Buddy Fields was an important songwriter during the early twentieth century. He was born on September 24, 1889, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(which is now in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

). He died on October 4,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. His name at birth was Arthur B. Fields. His most famous song " You Gotta Be a Football Hero" was cowritten with

Al Sherman Avrum Sherman (September 7, 1897 – September 16, 1973), pen name Al Sherman, was an American songwriter and composer active during the Tin Pan Alley era in American music history. Some of his most recognizable song titles include " You Gotta B ...

and

Al Lewis Al Lewis (born Abraham Meister; April 30, 1923 – February 3, 2006) was an American actor and activist, best known for his role as Grandpa on the television series ''The Munsters'' from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. He previously also co- ...

. Fields was both an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

having been educated in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

World War I

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served in the 133rd Machine Gun Battalion, 36th Division.

Music career

He appeared in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

and cafes, then became a theatrical agent. Joining

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

, he collaborated musically with the likes of

Gerald Marks Gerald Marks (October 13, 1900 – January 27, 1997) was an American composer of popular music. He was best known for the song " All of Me", which he co-wrote with Seymour Simons and has been recorded about 2,000 times. He also wrote the songs ...

and Art Berman.

Partial list of songwriting credits

*" You Gotta Be a Football Hero" * "Falling" *"You're the One, You Beautiful Son-of-a-Gun" *"The Night Shall Be Filled With Music" *"With You on My Mind I Can't Write the Words" *"By the Sign of the Rose" *"Chinnin' and Chattin' With May" *"The Pump Song" *"Remember" *"Indoor Outdoor Girl" *"By a Camp Fire" *"If It Wasn't for You" *"How Can I Be Anything but Blue" *"I'll Get Along Somehow". {{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Buddy 1889 births 1965 deaths American male songwriters 20th-century American male musicians Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States