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TUNESMITHS
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Stern, the son of a well to do New York Tie manufacturer, attended New York City public schools. After graduation, he worked as a tie salesman. With no musical training, he "played the piano with one hand, and faked the other hand." (his own quote.) His very first song was the start of a music publishing and composing career, with his friend, Edward B. Marks. Marks, a traveling button salesman, had a knack of writing lyrics. One day, he read a newspaper story about little lost girl who was found by a policeman that turned out to be her long-lost father. Marks wrote some verses for a ballad, and then asked his friend, Stern, the traveling tie salesman, to write the music. They called the song "The Little Lost Girl". When no publisher accepted the song, they set up their own publishing firm, Joseph Stern & Co., on 14th Street, in New York. In 1894, they published the song. Della Fox, a musical actress, introduced the song on the stage. Later, an electrician devised a method of flashing slides onto a stage screen, and with the help of William Fox, who had a slide exchange on 14th Street, the slides were used with the words of the ballad flashed beneath the various slides, the first such use of slides. Several million copies of the sheet music for "The Little Lost Child" were sold. Thus was the songwriting reputation of 'Stern and Marks' built. Following this hit, the team wrote a couple of more songs, not successfully.
Then, lightning struck again, with another huge hit, "My Mother Was a Lady". Stern and Marks were having supper in a 14th Street restaurant, when they observed a customer berating the waitress, who burst into tears exclaiming "My Mother was a lady." She also assured the patron that he would not have dared to insult her, if her brother Jack had been present. That was more than sufficient material for Ed Mark's vivid imagination. That day, he set down the verses for a new ballad, but with a little twist to the tale. The patron turned out to be Jack's true lifelong friend, who suffering great remorse, offers to marry the waitress. Published in 1895, "My Mother Was A Lady" was sung by Meyer Cohen in the Tony Pastor Music Hall on 14th Street. Later, Lottie Gilson sang the song on the vaudeville circuits. Once again, millions of copies of the sheet music was sold, with 'my mother was a lady' becoming a popular slang expression of the day. The vaudevillian, Lottie Gilson, helped to popularize other Stern and Marks tunes, among which were:
After 1900, Stern wrote very little, devoting his full time to publishing. In 1920, he went into retirement. He died at his home in Brightwater, Long Island, NY, USA in 1934, at age 64.
Mason, who was also the director of The Upturned Glass, had personally chosen Stevens and the two got along famously. But his next endeavor, The Mark of Cain was a rather unhappy experience due to his being at odds with that film's director. In the film score, Stevens used the fairly well known "Songs of the Auvergne". (Earlier, William Walton had also used the "Songs of the Auvergne" in his score for the English film 'Henry V'.) His score for Once a Jolly Swagman was his final work for the film studios. His two symphonies, the violin and cello concertos on the Meridian Label, his string quartets on the Unicorn label, and his Marco Polo CD release of the Piano Concerto are excellent examples of his musical abilities. His widow was active in reviving interest in his music.
During the 1940s and '50s, he contributed some music to the Hollywood studios. Among the films on which he worked, were:
Stillman collaborated with several well known composers, including Arthur Schwartz, George Gershwin, Ernesto Lecuona, Robert Allen, Fred Ahlert, Percy Faith, and Paul McGrane. McGrane is perhaps best recalled as the co-composer "Juke Box Saturday Night" as shown above, but as "Paul McGrane And His Bearcats", he led the Pit orchestra for the original Broadway show "The Boy Friend". In additon to the show music background, they also had a spot with "Carnival Tango". Most active in the 1940's and '50's, among this lyricist's best remembered songs are:
Among his films are:
Among his many film credits are:
In the early 1950s, their music changed from R&B to rock, best exemplified with their song "Hound Dog". In 1953, the tune was originally released by Big Mama Thornton, but three years later, when covered by Elvis Presley, it became something altogether different. In 1953, during the pre-rock stage of their career, they had formed their first label, 'Spark Records', later purchased by 'Atlantic Records, who had hired Leiber and Stoller as independent producers.At Atlantic they re-vitalized the careers of 'The Drifters' and continued to turn out hits for 'The Coasters'. Among the hits they penned at this time included "Smokey Joe's Cafe," "Riot in Cell Block #9," "Charlie Brown," "Stand By Me," "Save the Last Dance for Me," and "On Broadway" (for 'the Drifters'), among many others (for 'The Coasters' alone. they wrote 24 songs, all of which appeared on the national charts). Still other of their hits during this era included, "Love Potion No. 9" (for 'The Clovers'), "Kansas City" (Wilbert Harrison), "Ruby Baby" (for Dion) and "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King). Virtually every hit recorded by 'The Coasters' vocal group was composed by Liebler and Stoller, including "Searchin'", "Young Blood", "Charlie Brown", "Yakety Yak", and "Poison Ivy". Elvis Presley recorded over 20 of their songs including "Jailhouse Rock", "Treat Me Nice", and "'You're So Square Baby I Don't Care"). In the late 1950s and early '60s, the team returned to New York, and opened shop in the famed 'Brill Building', that city's "Tin Pan Alley". In addition to songwriting, they also became producers taking the young producer Phil Spector under their wing. Now in 1964, Leiber and Stoller founded, and briefly owned, Red Bird Records, which issued 'The Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" and 'The Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love." (Jeff Barry and his wife Elie Greenwich were two of the writers hired by Leiber and Stoller, for the Red Bird label.) After selling 'Red Bird' Leiber and Stoller again worked as independent producers and continued to write songs. Their best known song from this period is "Is That All There Is?," recorded by Peggy Lee in 1969. They won Grammy awards for "Is That All There Is?" and for the cast album of the 1995 Broadway musical 'Smokey Joe's Cafe', based on their work. Today (2005) they remain two of the truly distinctive, and defining creators of mid-20th century Pop music.
Among his many film credits are:
Today. he is best remembered as a composer of Cartoon Music (winning several Emmy's for his work). Stone became the modern-day successor of legendary composer Carl Stalling, who, from the late 1930s to the 1950s had written hundreds of wacky musical scores for such Warner Bros. classics as "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies". Stone even composed on the same studio Steinway piano and conducted on the same stage that Stalling used. He revived the Stalling tradition of a full orchestra, with music synchronized to the characters' movements; while employing musical effects to convey the Warner Bros. brand of cartoon humor, --witty without being cute. He once told the Daily Variety "I always try to keep the Stalling language going. If something falls without a piano glissando, it doesn't fall. We still use the xylophone for an eye blink and we still play 'The Lady in Red' when a character wears a red dress. We do this to honor Carl Stalling, but also to keep conversant with the Warner Bros. tradition." Even so, Stone's cartoon music did incorporate other styles, including rock 'n' roll, Jazz, country and show tunes, and, along the way, won won seven Emmys, while composing for over 20 films. He also composed the themes for "Road Rovers", "Pinky and the Brain", "The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries", and "Taz-Mania". He was only 47 years old when he died of Pancreatic Cancer.
Perhaps, his most famous songs are 1928's "I Wanna Be Loved by You," and 1931's "Cuban Love Song." In 1947, after recovering from severe cardiac arrest, he composed "heart Attack: A Symphonic Poem". Two years later, he died of cancer. Among his films are:
Among the individual songs that the couple composed are: "Dinny Danny; The Irish Yacki Hula", Words & Music: Alma Sanders & Monte Carlo "Silver Sands Of Love; Naughty Hawaii", Words: Jack Jellen & Alma Sanders. Music: Monte Carlo & Louis Breau "That Tumble-Down Shack in Athlone", Alma Sanders and Monte Carlo, music; Richard W. Pascoe, lyrics. "Every Tear Is a Smile in an Irishman's Heart",Alma Sanders and Monte Carlo with Daniel Sullivan Publ'd: Harry Von Tilzer Music Pub. Co. - 1919 "Ten Baby Fingers" - Alma Sanders & Monte Carlo with Harry Edelheit. Publ'd: AJ Stasny Music Co. - 1920 "Falling Rose Leaves", - Alma Sanders and Monte Carlo "My Love Of Long Ago", music and lyrics by Alma Sanders and Monte Carlo "Little Town in the Old County Down", by Richard W. Pascoe, and Monte Carlo/Alma Sanders. One of Frank McCormick's hits. 1921 "Elsie". Carlo and Sanders (w & m Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders). Jerome H. Remick & Co., New York: 1923. From show: Elsie. "Red River". Carlo & Sanders (w & m Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders). Harms Inc., 8294-4. New York: 1928. From show:the House-boat on the Styx "Till End Of Time". Carlo & Sanders (w & m Monte Carlo and Alma Sanders). Jerome H. Remick & Co.,. New York: 1924. From show:The Chiffon Girl
In 1927, he earned a Fellowship from New York city's prestigious Julliard School of Music, and then found work as a pianist with the Chicago Opera Company. In 1930, he joined CBS Radio as conductor/arranger. In 1939, re-located to Hollywood, where he worked as composer/conductor for actor Edward G. Robinson's radio program 'Big Town'. In 1942, working for RKO, he scored his first film "Syncopation". Part of that score later became known as "American Rhapsody", and for a while was a popular concert piece. During WWII, Stevens, worked as a civilian employee of the U. S. Office, serving as radio director for SOPAC (SOuth PACific) area command. When the war ended, Stevens returned to the Hollywood studios and was a prolific composer of Film and TV scores (over 100 scores). He was one of the founders of the 'Composers and Lyricists Guild of America' serving as its president for eight years. During his career, nominated three times for Academy Awards:
Sadly, at age 60, he died of a massive heart attack just minutes after learning his wife, Elizabeth, had died in a traffic accident.
In 1899,he was conducting at Marburg (now called Maribor), followed by positions at Salzburg and Brno. In 1907, he succeeded Artur Bodanzky at the 'Theater an der Wien', where in 1908 he conducted, among other pieces, the first performance of Oscar Straus's "Der Tapfere Soldat" ("The Chocolate Soldier"), In 1910, he left and became a freelance composer and conductor. He was now also beginning to compose operettas and songs. During World War I, Stolz served in the Austrian Army. With the end of the war, he resumed his career, devoting himself mainly to cabaret. In 1925, he moved to Berlin, Germany. Circa 1930, he started to compose music for films, most notably for the first German sound film "Zwei Herzen im Dreivierteltakt" ("Two Hearts in 3/4 Time"). He wrote the now famous title song on the back of a menu while lunching with the show's producer. Interestingly, due to his film work, some of his earlier compositions, such as "Adieu, Mein Kleiner Gardeoffizier" ("Goodbye My Little Soldier" -- from his operetta "Die lustigen Weiber von Wien"), also became known to wider audiences. The rise of Nazi party in Germany led Stolz to return to Vienna, where his title-song for the film 'Ungeküsst Soll Man Nicht Schlafen Gehn' was a hit, Then came the Austrian Anschluss. With the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, and the outbreak of World War II, Robert Stolz fled first to Zürich, and then to Paris, France. He was now nearly sixty years old. After arriving in Paris, his (fourth) wife, left him for a younger French lover. In 1939. the French government interned him as an enemy alien. He had neither money nor identification papers. However, with the help of friends he was released and in 1940 made his way to New York. How that came about is interesting. At the time, a 19 year-old daughter of a French banker, Yvonne Louise Ulrich, was studying in Paris for her law degree. She soon became known as 'Die Einzige' or 'Einze', ("The Only One") because of her financial aid to destitute artists and emigrants. It was not long after a chance encounter with Robert Stolz in a Paris coffee house that she learned Stoltz had been interned, together with 70,000 others, in a soccer stadium. "Einzi" paid several thousand francs as a bribe for Robert Stolz'z freedom. She subsequently nursed him back to health, arranged a Hollywood contract, -and then married him. The marriage lasted for thirty-five years. All told, Stoltz was married 5 times. His first wife was Lilli ? (dates unknown, ending in divorce), next was Franzi Ressel (? - 1923, ending in divorce), then he married Josephine Zernitz (1923 - 1924, ending in divorce when she married a younger French lover), and then he married Yvonne Louise Ulrich (1946 - June 27, 1975 his demise) In America, Stolz was soon composing music for shows and films, for which he received two Academy Award nominations. In 1941, "Waltzing in the Clouds" was nominated for Best Original Song, and in 1945, his score for 'It Happened Tomorrow' was nominated for Best Dramatic or Comedy Picture Score. In 1946, Stolz returned to Vienna, where he lived for the rest of his life. Stoltz passed away in Berlin, Germany, and then received the honor of a lying-in-state in the foyer of the Vienna State Opera House. He was buried near Johannes Brahms and Johann Strauss II in Vienna's Zentralfriedhof and a statue to him was erected in the Wiener Stadtpark. Among the Operettas that he composed are:
Among the Songs he composed are:
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