Sonny Curtis, a member of Buddy Holly's cricket, died at age 88 – National

Sony Curtis, a writer of Vintage Rock' Roller who wrote raw classics, fought against law and passed away at the age of 88 as the author crooner for the theme song for Mary Tyler Mooreshaw, who fought the law and “Who can put on the world with her smile?”

Curtis, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Cricket, passed away on Friday. His daughter, Sarah Curtis, wrote on his Facebook page that he suddenly fell ill.

Curtis wrote and co-written hundreds of songs from Keith Whitley's Country Smash. I'm not a stranger to the rain. Bing Crosby, Glen Campbell, Bruce Springsteen and The Grateful Dead were among the other artists who covered his work.

Early with Buddy Holly

Born in Great Repression on a cotton farmer outside Meadow, Texas, Curtis was Buddy Holly's childhood friend and active musician during the rock formative years, even when he packed Holly and guitars in the mid-1950s and opened Elvis Presley. Curtis' songwriting touch also appeared soon. Before he turned 20, he was writing hits for Webb Pierce one day.

Curtis had left Holly's group, Cricket, before Holly became a major star. However, he returned in 1959 after Holly died in a plane crash. He was featured in the style of the album alongside Cricket the following year.

Meanwhile, until 1966, I fought against the law, so I fought “I fought against the law – and the law won.” Over the next decades, it was covered by dozens of artists, ranging from punk (collision) to country (Johnny Cash, Nancy Griffiths), Springsteen, Tom Petty and other mainstream rock stars.

“That's my most important copyright,” Curtis told Tennessee in 2014.

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Mary Tyler Moore Show

Curtis' other signature songs were as high as I fought. In 1970, he was writing commercial jingles when he came up with the theme for a new CBS sitcom starring Moore as a single woman hired as a television producer in Minneapolis. He called the song “Love is everything,” and used smooth melody to provide lyrics that will ultimately be as memorable as TV history.

“Who can turn on the world with her smile? /Who can spend the day and suddenly make it all look worthwhile?

The durability of the song was sealed by the images heard, especially the victory toss of Moore's hat. In honor of it, other artists began recording it, including Sammy Davis Jr., Joan Jett, Blackhearts and Minnesota's Husker Du. The commercial release featuring Curtis was announced in 1980 and peaked at No. 29 on Billboard's country charts, with a modest success.

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Curtis will remember being commissioned by his friend Doug Gilmore, a road manager in the music industry whom the comedy developer heard was looking for an opening song.

“Of course I said yes, and later that morning, he dropped the four-page format – you immediately said, “A girl from the Midwest, a trip to Minneapolis, a job in the newsroom, a her apartment, etc.” It gave me a taste of what it was.”

“James L. Brooks came into this huge empty room, except for the cell phone lying on the floor. At first I thought he was pretty cold and far away. “So I played songs with just me and my guitar, then he started calling people, the room was full, and then he sent me a tape recorder.”

Curtis eventually writes two versions. It was first used in season 1, second and well known for the remaining six seasons. The original words were more tentative, open with “How do you make it yourself?” And it ends with “You might make it in the end.” By season 2, the show was a hit and the lyrics were reworked. The producer wanted Andy Williams to sing the theme song, but he refused, and Curtis' Easy Baritone was heard instead.

Later life

Curtis made a handful of solo albums, including Sonny Curtis and Spectrum, and hit the country top 20 with the 1981 single Good Or Girls. In later years he continued to play with Allison and other members of Cricket. The band released several albums. One of Curtis' more notable songs is his responsibilities to The Buddy Holly Story, a 1978 biography starring Gary Bussy.

Curtis settled in Nashville in the mid-1970s and lived there with his wife Louise. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991 and was introduced in the Nashville Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007 as part of Cricket.

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