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39-519: Albert Von Tilzer (born Albert Gumm , March 29, 1878 – October 1, 1956) was an American songwriter, the younger brother of fellow songwriter Harry Von Tilzer . He wrote the music to many hit songs, including, most notably, " Take Me Out to the Ball Game ". He was born Albert Gumm, in Indianapolis, Indiana , United States. His parents, Sarah (Tilzer) and Jacob Gumbinsky, were Polish Jewish immigrants. As

78-699: A Long, Long Time ", " (I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time ", "I'm Glad I'm Married", "I'm the Lonesomest Gal in Town", "I Used to Love You But It's All Over Now", "The Moon Has His Eye On You", "My Cutey's Due at Two-to-Two Today", "My Little Girl", " Oh By Jingo! ", "Oh How She Could Yacki-Hacki, Wicki-Wacki, Woo" (interpolated into the show Houp La! , 1916, and recorded by Ida Adams), "Put on Your Slippers and Fill Up Your Pipe, You're Not Going Bye-Bye Tonight", "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey", "Roll Along, Prairie Moon", "Tell Me With Your Eyes", "Wait Till You Get Them Up in

117-776: A few years Albert formed his own firm, The York Publishing Company. By 1913, Albert had closed The York Publishing Company and joined the firm of his brother Will Von Tilzer. Albert Von Tilzer was a top Tin Pan Alley tune writer, producing numerous popular music compositions from 1900 continuing through the early 1950s. He collaborated with many lyricists, including Jack Norworth , Lew Brown, and Harry MacPherson. A number of his tunes were performed (and recorded) by jazz bands and continue to be played decades later. His songs included "The Alcoholic Blues", " Au Revoir But Not Good Bye, Soldier Boy ", "Chili Bean", "Dapper Dan", " Don't Take My Darling Boy Away ", " Honey Boy ", " I May Be Gone for

156-473: A large amount of airtime, it was imperative that the writing be consistent with the war message that the radio was carrying throughout the nation. In her book, God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War , Kathleen E. R. Smith writes that "escapism seemed to be a high priority for music listeners", leading "the composers of Tin Pan Alley [to struggle] to write a war song that would appeal both to civilians and

195-544: A publisher for $ 15, and watched it become a national hit, selling over two million copies of the sheet music. This prompted him to become a professional songwriter. He was made a partner of the Shapiro Bernstein Publishing Company . His 1900 number " A Bird in a Gilded Cage " became one of the biggest hits of the time. Von Tilzer became one of the best-known Tin Pan Alley songwriters. In 1902, Von Tilzer formed his own publishing company, where he

234-474: A specific location on West 28th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan , as commemorated by a plaque on 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth. Several buildings on Tin Pan Alley are protected as New York City designated landmarks , and the section of 28th Street from Fifth to Sixth Avenue is also officially co-named Tin Pan Alley. The start of Tin Pan Alley

273-403: A steady stream of songwriters, vaudeville and Broadway performers, musicians, and " song pluggers " coming and going. Aspiring songwriters came to demonstrate tunes they hoped to sell. When tunes were purchased from unknowns with no previous hits, the name of someone with the firm was often added as co-composer (in order to keep a higher percentage of royalties within the firm), or all rights to

312-612: A traveling circus at age 14, where he adopted his mother's maiden name as his own, seeking to make it sound even classier by tacking on a "Von." So impressive seemed the transformation that eventually all his brothers changed their last name to match his. Harry proved successful playing piano and calliope and writing new tunes and incidental music for shows. He continued doing this for burlesque and vaudeville shows for some years, writing many tunes which were not published or which he sold to entertainers for one or two dollars. In 1898, he sold his song " My Old New Hampshire Home " to

351-474: A tune became a significant local hit, rights to it were usually purchased from the local publisher by one of the big New York firms. Beginning in the early 1860s, the pianist and composer J.N. Pattison (active 1862-1890) published sheet music out of a piano and organ salesroom in Union Square in downtown Manhattan. He was one of the only musicians or composers to publish his own sheet music , capitalizing on

390-504: A young man, he worked briefly at his older brother Harry Von Tilzer's publishing company, and Albert's earliest songs were published by Harry. Harry had adopted his mother's maiden name, Tilzer, as his own. He sought to make it sound even classier by tacking on the German nobiliary particle " Von ". So impressive seemed the transformation that eventually all his brothers (Albert, Will, and Jules) had changed their last name to match his. Within

429-461: Is usually dated to about 1885, when a number of music publishers set up shop in the same district of Manhattan. The end of Tin Pan Alley is less clear cut. Some date it to the start of the Great Depression in the 1930s when the phonograph , radio, and motion pictures supplanted sheet music as the driving force of American popular music, while others consider Tin Pan Alley to have continued into

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468-519: The International Copyright Act of 1891 . The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) was founded in 1914 to aid and protect the interests of established publishers and composers. New members were only admitted with sponsorship of existing members. The term and established business methodologies associated with Tin Pan Alley persisted into the 1960s when artists like Bob Dylan helped establish new norms. Referring to

507-606: The 1950s when earlier styles of music were upstaged by the rise of rock & roll , which was centered on the Brill Building . Brill Building songwriter Neil Sedaka described his employer as being a natural outgrowth of Tin Pan Alley, in that the older songwriters were still employed in Tin Pan Alley firms while younger songwriters such as Sedaka found work at the Brill Building. There are conflicting explanations regarding

546-745: The Air, Boys", You Can't Get Away from the Blarney , and hundreds of others. " Take Me Out to the Ball Game " was listed as number 8 on the list of Songs of the Century . He resided in Beverly Hills, California . He died in Los Angeles , California . Harry Von Tilzer Von Tilzer was born in Detroit, Michigan . His parents, Sarah (Tilzer) and Jacob Gumbinsky, were Polish Jewish immigrants. Harry ran away and joined

585-670: The Music Publishers Association of the United States on June 11, 1895, and unsuccessfully lobbied the federal government in favor of the Treloar Copyright Bill , which would have changed the term of copyright for published music from 24 to 40 years, renewable for an additional 20 instead of 14 years. The bill, if enacted, would also have included music among the subject matter covered by the Manufacturing clause of

624-692: The Old Fall River Line ," " Under the Anheuser Bush ," and many others. He died in New York City on January 10, 1946. Lawrence Welk 's Teleklew Productions acquired Harry Von Tilzer Music in 1957. Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally, it referred to

663-539: The United Kingdom, where "Tin Pan Alley" was also used to describe Denmark Street in London's West End . In the 1920s the street became known as "Britain's Tin Pan Alley" because of its large number of music shops. In the mid-19th century, copyright control of melodies was not as strict, and publishers would often print their own versions of the songs popular at the time. With stronger copyright protection laws late in

702-746: The armed forces". By the end of the war, no such song had been produced that could rival hits like "Over There" from World War I. Whether or not the number of songs circulated from Tin Pan Alley between 1939 and 1945 was greater than during the First World War is still debated. In his book The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front , John Bush Jones cites Jeffrey C. Livingstone as claiming that Tin Pan Alley released more songs during World War I than it did in World War II. Jones, on

741-638: The boom in that medium as America emerged out of the Civil War , and urban middle classes grew. Piano ownership was widespread in middle-class families, and if one wanted to hear a popular new song or melody, one would buy the sheet music and then perform the piece at home. The song publishers who created Tin Pan Alley frequently had backgrounds as salesmen. Isadore Witmark previously sold water filters and Leo Feist had sold corsets. Joe Stern and Edward B. Marks had sold neckties and buttons, respectively. The music houses in lower Manhattan were lively places, with

780-487: The century, songwriters, composers, lyricists, and publishers started working together for their mutual financial benefit. Songwriters would bang on the doors of Tin Pan Alley businesses to get new material. The commercial center of the popular music publishing industry changed during the course of the 19th century, starting in Boston and moving to Philadelphia , Chicago and Cincinnati before settling in New York City under

819-567: The dominant conventions of music publishers of the early 20th century, "Tin Pan Alley is gone", Dylan proclaimed in 1985, "I put an end to it. People can record their own songs now." During the Second World War , Tin Pan Alley and the federal government teamed up to produce a war song that would inspire the American public to support the fight against the Axis, something they both "seemed to believe ...

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858-556: The entertainment district gradually shifted uptown , and by the late 1890s most publishers had followed their lead. The biggest music houses established themselves in New York City, but small local publishers – often connected with commercial printers or music stores – continued to flourish throughout the country, and there were important regional music publishing centers in Chicago, New Orleans , St. Louis , and Boston . When

897-446: The influence of new and vigorous publishers which concentrated on vocal music. The two most enterprising New York publishers were Willis Woodard and T.B. Harms , the first companies to specialize in popular songs rather than hymns or classical music . Naturally, these firms were located in the entertainment district, which, at the time, was centered on Union Square . Witmark was the first publishing house to move to West 28th Street as

936-576: The most popular and resonant patriotic song associated with World War I. Due to the large fan base of Tin Pan Alley, the government believed that this sector of the music business would be far-reaching in spreading patriotic sentiments. In the United States Congress, congressmen quarreled over a proposal to exempt musicians and other entertainers from the draft in order to remain in the country to boost morale. Stateside, these artists and performers were continuously using available media to promote

975-496: The name was firmly attached by the fall of 1908, when The Hampton Magazine published an article titled "Tin Pan Alley" about 28th Street. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary , "tin pan" was slang for "a decrepit piano" (1882), and the term came to mean a "hit song writing business" by 1907. With time, the nickname came to describe the American music publishing industry in general. The term then spread to

1014-469: The newly popular styles of the cakewalk and ragtime music . Later, jazz and blues were incorporated, although less completely, as Tin Pan Alley was oriented towards producing songs that amateur singers or small town bands could perform from printed music. In the 1910s and 1920s Tin Pan Alley published pop songs and dance numbers created in newly popular jazz and blues styles. Tin Pan Alley also acted as another approach to modernism . This can be seen in

1053-462: The origins of the term "Tin Pan Alley". The most popular account holds that it was originally a derogatory reference made by Monroe H. Rosenfeld in the New York Herald to the collective sound made by many "cheap upright pianos" all playing different tunes being reminiscent of the banging of tin pans in an alleyway. The Grove Dictionary of American Music also cites Rosenfeld as originator of

1092-501: The other hand, argues that "there is also strong documentary evidence that the output of American war-related songs during World War II was most probably unsurpassed in any other war". Tin Pan Alley composers and lyricists include: Tin Pan Alley's biggest hits included: In 2019, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission took up the question of preserving five buildings on the north side of

1131-459: The song were purchased outright for a flat fee (including rights to put someone else's name on the sheet music as the composer). Many Jewish immigrants became music publishers and songwriters on Tin Pan Alley. Among the songwriters who frequented Tin Pan Alley were Harold Arlen , Irving Berlin , George M. Cohan , Dorothy Fields , Scott Joplin , and Fats Waller . Songwriters who became established producers of successful songs were hired to be on

1170-501: The song. They couldn't help it." When vaudeville performers played New York City, they would often visit various Tin Pan Alley firms to find new songs for their acts. Second- and third-rate performers often paid for rights to use a new song, while famous stars were given free copies of publisher's new numbers or were paid to perform them, the publishers knowing this was valuable advertising. Initially Tin Pan Alley specialized in melodramatic ballads and comic novelty songs, but it embraced

1209-493: The staff of the music houses. "Song pluggers" were pianists and singers who represented the music publishers, making their living demonstrating songs to promote sales of sheet music. Most music stores had song pluggers on staff. Other pluggers were employed by the publishers to travel and familiarize the public with their new publications. Among the ranks of song pluggers were George Gershwin , Harry Warren , Vincent Youmans and Al Sherman . A more aggressive form of song plugging

Albert Von Tilzer - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-654: The street as a Tin Pan Alley Historic District. The agency designated five buildings (47–55 West 28th Street) individual landmarks on December 10, 2019, after a concerted effort by the "Save Tin Pan Alley" initiative of the 29th Street Neighborhood Association. Following successful protection of these landmarks, project director George Calderaro and other proponents formed the Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project. On April 2, 2022, 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue

1287-466: The term, dating its first use from 1903. However, whilst an article on Tin Pan Alley can be found in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from May of that year, this is unattributed and no piece by Rosenfeld that employs the phrase has been discovered. Simon Napier-Bell quotes an account of the origin of the name published in a 1930 book about the music business. In this version, popular songwriter Harry von Tilzer

1326-416: The use of certain influences such as, "a vernacular African-American impact coming from ragtime, 'coon' songs, the blues and jazz", as well as "input from high and middlebrow white culture". Many of these new styles were used to help fuel the economy of Tin Pan Alley, allowing composers to be more creative, as well as have a continuous influx of innovative music. A group of Tin Pan Alley music houses formed

1365-427: The war effort and to demonstrate a commitment to victory. However, the proposal was contested by those who strongly believed that only those who provided more substantial contributions to the war effort should benefit from draft exemption. As the war progressed, those in charge of writing the would-be national war song began to understand that the interest of the public lay elsewhere. Since the music would take up such

1404-417: Was being interviewed about the area around 28th Street and Fifth Avenue, where many music publishers had offices. Von Tilzer had modified his expensive Kindler & Collins piano by placing strips of paper down the strings to give the instrument a more percussive sound. The journalist told von Tilzer, "Your Kindler & Collins sounds exactly like a tin can. I'll call the article 'Tin Pan Alley'." In any case,

1443-490: Was known as "booming": it meant buying dozens of tickets for shows, infiltrating the audience and then singing the song to be plugged. At Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. , Louis Bernstein recalled taking his plugging crew to cycle races at Madison Square Garden : "They had 20,000 people there, we had a pianist and a singer with a large horn. We'd sing a song to them thirty times a night. They'd cheer and yell, and we kept pounding away at them. When people walked out, they'd be singing

1482-644: Was soon joined by his younger brother Albert Von Tilzer . In 1914, Von Tilzer was a charter member of the performing rights society, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Harry Von Tilzer's hits included " A Bird in a Gilded Cage ," "The Cubanola Glide," " Wait 'Til The Sun Shines Nellie ," "Old King Tut," "All Alone," "Mariutch," "The Ragtime Goblin Man," "I Love My Wife, But Oh You Kid!" "They Always Pick On Me," " I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad) " (with lyrics by William Dillon ), " And The Green Grass Grew All Around ," " On

1521-427: Was vital to the war effort". The Office of War Information was in charge of this project, and believed that Tin Pan Alley contained "a reservoir of talent and competence capable of influencing people's feelings and opinions" that it "might be capable of even greater influence during wartime than that of George M. Cohan's ' Over There ' during World War I." In the United States, the song "Over There" has been said to be

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