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Pete Wendling (June 6, 1888 – April 7, 1974) was an American composer and pianist, born in New York City to German immigrants. [1] He often collaborated with fellow QRS pianist and composer, Max Kortlander.
He started his working life as a carpenter, but gained fame during the mid-1910s as a popular music composer, with his name appearing on the "Soup and Fish Rag" in 1913. [2] He worked on such hits as "Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula" (recorded by Al Jolson), "Take Me To The Land Of Jazz", "Take Your Girlie To The Movies", "Felix The Cat", and "Oh What A Pal Is Mary". [1]
Wendling was also one of the top pianists of his era, and set a long-standing record when he appeared at the London Hippodrome for eight consecutive weeks. He joined the Rhythmodik Music Roll Company in 1914, and started to record his performances on paper rolls for player pianos. In 1916 he recorded for American Piano Company (Ampico). In 1918, he joined the largest piano roll company, QRS, and rapidly became one of their most popular artists, his distinctive yet always fresh performances constantly topping their best-selling lists. [1]
He recorded two sides for Okeh Records in 1923, and in 1926, cut another four for Cameo. [2] In 1927, QRS, tightening their belt due to declining sales, released Wendling, and he concentrated on his composing career until his retirement in the 1950s. In 1955, he co-wrote "I Wonder", which became a UK chart hit for both Jane Froman and Dickie Valentine. Wendling's last notable work was "Rich in Love" in 1956. [2] [3]
Married to Anna, he had no children. A resident of Manhattan, he died in New York City in April 1974, aged 85 after several strokes. [1] [2]
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the most famous being "Tiger Rag". In late 1917, the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
Clarence Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1921.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1919.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1918.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1916.
Joseph Russel Robinson was an American ragtime, dixieland, and blues pianist and composer. He was a member of the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
Charles Luckyth Roberts, better known as Luckey Roberts, was an American composer and stride pianist who worked in the jazz, ragtime, and blues styles. Roberts performed as musician, band/orchestra conductor, and dancer. He taught music and dance. He also owned a restaurant and bar in New York City and in Washington, D.C. Luckey Roberts noted compositions include "Junk Man Rag", "Moonlight Cocktail", "Pork and Beans" (1913), and "Railroad Blues".
A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. Piano rolls, like other music rolls, are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched into them. These perforations represent note control data. The roll moves over a reading system known as a tracker bar; the playing cycle for each musical note is triggered when a perforation crosses the bar.
Milton Ager was an American composer, regarded as one of the top songwriters of the 1920s and 1930s. His most lasting compositions include "Ain't She Sweet” and “Happy Days Are Here Again”.
"Pretty Baby" is a song written by Tony Jackson during the Ragtime era. The song was remembered as being prominent in Jackson's repertory before he left New Orleans in 1912, but was not published until 1916.
"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popular Vaudeville song. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from Fantaisie-Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy, and the song was published in 1917. It was introduced in the Broadway show Oh, Look! which opened in March 1918. The song was sung in the show by the Dolly Sisters. Judy Garland sang it in the 1941 film Ziegfeld Girl. It was subsequently sung by Jack Oakie in the 1944 film The Merry Monahans and was again featured in the 1945 film The Dolly Sisters (1945), where it was sung by John Payne. It was also included for part of the run of the 1973 revival of Irene. Additionally, the pre-chorus would not have been included until later covers in the 1940s, where the song would gain its iconic libretti.
Robinson Crusoe, Jr. is a musical with a book by Edgar Smith, lyrics by Harold Atteridge, and music by Sigmund Romberg and James Hanley.
Leland Stanford Roberts (1884–1949), commonly known as Lee S. Roberts, was an American composer and pianist.
Edward Ray Goetz was an American composer, lyricist, playwright, theatre director, and theatrical producer. A Tin Pan Alley songwriter, he published more than 500 songs during his career, many of them originally written for the New York stage. His songs were recorded by several artists, including Judy Garland, Al Jolson, and Blossom Seeley. He was active as both a lyricist and composer for Broadway musicals from 1906 through to 1930, collaborating with artists like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Sigmund Romberg, and A. Baldwin Sloane to create material for the theatre.
Lewis F. Muir, born Louis Meuer was an American composer and ragtime pianist.
Abe Olman, born Abraham Olshewitz, was an American songwriter and music publisher. He composed a number of successful ragtime and popular songs including "Red Onion Rag" (1912), "Down Among the Sheltering Palms" (1915), "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!" (1917), and "Down By the O-Hi-O" (1920). He was later director of ASCAP, and a founder of the Songwriters Hall of Fame which, in 1983, named the annual Abe Olman Publisher Award in his honor.
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz is a six-LP box set released in 1973 by the Smithsonian Institution. Compiled by jazz critic, scholar, and historian Martin Williams, the album included tracks from over a dozen record labels spanning several decades and genres of American jazz, from ragtime and big band to post-bop and free jazz.
Carey Elmore Morgan Jr. (1884–1960) was an American composer and Vaudeville producer during the 1900s. Throughout his career, he collaborated with various songwriters and performers including, L. Wolfe Gilbert, Charles McCarron, and Arthur Monday Swanstrom.
Maximilian Joseph Kortlander was an American composer, arranger, and pianist. He is best known for his numerous piano rolls which he performed for QRS Music Technologies, Inc. He often collaborated with fellow QRS pianist and composer, Pete Wendling. A song they wrote together in 1922, 'Whenever You're Lonesome ' has become a jazz standard.