Called "the mad professor" by Elvis, Ben Weisman dies at age 85

Ben Weisman was a song writer for famous names such as Elvis, Barbra Streisand, the Beatles, Bobby Vee, and Nat King Cole to name a few. He passed away May 20, 2007 from a stroke in Los Angeles at a long-term care facility he was in for his Alzheimer's.

Ben Weisman born November 16, 1921- May 20, 2007 was actually a classically trained pianist trained at the Juilliard School of Music. When he first started he wrote hit songs such as Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie for Guy Mitchell, Let's Walk That-a-Way a duet for Doris Day and Johnnie Ray. He followed this by writing songs for Frankie Laine and Nate King Cole. He became even more well known for his song writing abilities as he wrote and co-wrote songs for Elvis that included such songs as: Wooden Heart Rock-a-Hula Baby Crawfish First in Line Follow That Dream and the list goes on to be nearly 60 songs that went on to become gold or platinum hits for Elvis. Later he wrote songs such as Love in the Afternoon sang by Barbra Streisand and Lend Me Your Comb sang by the Beatles and a long host of other famous performers. May he be at peace knowing he left such a beautiful legacy behind. A more complete list of the songs he wrote or co-wrote for Elvis can be found here Other links used for sources include: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Obit-Ben-Weisman.php http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2086539,00.html