Sonny Curtis, a veteran songwriter and performer who wrote the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the rock staple I Fought the Law, died Friday at age 88, his wife Louise Curtis confirmed to The Associated Press.
Curtis, a member of the Crickets who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, was born in Meadow, Texas, during the Great Depression and grew into a central figure in the early years of rock. A childhood friend of Buddy Holly, he jammed with Holly in the mid-1950s and opened for Elvis Presley when Presley was a regional act. By age 20 he had written or co-written hits such as Someday for Webb Pierce and Rock Around With Ollie Vee for Holly, before briefly leaving the Crickets and rejoining after Holly's death in 1959.
I Fought the Law, dashed off in a single afternoon, later became a signature track for Curtis's circle and a widely covered standard. It appeared on the Crickets' 1960 album In Style with the Crickets and gained renewed life in 1966 when Bobby Fuller Four released a Top 10 version. Over the decades the song was covered by a wide range of artists, including the Clash, Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith and Bruce Springsteen, underscoring Curtis's reputation as a songwriter with a durable hook and a knack for capturing defiant energy. It is my most important copyright, Curtis told The Tennessean in 2014.
Curtis's other enduring contribution came in 1970 when he wrote Love Is All Around for a CBS sitcom about a single woman who moves to Minneapolis to work as a TV producer. He crafted a smooth, versatile melody that allowed the lyrics to become one of television's most recognizable anthems: Who can turn the world on with her smile? The song's life extended far beyond that initial run as it was recorded by artists such as Sammy Davis Jr., Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Hüsker Dü. A commercial release featuring Curtis appeared in 1980, peaking at No. 29 on Billboard's country chart.
The process of turning the show's opening into a lasting staple involved collaboration with James L. Brooks and other creators. Curtis described walking into an empty room with a lone telephone and playing the tune on his guitar; Brooks soon filled the room with producers and a tape recorder, and two versions of the theme emerged—the original for Season 1 and a subsequent, more widely used version for the show's remaining seasons. Brooks initially favored Andy Williams as the singer, but Williams declined and Curtis's easygoing baritone became the soundtrack to the beloved closing image of Moore tossing her hat as the opening words declare, You're going to make it after all.
Curtis remained active in music for decades, releasing solo records and continuing to work with the Crickets. He charted a country hit with Good Ol' Girls in 1981 and later contributed to projects such as The Crickets and Their Buddies, which featured guests like Eric Clapton, Graham Nash and Phil Everly. He settled in Nashville in the mid-1970s, where he lived with his wife, Louise, and continued to write and perform.
His honors reflected a wide spectrum of his career. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1991, and, as a Crickets member, inducted into Nashville's Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. In 2012 he and the Crickets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, described at the time as a blueprint for rock and roll bands that inspired countless garage groups around the world. Curtis also wrote The Real Buddy Holly Story, a response to the 1978 film about Holly.
Associated Press journalist Mallika Sen contributed reporting.