American traditional pop singer and songwriter Carl Edward Dobkins Jr. was born on 13 January 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Coming from a musical family, he picked up the ukulele and guitar as a child. He set his sights on songwriting in his teens and began performing at local events with his backup group, The Seniors. His early compositions and demo recordings caught the attention of Gil Sheppard, a local radio disc jockey, leading to a recording contract with Fraternity Records. Their first single, "Take Hold Of My Hand" / "That's Why I'm Asking", was released in 1958. He then recorded sessions for Decca Records, including his breakthrough hit "My Heart Is an Open Book", which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and amassed over one million copies, earning a gold disc. He had two other notable entries on the Hot 100: "Lucky Devil" (number 25, 1959) and "Exclusively Yours" (number 62, 1960). He performed frequently at Ohio's historic Castle Farms and on television shows like the Bob Braun Show and Dick Clark's American Bandstand. He toured with artists such as Bobby Vee, Frankie Avalon, and Jan & Dean. Throughout his career, he released several albums, including Carl Dobkins Jr., My Heart Is An Open Book, and Surf City, and was inducted into the Cincinnati Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He died on 8 April 2020, at the age of 79.
