Sam M. Lewis

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Sam M. Lewis (* as Samuel M. Levine, October 25, 1885 in New York City , † November 22, 1959 ) was an American songwriter, known for various contributions to the Great American Songbook .

Live and act

Lewis went to school in New York and then sang in cafes in town, occasionally using his own lyrics. He then began to write material for the vaudeville artists Van and Schenk and the minstrel singer Lew Dockstadter. Lewis' first song was Beside the Old Oak Tree in 1906 to the music of Ted. S. Brown. From 1910 he wrote other lyrics, with Joe Young being his main collaborator from 1916 to the 1930s, u. a. on “ How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm? ". His songs were in the Hollywood musical The Laugh Parade and other Hollywood musicals from the early 1920s.

In 1912 he wrote the words for the hit That Mellow Melody . In 1918 he wrote with Joe Young the lyrics of Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody for the composition by Jean Schwartz . In 1925 he formed a team with Ray Henderson and wrote the lyrics for Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen My Gal?) And (together with Joe Young) for I'm Sitting on Top of the World . He wrote the lyrics to Laugh Clown Laugh for the silent film of the same name by Herbert Brenon in 1928 (the song was played at the funeral of the main actor Lon Chaney senior ). He also worked with Victor Young ; with him the songs In a Little Spanish Town (1926, music Mabel Wayne , words with Victor Young) and Street of Dreams (1932, music Victor Young) were created.

He also wrote the lyrics of the jazz standards Dinah (1925, music Harry Akst ; text with Joe Young), Just Friends (1931, music John Klenner ) and For All We Know (1934, music J. Fred Coots ). He also wrote the English text for Gloomy Sunday (recording by Hal Kemp 1936).

Lewis, who retired in 1955, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame .

Web links

literature

  • Ken Bloom: The American Songbook - The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs - 100 Years of American Popular Music - The Stories of the Creators and Performers . New York City, Black Dog & Leventhal, 2005 ISBN 1-57912-448-8 )
personal data
SURNAME Lewis, Sam M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Levine, Samuel M.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 1959
Place of death New York City