Harvey Geller (June 29, 1922 – March 12, 2009) was lyricist and former vice president and West Coast editor of '' Cashbox'' magazine. During a music career that he began as a song plugger in New York City in the mid-1950s, Geller also worked as a columnist, feature writer, reviewer and sales executive for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine and ''

Daily Variety ''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in ...

''. He served for many years on various selection committees of the

National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely known for its Gram ...

. As a lyricist, Geller saw his songs recorded by groups such as

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

, Brothers Four and River City Ramblers. Among his compositions were "Blue Water Line" and "Charleston Town." He also wrote a few parodies for himself including "Greenstamps" that was to the tune of "

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationers' Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English F ...

." Born in New York City in 1922, he earned a bachelor's degree in English at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and served in the Army during World War II.

References

1922 births 2009 deaths Writers from New York City New York University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II American lyricists Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American songwriters {{US-editor-stub