Singer-songwriter Dallas Frazier, who penned hits like “Elvira” and “Alley Oop,” died on Jan. 14 from complications of a stroke he suffered late last year. He was 82.
“For over five decades, songs written by Dallas Frazier have affected The Oak Ridge Boys' career like no other writer’s,” read a statement from Duane Allen of The Oak Ridge Boys. “‘The Baptism Of Jesse Taylor’ won a Grammy Award for us when we were a Gospel group in the mid-‘70s. Then, in 1981, “Elvira” became the biggest song in the music industry, winning all of the awards and selling over two and a half million 45 rpm singles.”
Frazier’s “Alley Oop” was a hit for The Hollywood Argyles in 1960 and his song “There Goes My Everything,” recorded by Jack Greene in 1966, earned him the first of three Grammy nominations.
The title track from Frazier’s 1966 debut album was a Top 40 hit in Canada – but it was smash for the Oak Ridge Boys in 1981. He focused on writing songs for other artists, including George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tanya Tucker and Canada’s Anne Murray.
Frazier penned “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me),” which was a hit for Charley Pride, and “Beneath Still Waters,” which was a success for Emmylou Harris.
He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976.
Frazier left the music business in 1988 to become a minister in Tennessee.