Award-winning Documentary ‘AKA Doc Pomus’ Premiers Sunday, Nov. 10 at RCC Cultural Arts Center

Film features life of Doc Pomus, which Rolling Stone magazine exclaimed helped invent rock ‘n’ roll.

The public is invited to attend the Rockland County premier of the award-winning documentary “AKA Doc Pomus” on Sunday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m. at the RCC Cultural Arts Center, 145 College Road in Suffern.  

The highly-rated 1 hr. 38 min. “AKA Doc Pomus” tells the incredible story of the Jewish born Jerome Solon Felder born in 1925 in Brooklyn, N.Y., he became Doc Pomus in part to shield his middle-class Jewish family from his nocturnal activities as a rhythm and blues shouter. For it was as a singer bound to a wheelchair, standing with the assistance of crutches and braces (Doc contracted polio at age six), that he entered the world of music that was to become his life. The film will be introduced by award-winning documentary maker and the film’s director Peter Miller as part of the 2013 Jewish Cultural Arts Festival presented by Micki and Jim Leasder and Leader & Berkon, LLP. Mr. Miller’s previous films include JEWS AND BASEBALL: AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY; A CLASS APART, for PBS AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, and SACCO AND VANZETTI. Tickets are $10 for seniors and kids and $12 for adults. For more information call 845.362.4400 ext. 100 or visit http://www.jccrockland.org/culturalarts/.

From 1944 to 1955 Doc performed in clubs throughout the New York City area. Leading a band, which included legendary guitarist Mickey Baker and saxophonist King Curtis, Doc recorded for the Savoy, Atlantic, Coral and Chess labels. He wrote alone for many early R&B singers, including Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner and Laverne Baker. He enjoyed his first rhythm and blues top ten hit with "Lonely Avenue" by Ray Charles. Doc, by coincidence, met a talented teenaged fledgling songwriter, Mort Shuman, who was dating Doc’s cousin and who he would refer to many years later as “my favorite and best collaborator.” He took Mort under his wing and eventually the two became full partners despite the 15-year age difference between them. Ultimately, the pair enjoyed a wonderful nine-year association, resulting in a major body of work that, collectively, became a dominant force on the record charts and led to sales of well over one hundred million. Their songs included, "This Magic Moment," "Save The Last Dance For Me," "Teenager in Love," "Can't Get Used To Losing You," "Turn Me Loose," "Hushabye," "I Count The Tears," "Sweets for My Sweet" and "Seven Day Weekend," among many others. For Elvis Presley, they produced a series of major hit songs, including "Little Sister," "Viva Las Vegas," "His Latest Flame," "Surrender," "Suspicion," "A Mess of Blues" and “His Latest Flame,” and "Long, Lonely Highway," to mention a very few.