Billy Lang ''(né'' William August Leng; 28 May 1883 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

– 23 December 1944 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

) was a

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

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 began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

active in

from 1910 to 1930.

Biography

Billy Lang was born "William Albert Leng" to Albert and Theresa Leng, who had immigrated to Boston from Germany in 1880. William retained the spelling “Leng” at least through his 1912 entry in the Boston

city directory A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. It may be arranged alphabetically or geographically or in other ways. Information Antedating telephone directories ...

but thereafter used the surname "Lang." As "Billy Lang" he entered the music business no later than 1910, and his employment probably dates from 1908. He worked first with the Boston firm O’Neil & Story; from 1913–18 he managed the publisher

Leo Feist Leopold Feist (January 3, 1869, New York City or Mount Verson, New York – June 21, 1930, Mount Vernon, New York) was a pioneer in the popular music publishing business. In 1897, Feist founded and ran a music publishing firm bearing his name. In ...

’s Boston office. Thereafter he worked for Broadway Music Corp., becoming its business manager in 1920; he also engaged in several small publishing ventures with friends. He was well-liked in the business; a benefit for him, organised in Boston after a major illness in 1919, raised upwards of $1000. In the 1920s he was still in Boston, but by 1930 he had left the entertainment business and moved to

Burlingame, California Burlingame () is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame and is known for its ...

, where he opened a restaurant. He died in

.San Francisco Funeral Home Records.

Lyricist

Billy Lang wrote lyrics for seventeen songs. For all but two of these the composer was

May Greene May Greene (born May 31, ?1890; death date unknown) was the professional name of composer and vaudeville performer Mary O’Donnell. Biography May Greene (sometimes spelled “Green”) was born Mary Greenberg to Carlos (sometimes Charles) and Ros ...

, and he and Greene shared music credits for two other songs with lyrics by others. Only two songs were published by Leo Feist; the rest were issued by small Boston publishers. The six songs written after 1917 were published by his own firms.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Billy 1883 births 1944 deaths American lyricists American music publishers (people) Musicians from Boston American popular music Songwriters from Massachusetts 20th-century American songwriters