Jerry Fuller, the 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 the age of 85. He died at his home in Sherman Oaks on Thursday evening, reportedly surrounded by family and loved ones; the cause was complications from lung cancer.
Fuller, born in Texas, also had a brief career as a recording artist, releasing one solo album and several singles that achieved modest success in the rockabilly pop genre in 1959 and 1961, before achieving much greater success writing and producing for his contemporaries in multiple genres.
Among the hundreds of artists who recorded more than a thousand tracks for him 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.
His full-fledged success as a producer of songs he did not write was particularly notable with the Knickerbockers' British Invasion-era classic “Lies”, which reached No. 1 in the UK, though it only reached No. 20 in the US, and Wilson's “Show and Tell”, which reached the top of the soul chart as well as the pop chart in 1973.
It was his work with Ricky Nelson (later known as “Rick”) that first put Fuller on the music industry map as a full-fledged writer. Nelson recorded around 20 of Fuller's songs in total, many of which were sung on the popular TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as well as making their mark on radio. “Travelin' Man”, which Fuller performed with his close friend Glen Campbell, was written with Sam Cooke in mind but ended up in Nelson's hands and went to number one on the Billboard chart and number two in the UK. Other early 1960s hits for Nelson through Fuller included “Young World” (No. 5), “It's Up to You” (No. 6) and “A Wonder Like You” (No. 11).
Fuller was born on November 19, 1938, in Forth Worth, into a musical family; both his parents, Clarence and Lola, were singers. At the age of eleven, Lola led Jerry and his brother to form a duo, the Fuller Bros., singing a cappella at local events.
His career as a solo artist began when he recorded an original song, “I Found a New Love,” after graduating from high school, for Lin Records in 1958. His highest-charting single was a rockabilly cover of “Tennessee Waltz,” which reached No. 63 on Billboard in 1959; his only album, Teenage Love, did not chart, but has a following to this day.
In 1960, Fuller was touring with the Champs when his friend Glen Campbell encouraged him to come to Los Angeles, where he found work as a demo singer, as well as delivering the song “Travelin' Man” to teenage singer Nelson.
Fuller was drafted into the Army and spent two years in New York at the Seneca Army Depot, where he continued to write songs and entertain the troops. He moved to New York after his service, went to work for Four Star and was visiting a nightclub in Albany when he discovered the Knickerbockers and was approved to sign a contract with them. He soon returned to the West Coast and made his producer debut with the still-memorable single “Liz.”
On his first day in Los Angeles, Fuller was introduced to his future bride, Annette Smirgan, by Glen Campbell. Campbell was a groomsman at the wedding. (Despite their long friendship, Fuller did not produce any recordings for Campbell until 1982.)
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap proved to be his most reliable production client, starting with the group's first single with the help of the Wrecking Crew, “Woman, Woman,” which reached No. 4 on the Hot 100. Puckett and his company moved from “Woman” to “Girl” with their second single, “Young Girl,” which reached No. 1. This hit song was written and produced by Fuller, and went on to be recorded by more than 20 other artists, from the Lettermen to Matthew Morrison, the latter on the “Glee 2” soundtrack. Their third single together, “Lady Willpower,” also written by Fuller alone, reached No. 1 on Cashbox and No. 2 on Billboard. The streak continued as they reached their fourth consecutive Top 10 single—”Over You,” which reached No. 7 in 1968.
Fuller's production success continued with O.C. Smith's “Little Green Apples”, which hit number two on the Hot 100 in 1968, and hit the same number on the R&B chart.
Fuller also worked with Mark Lindsay, who had a solo career apart from Paul Revere and the Raiders, with the song “Arizona” reaching the Top Ten.
In the 1970s, Fuller founded his own companies, Moonchild Productions Inc. and Fullness.
He worked for a record label, working for Columbia, and signing a young Mac Davis. Eventually he began to move more into country. He had a long association with Ray Price, including “That's All She Wrote,” “To Make A Long Story Short” and “Feet,” and had success with Reba McEntire's early hits “I Still Long To Hold You Now and Then” and “That Makes Two Of Us” (a duet with Jackie Ward).
His greatest hit of the 1970s was Al Wilson's “Show And Tell”, which was named Cashbox magazine's 1973 Song of the Year and reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100, as well as reaching the top ten on both the Easy Listening and Soul charts.
Fuller returned to recording as a singer at several points after his success as a songwriter and producer, including an album for MCA in 1979, “It's My Turn Now”. Beginning in the late 1990s, he began recording some of the greatest hits he enjoyed as a writer or producer, with his own interpretations, culminating in the four-volume “From the Vault” album released in 2016–2018.
Fuller is survived by his wife Annette and two children, Adam Lee and Anna Nicole.
