Maceo Pinkard

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maceo Pinkard (born June 27, 1897 in Bluefield , West Virginia , † July 21, 1962 in New York City ) was an American composer , songwriter and music publisher . He wrote revue and film songs. His songs Sweet Georgia Brown and Sugar (That Sugar Baby O 'Mine) became evergreens .

Live and act

Pinkard graduated from the Bluefield Colored Institute in 1913 . The following year he wrote his song I'm Goin 'Back Home , which was released in 1916. He toured the United States with his own orchestra to head a theater agency in Omaha from 1915. In 1919 he moved to New York, where he became the first African American to own a music publishing business. After his composition Oh, You Darktown Regimental Band was published in 1920 by the music publisher Pace & Handy, he was accepted into the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1921 as one of the first African-American composers . After a few songs had found their way into revues like Shubert Gayeties , Pinkard was commissioned to write melodies for the shows Bon Bon Buddy, Jr. (1922), Liza (1922) and Broadway Rastus (1925).

From 1923 onwards, Pinkard made three recordings as a pianist on piano rolls (for the publishers Republic and Connorized ), which are the only known recordings of his playing. The song Sweet Georgia Brown , which he wrote with Ben Bernie and Kenneth Casey, was recorded by Ben Bernie and his orchestra in 1925 and became a number one hit. Further recordings of the title followed quickly; the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team has used it as an anthem since the 1950s. Pinkard's other songs that became standards included Sugar (That Sugar Baby of Mine) and Them There Eyes , the latter first recorded in 1930 by Gus Arnheim , but most popular through a rendition of Billie Holiday ten years later. He also wrote numerous other songs like Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh? .

Pinkard was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music 's Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David A Jasen, Gene Jones Spreadin 'Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930. Routledge, New York 2005, p. 183
  2. ↑ David A Jasen, Gene Jones Spreadin 'Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930. New York 2005, p. 185
  3. ↑ David A Jasen, Gene Jones Spreadin 'Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930. New York 2005, p. 187
personal data
SURNAME Pinkard, Maceo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer, songwriter and music publisher
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Bluefield , West Virginia
DATE OF DEATH July 21, 1962
Place of death New York City