Charles N. Daniels (April 12, 1878 – January 23, 1943) was a composer, occasional lyricist, and music publishing executive. He employed many pseudonyms, including Neil Moret, Jules Lemare, L'Albert, Paul Bertrand, Julian Strauss, and Sidney Carter. His creative work is generally credited as "Moret" while his business dealings and
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 ...
membership were under the name Daniels.
Biography
Daniels was born in
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. Part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Leavenworth is located on the west bank of the Missouri River, on the site o ...
, and brought up in
Saint Joseph
According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus.
Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...
and
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
. At 18 he won a prize for his composition "Margery", which was performed by
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...
's band.
By 1899, Daniels was such a celebrity that when Carl Hoffman published the sheet music for
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...
's "
Original Rags
"Original Rags" (copyrighted March 15, 1899) was an early ragtime medley for piano.
It was the first of Scott Joplin's rags to appear in print, in early 1899, preceding his "Maple Leaf Rag" by half a year.
Publication history
The tune's copyri ...
," he made a point to credit Daniels as the arranger. It's not known if Daniels actually arranged the piece or merely transcribed it.
In 1904 he started the Daniels and Russel publishing firm in
Saint Louis, later forming his own firm and working as an executive with Jerome H. Remick & Co.
In 1928 he wrote the music for the song "She's Funny That Way", to words that
Richard A. Whiting—normally a composer himself—wrote as a gift to his wife. This was recorded by a number of singers, including
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American singer of popular music who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard'', January 12, ...
, Richard's daughter.
He also composed "
Chloe (Song of the Swamp)" (1927; words by
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (G ...
), "Moonlight and Roses Bring Mem'ries of You" (1925; words and music Moret and Ben Black, but based upon an organ composition by
Edwin H. Lemare), and did both words and music for "Song of the Wanderer" (1926).
Under his real name Daniels published "You Tell Me Your Dream, I'll Tell You Mine" with A. H. Brown and Seymour Rice in 1899. A version of the song with lyrics by Gus Kahn was copyrighted by Villa Moret Music Publishers (another of Daniels' publishing enterprises) in 1928.
The song has been recorded hundreds of times, notable recordings including the
Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed The Four Mills Brothers and originally known as Four Boys and a Guitar, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and g ...
in 1931, the
Eureka Brass Band in 1951,
Connie Francis
Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...
in 1961, as well as versions by
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
and
the Ink Spots
The Ink Spots were an American vocal pop group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style predated the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ...
. The
Kirby Stone Four recorded a counterpoint arrangement of it in 1959 under the title "The I Had a Dream Dear Rock".
A definitive biography of him has been written by his niece, Nan Bostick.
References
External links
Charles Daniels Sheet Music Collection (ARS.0153), Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound*
List of works by Neil Moret in the Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet Music from the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections*Sheet music fo
"On Mobile Bay" Detroit: Jerome H. Remick & Co., 1910. Fro
Alabama Sheet Music Collection*Th
Charles N. Daniels papersat th
American Heritage CenterCharles N. Daniels recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Charles N
1878 births
1943 deaths
American male composers
American composers
People from Leavenworth, Kansas
Pseudonymous writers
Songwriters from Kansas
American male songwriters