Isadore Milton Samuels (January 28, 1904 – January 29, 1990) was an American pianist, composer, and music publisher.

Early life

Samuels was born January 28, 1904, in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado, to Russian-Jewish Immigrants Elias Samuels and Rachel Samuels (nee Varchavsky). Elias was the first rabbi and cantor at Temple Beth Medrosh Hagadol in Denver. Samuels showed an early proclivity to music, and his father hoped he would also choose a career as a cantor. Samuels, however, was far more interested in popular music and jazz.

Musical career

Samuels got his first job at 13 playing piano in a local bordello and played there until he was 19 when he formed his own touring dance band. He entered the music publishing business in 1926 working as a pianist and

song plugger A song plugger or song demonstrator is an individual who promotes music to musicians, record labels, and customers. Song pluggers work for a music publishing company or operate independently. The function of the role has evolved as advances in mu ...

. He continued to work as a music publisher, first in Chicago during the 1930s and early 1940s, and then in Hollywood from 1943 until the late 1960s. He worked the longest as the Hollywood manager for the publishing firm Bregman, Vocco, & Conn from 1949 until 1967. Samuels was a prolific songwriter throughout his entire life, writing popular songs in a variety of genres, production pieces, music for film, and ad jingles. He began writing popular songs early in his life. He was just 22 years old when he wrote "Countin' the Days", which was recorded by Emil Seidel, followed over the next year with three more hit songs, "Don't You Remember Sally?" recorded by the house orchestra for Columbia Records The Columbians, "Smilin' Skies" recorded by numerous artists of the late 1920s, and "Sweet Liza", recorded by Ben Pollack and others. His most well known later songs include the

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

" Jim", first recorded in 1941 by

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and

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; "Angeline" recorded by Dick Todd and others; the country music song "Tennessee Blues", recorded by Tex Ritter and others; and "I'm Moody" recorded by Jack Jones. Samuels collaborated with a number of other composers and lyricists, including

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, Art Kassel, and

Charley Straight Charles Theodore "Charley" Straight (January 16, 1891 – September 22, 1940) was an American pianist, bandleader and composer. Biography Straight, who was born in Chicago, started his career in 1909 accompanying singer Gene Greene in Vaudeville ...

. Samuels also wrote songs under the pseudonyms Edward Ross and Jay Spector.

Personal life

Samuels was married to Esther Samuels (née Spector) from 1927 until her death in 1970. They had two children, pianist and composer Lorelei Samuels Trepper, and the pianist, composer, and conductor Eddy Samuels. Samuels lived in Los Angeles until his death in 1990 at the age of 86.

Selected works

* "A Friend of Man I'll Be" (Samuels/Ashley) – Joe Feeney * "Andante Felicio" -- (Samuels/Felice) – Ernie Felice * "Angeline" (Edward Ross amuels/Si Rothman) –

Wayne King Harold Wayne King (February 16, 1901 – July 16, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader with a long association with both NBC and CBS. He was referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved w ...

, Art Kassel, Dick Todd * "Countin' the Days" (Samuels/ Walter Hirsch) – Emil Seidel * "Don't You Remember Sally" (Samuels/Bernie Grossman/Hirsch) – The Columbians * "Fill the Cup to Overflowing" (Samuels) –

Wesley Tuttle Wesley Tuttle (December 30, 1917, in Lamar, Colorado – September 29, 2003) was an American country music singer. He was raised in California and took up music at age four, relearning to play the guitar and ukulele after losing all but the thu ...

* "Fountain in the Rain" (Samuels/

/Charles Hale) –

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* "Honky Tonk Mountain" (Samuels/Lenny Adelson) –

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* "I Hate Music" (Samuels) – Jerry Colonna * "I'm Moody" (Samuels) – Jack Jones * "Jim" (Samuels (or Edward Ross)/ Ceasar Petrillo/Nelson Shawn) –

, Billy Holliday,

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, Ray Brown,

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, Joan Chamorro,

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, and many others. * "My Hawaii" (Samuels/Kassel) – Art Kassel & His Orchestra * "Sergeant Can You Spare a Girl?" (Ross amuelsPetrillo/Shawn) –

Prairie Ramblers Floyd Holmes (March 6, 1910 – January 1, 1970), better known as Salty Holmes, was an American country musician, harmonica player and Western B-movie actor. Biography Holmes was born in Glasgow, Kentucky. He became a virtuoso on the harmonica, ...

* "Sweet Liza" (Samuels/Hirsch) –

Ben Pollack Benjamin "Ben" Pollack (June 22, 1903 – June 7, 1971) was an American drummer and bandleader from the mid-1920s through the swing music, swing era. His eye for talent led him to employ musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Mil ...

, George Belshaw * "Smilin' Skies" (Samuels/

/Hirsch) – Benny Meroff, Coon Sanders Nighthawk Orchestra; Charleston Chasers; Verne Buck * "Tennessee Blues" (Jay Spector amuels –

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a singer, and an actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s. He was the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John Ritter, grandso ...

;

Hardrock Gunter Sidney Louie Gunter Jr. (February 27, 1925 – March 15, 2013), known as Hardrock Gunter, was a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music at the turn of the 1950s prefigured rock and roll and rockabilly music. Biography He was born in ...

; Dinning Sisters;

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician, bandleader and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was a chief architect of the 1950s and 60s Nashville sou ...

;

Eileen Wilson Eileen Wilson (born Eileen Eshelman; January 15, 1923 – September 9, 2018) was an American big band singer, and one of the original stars of the 1950s television show ''Your Hit Parade'' on NBC.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Televi ...

* "The Echo Says No" -- (Ross amuels/Rothman) –

* "Virginia Lee" -- Samuels /Nat Miles /Frank Sylvano) –

Jimmy Noone James "Jimmie" Noone (April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. After beginning his career in New Orleans, he led Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, a Chicago band that recorded for Vocalion and Decca. ...

* "You Ain't Got No Romance" -- Ross amuels/Kassel /Gallop – Art Kassel

References

External links

* Milton Samuels at th
Discography of American Historical Recordings
* Milton Samuels a
Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Milton 1904 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers American music publishers (people) Musicians from Denver