Jerry Ragavoy who wrote Janis Joplin‘s signature hit “Piece of My Heart” as well as “Cry Baby” and “Time Is On My Side,” died Wednesday from complications of a stroke. He was 80.
Known as a friendly man who always had a story to tell, Ragavoy was a key player in the New York music business for several decades starting in the early 1960s. His songs were recorded by Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, the Dave Clark Five, Barry White, B.B. King, the Yardbirds, Bette Midler, Faith Hill and dozens of others.
Besides songwriting, he founded and ran the famed Hit Factory studio.
Born in 1930, he got his start as a record buyer for an appliance store in Philadelphia, and at 23 produced his first record, the ethereal “My Girl Awaits Me” by the Castelles. It has become one of the classic seminal recordings of rhythm and blues vocal groups.
He later moved to the Chancellor label, producing records by teen stars like Frankie Avalon. But he tired of that and moved to New York, where he returned to his preferred rhythm and blues.
“Cry Baby,” an intense gospel-drenched song Ragavoy co-wrote with Bert Berns, was recorded by Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters and reached the top five.
“Time is On My Side,” written for jazz trombonist Kai Winding and later recorded by Irma Thomas, was then picked up by the Rolling Stones and became their first U.S. top 10 hit.
“Piece of My Heart” was recorded by Erma Franklin before Joplin heard it and turned it into her biggest hit.
Ragavoy later produced Bonnie Raitt and other artists, winning a Grammy in 1973 for producing the cast album “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope.”
He eased off on his work, however, only taking a few projects in later years. He produced the acclaimed 2003 comeback album by Howard Tate, with whom he had worked extensively in the 1960s.
He is survived by his wife, Beverly, and twin daughters.
