire, Gene Vincent, Cher, Glen Campbell, Ray Price, Don McLean, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Barbara Mandrell, Percy Sledge, Eddy Arnold, Marty Robbins, Vanessa Williams, Lee Greenwood, Steve Wariner, Lynn Anderson, the Kingston Trio, Pat Boone, Hank Snow, Billy J. Kramer and Lou Rawls. Additional production clients included Johnny Mathis, Roger Miller, Peabo Bryson and Collin Raye.

Fuller success as a producer on songs he didn’t write was especially notable with the Knickerbockers’ Beatles-style classic “Lies,” which went to No. 1 in the U.K., although it only made it to No. 20 hit in the U.S., and Wilson’s “Show and Tell,” which went to the top of the soul as well as pop chart in 1973.

It was his work with Ricky Nelson that first put Fuller on the music industry map as a writer in a big way. Nelson recorded about 20 of Fuller’s songs altogether, many of which were sung on the hit TV show “The Adventures of Ozzy and Harriet” as well as making their mark on radio.