They told Elvis not to sing "In the Ghetto."

"It's too political." 

"You're a white guy singing about a black kid." 

Etc. Etc. 

They were wrong.

Who wrote it? Mac Davis, who is Part Two of Off-Ramp's Summer Songwriter Series, as we sample the 2010 inauguration of the Grammy Museum's Songwriter Hall of Fame.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Lamont Dozier, the middle of the celebrated Holland-Dozier-Holland team that wrote and produced “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Heat Wave,” and dozens of other hits and helped make Motown an essential record company of the 1960s and beyond, died Monday at age 81.

Duke Fakir, a close friend and the last surviving member of the original Four Tops, said, “I like to call Holland-Dozier-Holland ‘tailors of music.' They could take any artist, call them into their office, talk to them, listen to them, and write them a Top Ten song.”

From 1963-1967, Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland crafted more than 25 Top Ten songs and mastered the blend of pop and rhythm and blues that allowed the Detroit label, and founder Berry Gordy, to defy boundaries between Black and white music and rival the Beatles on the airwaves.

For Off-Ramp, we're listening back to his appearance at the kickoff of the Songwriters Hall of Fame at the Grammy Museum at LA Live in 2010. Songwriter Paul Williams was the emcee for the event. 

And I have lots more tape from that event, featuring Williams, Ashford and Simpson, Mac Davis, and Hal David. We'll listen to that in coming weeks. 

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Karaoke meet your maker: We visit the Classic Rock Singalong, where everyone gets to belt out songs while a live band backs them up.

He's a New KPCC Member; Dinner Party Download: Where Anatomy meets Astronomy; Date Shake Quest: Part 1; Gary Owens Tells All; Date Shake Quest: Part 2; Caspian Rain; Date Shake Quest: Part 3; She Drew the Line; Racy Dates?; A Music Odyssey; Gary Owens' Secret Power

Why Contribute to KPCC?; He's Alive; The Ashes of Oakridge; Hard Times Hit Home; Skunk Be Gone; Food Banks in Need; Food for All; They Produce

The Eyes of the City; Tomato Tips; Thanks for the Monsters; Festival of Whales; Forrest's Friends; Mr. Indie, Michel Gondry; Mahavishnu John McLaughlin; Bamboodles; Hard Times Hit the Port; Hop on the Soul Food Express

Tomato Time; QUAKE CITY: A Sensitive Subject; Trailer Tales; The Miracle Cleaner; QUAKE CITY: Prediction Impossible; Porn Again?; Take a Pilgrimage in L.A.; QUAKE CITY: Native Mythology; Pierogi Paradise; Special Agent Man; Storycorps: Friends, Lovers, Parents; Jerry Stahl on Love Without; The Ashes of Oakridge

Dinner is Served!; The Ashes of Oakridge; Sushi Zen; Sushi 101; I Eat Ramen, Here Me Roar!; Would You Eat Granny?; Urban Survivalist; El Pollo Chino; Seven Spicy Seas; No Frills B.B.Q.; Umami=Yummy; The Best Milkshake in Riverside; Too Fresh Fish; Sushi Delicacies; Your Own Sushi Chef

Ashes of Oakridge; We've Been Recognized

StoryCorps: In Sickness and Health; Cherryholmes: Live in-Studio; Next Week: The Ashes of Oakridge; The Man Behind StoryCorps; Sparks Will Fly; Sparks Will Fly; Happy Birthday, Lincoln Imposter!; Snowdays in SoCal; Harold and Belle's Authentic Creole; For Every Lover, a Schlepometer; Bluesman John Bigham; Animation Nation