Elvis Presley image used by permission, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

Songwriter Aaron Schroeder, bass player Jack Cooke and recording artist Big Bill Lister — musical figures who played a role in the careers of Elvis Presley, Ralph Stanley and Hank Williams — each died in the last week, leaving cultural contributions they accomplished while working in the shadows of some very significant artists.

Their biggest moments spanned from the early 1950s to the current decade, with pop hits, Grammy-winning recordings and a much-loved novelty hit on their resumes.

Here’s what they left us:

• Aaron earned his biggest recognition as a co-writer of “It’s Now Or Never,” one of the best-selling pop hits in the career of Elvis Presley, who joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998. The song became a pop and country hit in 1981after “Dukes Of Hazzard” star John Schneider re-recorded it. Aaron died Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, leaving even more hits beyond “It’s Now Or Never.” He authored Elvis’ “Stuck On You,” “Good Luck Charm” and “A Big Hunk O’ Love.” And he collected a number of country hits, writing Billy “Crash” Craddock’s “I’m Gonna Knock On Your Door,” Webb Pierce’s “Those Wonderful Years” and Johnny Duncan’s “She Can Put Her Shoes Under My Bed (Anytime).”
• Jack Cooke died Tuesday in a Norton, Va., hospital after collapsing at home. A former member of the Stanley Brothers’ band and Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, he joined Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys in 1970 and remained with the bluegrass ensemble until earlier this year. He played on the Grammy-winning 2002 release Lost In The Lonesome Pines, which teamed Ralph and the Clinch Mountain Boys with Jim Lauderdale.
• Services for Big Bill Lister will be held Saturday in Boerne, Texas, following his death Tuesday. Standing more than 6 feet, 7 inches — thus the “Big” nickname — Bill toured with Hank Williams, who gave him a demo to a song Bill went on to record. Hank’s demo stayed in storage at Bill’s house for years, but when he ran across it, he decided to give it to Hank Williams Jr. Bocephus added his voice and new instrumental tracks to his father’s performance of “There’s A Tear In My Beer,” and the technologically enhanced duet went on to win two awards apiece from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. He never had a bona fide hit on his own, but Bill definitely played a role in a huge one.