Abe Olman (December 20, 1887Many sources state his birth year as 1888, but this appears to be an error. – January 4, 1984), born Abraham Olshewitz, was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

. He composed a number of successful

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

and popular songs including "Red Onion Rag" (1912), "

Down Among the Sheltering Palms "Down Among the Sheltering Palms" is a popular song. The music was written by Abe Olman, the lyrics by James Brockman and Leo Wood. The song was published in 1914 by Olman who heavily marketed it in the Chicago region. Music publisher Leo Fei ...

" (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 The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

which, in 1983, named the annual Abe Olman Publisher Award in his honor.

Career

He was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, the son of Julius and Corrlina Olshewitz, who had been born in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

respectively. He learned

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

as a child, and in the early 1900s started work as a traveling music salesman around

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. His first compositions were published in Cincinnati in 1907, and then in 1909 in Indianapolis, where he lived for a period. In 1912, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where his "Red Onion Rag" was published by George W. Meyer. He also spent time in Europe, performing in clubs in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

before the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After returning to the US, he set up the LaSalle Music Publishing Company in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1914, and published his own song, "Down Among the Sheltering Palms", with words by James Brockman.Indiana State Museum search results
He sold the song to New York publisher

Leo Feist Leopold Feist (January 3, 1869, New York City – June 21, 1930, Mount Vernon, New York), in 1897 founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In the 1920s, at the height of the golden age of popular music, his firm was among the seve ...

; it was performed and recorded by

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

and became a great success. He continued to write prolifically, mainly with lyricist

Ed Rose Ed Rose is an American sound engineer and record producer. He has worked extensively with groups in the modern emo and pop punk scenes. He also co-owns Black Lodge Recording with Rob Pope and his brother Ryan Pope, members of the emo band The Ge ...

, and in 1917 they published "Oh Johnny, Oh!". The song was recorded in 1917 by both Billy Murray and Nora Bayes. It was successfully revived in 1939 by

Orrin Tucker ORiN (Open Robot/Resource interface for the Network) is a standard network interface for FA (factory automation) systems. The Japan Robot Association proposed ORiN in 2002, and the ORiN Forum develops and maintains the ORiN standard. Background ...

with singer "Wee" Bonnie Baker, and by

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

, and was recorded in 1959 by Peggy Lee on her album ''

I Like Men! ''I Like Men!'' is a 1959 studio album recorded by Peggy Lee, arranged and conducted by Jack Marshall. Track listing # "Charley, My Boy" (Ted Fio Rito, Gus Kahn) – 1:35 # "Good-For-Nothin' Joe" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) – 2:32 # " ...

''. In 1920, Olman began working in Manhattan for the Forster music publishing firm, and became a member of ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Two of his songs were included in the 1920

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...

, including "O-Hi-O (O-My!-O!)", with lyrics by

Jack Yellen Jack Selig Yellen (Jacek Jeleń; July 6, 1892 – April 17, 1991) was an American lyricist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for writing the lyrics to the songs " Happy Days Are Here Again", which was used by Franklin Roosevelt as the th ...

, which was introduced by Al Jolson and which later (as "Down By the O-Hi-O") became a hit for the Andrews Sisters. Although he continued to write songs thereafter, he worked increasingly as an executive in the music industry. He became the secretary and general manager of Leo Feist, Inc. in 1935, holding the post until 1956, and also began working for the much larger firm of Robbins Music in the early 1940s. He is credited as being one of the first to see the benefits of promoting a song by placing it in a motion picture, particularly by playing the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

under the opening credits. Olman was also director of ASCAP from 1946 to 1956. In 1969, with Johnny Mercer and

Howie Richmond Howard Spencer Richmond (18 January 1918 — 20 May 2012) was an American music publisher and music industry executive. He established The Richmond Organization, Inc. (TRO), one of the largest independent music publishing organizations in the worl ...

, he co-founded the

National Academy of Popular Music The National Academy of Popular Music (NAPM) is an American organization which administers the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and sponsors a series of workshops and showcases for the songwriting profession. It was formed in 1988 by Sammy Cahn and Bob Le ...

. In 1983, the Songwriters Hall of Fame established and named the annual Abe Olman Publisher Award in his honor.

Personal life

He married actress Mattie Adele Parker (stage name Peggy Parker) in 1922; they had two daughters. In later life he moved to live in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. He died in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and locate ...

in 1984, at the age of 96.

Songs

* 1912 "Red Onion Rag" * 1917 "Colleen Machree" - L: Jack Mahoney * 1917 "Faugh-A-Ballagh (Fog-A-Bolla)" - L:

) * 1917 "I Wish You All the Luck in the World" * 1917 " Oh! Johnny Oh! Johnny Oh!!" - L:

* 1917 "When I Get back to Home Sweet Home" * 1918 "Meaning of YMCA You Must Come Across" - L:

* 1918 "Oh, Susie, Behave" - L:

* 1918 "Pick a Little Four-Leaf Clover (And Send It Over to Me)" - L: C. Francis Reiner and Ed. Rose * 1919 "Cootie Tickle, The (Over Here It's the Shimmie Dance)" - L:

* 1919 " Johnny's in Town" with Geo. W. Meyer - L:

* 1919 " I'm Waiting for Ships That Never Come In" - L:

Notes

References

External links

*
Abe Olman recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Olman, Abe 1887 births 1984 deaths Musicians from Cincinnati Songwriters from Ohio American music publishers (people) American music industry executives American people of Russian descent American people of German descent