Thomas Durden, "Heartbreak Hotel" songwriter, 79

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

BAY CITY, Mich. (AP) -- Thomas Durden, who wrote the lyrics to Elvis
Presley's hit "Heartbreak Hotel,'' died Sunday at his home in Houghton Lake,
Mich. He was 79.

Durden co-wrote "Heartbreak Hotel'' with Mae Boren Axton of Nashville,
Tenn., and for reasons never explained, Presley also was given writing
credit.

In 1956, Durden was performing with a band in Jacksonville, Fla., when he
came across a newspaper account of a man who had committed suicide. The man
left a note that said, ``I walk a lonely street,'' and Durden said he used
that as the basis for "Heartbreak Hotel.''

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