Editing Doc Pomus (section)

=== Performing career ===
Using the [[stage name]] Doc Pomus, the teenage Felder began performing as a blues singer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Light |first=Alan |date=March 25, 2007 |title=This Magic Moment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/books/review/Light.t.html?searchResultPosition=3 |work=New York Times}}</ref> His stage name was not inspired by anyone in particular; he just thought it sounded better for a blues singer than Jerry Felder, though it included a “nod” to blues singer [[Doctor Clayton]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 24, 2013 |title=The Life Of Doc Pomus, Songwriter To The Stars |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/10/24/240487765/the-life-of-doc-pomus-songwriter-to-the-stars |website=NPR.org}}</ref> He began going to Jazz clubs before working up the nerve to perform in front of mostly black audiences, doing his version of popular blues songs that were received with great enthusiasm by club patrons.<ref name=":0" /> The 18 year old Pomus debuted at George's Tavern in [[Greenwich Village]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Jerome "Doc" Pomus {{!}} Songwriters Hall of Fame |url=https://www.songhall.org/profile/Jerome_Doc_Pomus |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=www.songhall.org}}</ref> Clubs would invite him to perform, and on one occasion the great saxophonist [[Lester Young]] sat in with him.<ref name=":8" /> 

Pomus stated that more often than not, he was the only Caucasian in the clubs, but that as a Jew with polio, he felt a special underdog kinship with African Americans, while in turn the audiences respected his courage and were impressed by his talent. Pomus performed as a singer for 10-12 years around metropolitan New York (1944-1954), heading a band that included [[Mickey Baker]] and [[King Curtis]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Gigging at clubs in and around New York City, Pomus often performed with [[Milt Jackson]], [[Horace Silver]], [[Buddy Tate]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Till the Night Is Gone: Tribute to Doc Pomus |url=https://www.wantitall.co.za/Till-the-Night-Is-Gone-Tribute-to-Doc-Pomus-ap-B0000033GU.html |website=wantitall.co.za}}</ref>  Baker, and Curtis. Pomus is reported to have recorded more than fifty record sides of music,<ref name=":4" /> though others have reported the number at about forty sides,{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} as a singer in the 1940s and 1950s for [[Chess Records|Chess]],<ref name=":1" /> [[Apollo Records (1944)|Apollo]], [[Dawn Records (American label)|Dawn]], [[Gotham Records|Gotham]], and other recording companies (such as [[Savoy Records|Savoy]], [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]] and [[Coral Records|Coral]]<ref name=":1" />).  

In his early thirties, Pomus’ song “Heartlessly” was being played by disc jockey [[Alan Freed]]. Once the company with rights to the song learned about Pomus’ life and circumstances, they had no interest in promoting his singing career, and he realized he would need another way to make a living.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-10-24 |title=The Life Of Doc Pomus, Songwriter To The Stars |url=https://www.wbur.org/npr/240487765/the-life-of-doc-pomus-songwriter-to-the-stars |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=www.npr.org |language=en}}</ref> He stopped performing live in 1957.<ref name=":8" />