John Frederick Coots, better known as J. Fred Coots or Fred Coots, (May 2, 1897 – April 8, 1985) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

. He composed over 700 popular songs and over a dozen Broadway shows. In 1934, Coots wrote the melody with his then chief collaborator, lyricist Haven Gillespie, for the biggest hit of either man's career, " Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." The song became one of the biggest sellers in American history. In 1934, when Gillespie brought him the lyrics to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", Coots came up with the outline of the melody in just ten minutes. Coots took the song to his publisher, Leo Feist, who liked it but thought it was "a kids' song" and didn't expect too much from it. Coots offered the song to

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

who used it on his radio show that November and it became an instant hit. The morning after the radio show there were orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music and by Christmas sales had passed 400,000.

Biography

Coots was born in 1897 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New YorkWhen he was 17, he began to work with Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. in New YorkIn 1916, his first hit song published, "Mr. Ford You've Got the Right Idea," words by Ray Sherwood, music by Coots; A. J. Stasny Music Co., publisher In 1919, actor-producer Eddie Dowling gave Coots his first chance at writing a musical score for Friars' Frolics. In 1922, Dowling commissioned Coots to write the songs for ''Sally, Irene and Mary,'' a show which ran for two years on Broadway. In 1928, wrote "Doin' the Raccoon". He moved to Los Angeles the following year. In 1931, he wrote. " Love Letters in the Sand" In 1934, he wrote the songs " Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (over 4 million copies of sheet music sold) and " For All We Know" In 1940, he wrote " The Rangers' Victory Song"; He died in 1985 in a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

hospital, after a lengthy illness

Selected songs

* " Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town," words by Haven Gillespie, music by Coots :: Leo Feist, Inc., publisher (1934); :: © September 27, 1934, Class E unpublished 93634, Leo Feist, Inc., New York :: © October 23, 1934, Class E published 44456, October 25, 1934, Leo Feist, Inc. :: © Renewal September 27, 1961, R28248025, Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots :: © Renewal October 25, 1961, R283907, Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots * " You Go to My Head," words by Haven Gillespie, music by Coots :: Remick Music (1938); * " Louisiana Fairy Tale," words and music by Mitchell Parish, Haven Gillespie, and Coots :: Mills Music (1935); :: © April 5, 1935, Class E 47450, Mills Music, Inc., New York * " For All We Know," words by Sam M. Lewis, music by Coots :: Leo Feist, Inc. (1934); :: © March 14, 1934, Class E unpublished 84751, Leo Feist, Inc., New York * "I Still Get a Thrill (Thinking of You)," words by Benny Davis, music by Coots :: Davis, Coots & Engel (1930); * "There's Honey On The Moon Tonight," words by Haven Gillespie and Mack Davis, music by Coots :: Miller Music, Inc. (1938);

Selected musicals

* ''Sally, Irene and Mary'', music by Coots, words by Raymond W. Klages (1888–1947), March 23, 1925 – April 4, 1925 & September 4, 1922 – June 2, 1923 # "Kid Days" # "Time Will Tell" # "Pals" # "Stage Door Johnnies" # "I Wonder Why" # "Do You Remember?" # "How I've Missed You Mary" # "Right Boy Comes Along" # "Our Home Sweet Home" # "Peacock Alley" # "Something in Here" # "Opportunity" # "We Are Waiting" # "Clouds Roll By" # "Until You Say Yes" # "Wedding Time" # "Old Fashioned Gown" # "When a Regular Boy Loves a Regular Girl" # "Up on Fifth Avenue Near Central Park" # "Jimmy" * '' Sons O' Guns,'' music by Coots, November 26, 1929 – August 9, 1930 * ''Broadway Nights'', featuring songs by Coots, July 15, 1929 – August 17, 1929 * George White's Scandals, musical review, featuring songs by Coots, July 2, 1928 – January 19, 1929 * ''White Lights'', music by Coots, October 11, 1927 – November 5, 1927 * ''Gay Paree,'' musical review, music and lyrics by Coots, November 9, 1926 – April 9, 1927 & August 18, 1925 – January 30, 1926 * ''A Night in Paris'', musical review, music by Coots, July 26, 1926 – October 30, 1926 & January 5, 1926 – July 10, 1926 * ''The Merry World'', musical review, music by Coots, June 8, 1926 – August 21, 1926 * ''Mayflowers'', music by Coots, November 24, 1925 – January 30, 1926 * ''June Days'', musical, music by Coots, August 6, 1925 – October 17, 1925 * ''Artists and Models'', musical review, music by Coots, June 24, 1925 – May 7, 1926 * ''Artists and Models'', musical review, music by Coots, October 15, 1924 – May 23, 1925 * ''Innocent Eyes'', musical review, additional music by Coots, May 20, 1924 – August 30, 1924 * '' Dew Drop Inn'', musical comedy, featuring songs by Coots, May 17, 1923 – August 25, 1923 * ''Spice of 1922'', musical review, music by Coots, July 6, 1922 – September 9, 1922

External links

*
Entry at Songwriters Hall of Fame (includes a complete list of compositions)

J. Fred Coots recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

Notes and references

Notes Original copyrights : '' Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 3 Musical Compositions, New Series'',

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, Copyright Office Copyright renewals : '' Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 3, Musical Compositions, Third Series'',

, Copyright Office Inline citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Coots, J. Fred 1897 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American composers Broadway composers and lyricists Musicians from Brooklyn Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American songwriters