Albert J. Trace ''(aka'' Albert Joseph Trace; ''né'' Feinberg; 25 December 1900 – 31 August 1993) was an American songwriter and orchestra leader of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. His popularity peaked in the

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 ...

area during the height of the

Big Band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

era. He was the brother of the songwriter Ben Trace.

Career

A native of Chicago, Trace played

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

before deciding on music as a career. His first jobs during the early 1920s included playing the drums and singing with various bands, until he formed his own band in 1933, the year in which Chicago was celebrating its centennial with a World's Fair officially known as A Century of Progress International Exposition. The band's first engagement in May 1933 was at the Fair's French pavilion and, when the Fair closed for the winter in November, he remained in Chicago, beginning a long engagement at the Blackhawk Restaurant, followed by three years at the Sherman Hotel. Starting in early 1943 and continuing during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Al Trace Orchestra, including the vocalists Toni Arden and

Bob Vincent Bob Vincent (born March 7, 1918, in Detroit, Michigan – June 25, 2005, in Fullerton, California, Fullerton, California) was an American big band singer and theatrical agent. Born Vincent John Cernuto, he started singing in bands in the 1940s. H ...

, were familiar regulars on the Chicago-based ''

It Pays to Be Ignorant ''It Pays to Be Ignorant'' is a 1942–51 radio comedy show which maintained its popularity during a nine-year run on three networks for such sponsors as Altria Group, Philip Morris, Chrysler, and DeSoto (automobile), DeSoto. The series was a sp ...

'', one of the most popular shows of the era known as the

Golden Age of Radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

. Al Trace and His Silly Symphonists was one of several comedy ensembles in the early 1940s. Others included Spike Jones and His City Slickers, the

Hoosier Hot Shots The Hoosier Hot Shots were an American quartet of musicians who entertained on stage, screen, radio, and records from the mid-1930s into the 1970s. The group formed in Indiana where they performed on local radio before moving to Chicago and a ...

and the Korn Kobblers. In February 1945, radio stations introduced " Sioux City Sue", performed by Al Trace and His Silly Symphonists (

National Records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as ...

5007). The song became a hit. Trace recorded for several record companies:

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, Damon Records, Regent Records and

Chance Records Chance Records was a Chicago-based label founded in 1950 by Art Sheridan. It specialized in blues, jazz, doo-wop, and gospel. Among the acts who recorded for Chance were The Flamingos, The Moonglows, Homesick James, J. B. Hutto, Brother Joh ...

. He composed over 300 songs, some alone and others as a collaborator, most frequently with his brother, Ben Trace, while also writing a considerable number of songs using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s Clem Watts or Bob Hart. Among the Ben Trace/Al Trace collaborations was his most successful recording, " You Call Everybody Darlin'", which was a #1 hit in 1948. Another very popular song was "

If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill, and Clem Watts and published in 1950. In the U.S, the best known version of the song was recorded by Eileen Barton in January 1950. Joe Lip ...

". His other song collaborators included

Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...

Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. Merrill was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. His ...

and

Abner Silver Abner Silberman (28 December 1899 in New York City, New York, United States – 24 November 1966) as pen name Abner Silver, was an American songwriter who worked primarily during the Tin Pan Alley era of the craft. Career Usually composing the ...

. In 1975, shortly after his 74th birthday, he retired from active work as a songwriter and bandleader and joined with another ex-bandleader to form a booking agency in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

. Trace died of a stroke in

Sun City West, Arizona Sun City West is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 25,806 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

, at the age of 92.

Ensembles led by Trace

* 1944–1948: Al Trace and His Silly Symphonists * 1948–1950: Al Trace And His New Orchestra * 1949: Al Trace & His Flame Throwers * 1953: Al Trace and His Orchestra

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trace, Al American bandleaders Songwriters from Illinois Musicians from Chicago 1900 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American songwriters