Singer-songwriter born in Winthrop, Massachusetts and from a young age he and his brother Richard were part of the traveling trapeze act “The Flying Addrisis” with their parents, singing and performing all over the United States.
In 1957 they settled in Los Angeles where he and his brother, known as “The Addrisi Brothers” were signed by Bob Keane to Del Phi Records. Here Don wrote his first his hit single for them, “Cherrystone” which reached No.62 on the US chart.
In the early 1960s they were in-house songwriters for the Valiant label and in 1965 Don wrote “Where Does Love Go” which was recorded by Charles Boyer and nominated for a spoken-word Grammy award, although later withdrawn as there had been a small singing part on it. They wrote “Don’t Blame It on Me” which was the B Side of The Association’s hit “Cherish”. They wrote “Never My Love” which has had over 300 versions sung of it, with hits coming from Fifth Dimension, The Association, and Blue Swede and also “I Believe You” which was recorded by Dorothy Moore. From 1972 the brothers recorded several chart singles including “We’ve Got to Get It on Again”, “Slow Dancin’ Don’t Turn Me On” and “Ghost Dancer”. In 1984 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died later that year, aged 46.
The Association recordings
Never My Love (Don & Dick Addrisi)
Here he is with his brother singing “Cherrystone”…
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