Sharon Sheeley is the writer of the song, Poor Little Fool. It became a number one hit for Ricky Nelson. She got her start when she tricked her ex-boyfriend, Ricky Nelson, into recording a song she wrote. Sharon said, "Back then, the rock'n roll business was dominated by men, all men. If I had told Ricky that I had written a song that I wanted him to record, it would not have happened. So I made up a story. I told him that I know this guy that had written a song for Elvis and Elvis had agreed to record it after he returned from Germany." Elvis was doing his military service at the time. " I told Rick that Elvis really loved the song. That did it. He believed he was scooping Elvis."
Poor Little Fool was Ricky Nelson's first number one and the first ever US number one written singlehandedly by a woman. Sharon said, " Oh the shock of it when he found out my friend was me. He would have never even considered it if he know from the get go that a girl, a sixteen year old girl, had written this great song.
This was a story that I read in the book, The life and music of Randy Newman. I love stories of how songwriters get their songs recorded. I don't know if lying about it is the way to go, but it did work out. On the flip side it isn't fair to judge somebody because they are too young or a girl. Interesting story.