Maceo Pinkard (June 27, 1897 – July 21, 1962) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

, and

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

. Among his compositions is " Sweet Georgia Brown", a popular standard for decades after its composition and famous as the theme of the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

basketball team. Pinkard was inducted in the National Academy of Popular Music

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...

in 1984.

Biography

Pinkard was born in

Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield micropolitan area extending into Virginia, which had a populatio ...

to Mary Ellen Jimerson, educator, and G. Pinkard, a coal miner. He was educated at the Bluefield Colored Institute, class of 1913, and wrote his first major song ("I'm Goin' Back Home") one year later. He was one of the greatest composers of the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

. In his early career he formed his own orchestra and toured throughout the US as the conductor. In 1914, at age 17, Pinkard founded the theatrical agency in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

and eventually founded Pinkard Publications, a music publishing firm in

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 ...

. In 1917, he formed his own publishing firm, Maceo Pinkard Music, and began selling compositions to national publishing companies such as Frank K. Root in Chicago and Leo Feist in New York. In late 1918, he was hired by the firm of Shapiro, Bernstein & Company in New York and the following year saw the publication of first big hit, "Mammy O'Mine." 1918 saw a flood of music related to the war. Pinkard composed with words and music "Don't Cry Little Girl, Don't Cry." The sentiment in the lyrics is universal for lovers who must part. He also wrote the words and music for ''Those Draftin' Blues''. In 1919, Pinkard moved to

. His best work was written during the decade 1921-1931. Primarily writing as the composer and lyricist, Pinkard's catalog includes such hit songs as "

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

", "Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Ya Huh?", "At Twilight", "

Them There Eyes "Them There Eyes" is a jazz song written by Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, and William Tracey that was published in 1930. One of the early recorded versions was performed by Louis Armstrong in 1931. It was made famous by Billie Holiday, who recorded ...

" (1930), later recorded by

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

in 1939 on the

OKeh OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

label. This was one of the songs Holiday sang at the Storyville jazz club in Boston in 1952. "Sweet Georgia Brown" a number one Billboard hit in the summer of 1925, "Here Comes the Show Boat" (1927), "Sweet Man", "I'll Be a Friend (With Pleasure)", "Congratulations" (1929), "Is That Religion?", "Liza" (1922), "Lila", " There Must Be Somebody Else", "Okay Baby", "That Wonderful Boy Friend of Mine", "Let's Have a Showdown", "My Old Man" and "Mammy O' Mine" (1919).Shortly after his move to New York, he recorded his piano playing on several piano rolls (for the Republic and Connorized companies) which are the only known record of his playing. In 1930, his song "I'll Be A Friend with Pleasure", was recorded by a jazz band led by Bix Beiderbecke, with Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman among the sidemen. His famous music composition " Sweet Georgia Brown", lyrics by Kenneth Casey, was recorded by artists

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

(1928),

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

album ''

Ain't She Sweet "Ain't She Sweet" is a song composed by Milton Ager, with lyrics by Jack Yellen. It was published in 1927 by Ager, Yellen & Bornstein, Inc. It became popular in the first half of the 20th century and typified the Roaring Twenties. Like "Happy D ...

'' (1962),

Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...

(1931),

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

(1961),

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

(1943),

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 ...

(1927),

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

(1956),

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

(1967),

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

(1956),

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

(1939),

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretati ...

(1964),

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

(1941),

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

(1947),

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

(1945),

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

(1960),

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

(1963), and

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

(1923).

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

's introduction to the music industry began with Maceo Pinkard. Shortly after they met at Barron's nightclub, Pinkard took Ellington downtown and introduced him to the music publishing district. This area of Broadway, from 40th to 55th Streets, was known as

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

because of the cacophony of so many pianists playing different pieces of music in different keys. It was there that Ellington had his first meeting at Mills Music with younger brother Irving, who would later become his manager. Ellington recorded some of Pinkard compositions such as "Is That Religion?", " Sweet Georgia Brown", and "

Stage production

''Liza'' (1922)

Pinkard also wrote and produced the Broadway musical, comedy show ''Liza'' (from the book by Irvin C. Miller), which opened November 27, 1922 at

Daly's 63rd Street Theatre Daly's 63rd Street Theatre was a Broadway theatre, which was active from 1921 to 1941. It was built in 1914 as the 63rd Street Music Hall and had several other names between 1921 and 1938. The building was demolished in 1957. History The buildi ...

. Ran for 172 performances (November 27, 1922 - April 21, 1923). Original Cast included

Emmett Anthony Emmett Anthony was an American vaudeville comedian who appeared on stage in various revues and shows. In December 1915 he arrived in New Orleans on the ''S.S. Brunswick'' to perform at the Iroquis Theater. He was also in the film ''Son of Satan'' ...

, Will A. Cook, Thaddius Drayton, Alonzo Fenderson,

Doe Doe Green Doe Doe Green (1889 - 1944) was a comic actor. A review of a 1922 performance of his with the Jack "Ginger" Wiggins company described him as a "popular neat dancing comedian". He portrayed Booker T in the 1931 film ''Enemies of the Law''. In the 19 ...

, R. Eddie Greenlee, Snippy Mason,

Irvin C. Miller Irvin Colloden Miller (February 19, 1884 – February 27, 1975) was an American actor, playwright, and vaudeville show writer and producer. He was responsible for successful theater shows including ''Broadway Rastus'' (1921), ''Liza'' (1922), ...

, Quintard Miller, Billy Mills, Packer Ramsey, Maude Russell, Gertrude Saunders, Margaret Simms, William Simms and Elizabeth Terrill. Lyrics and music by Maceo Pinkard: "Tag Day," "Pleasure," "I'm the Sheriff," "Liza," "Just a Barber Shop Cord," "Just a Barber Shop Cord," "That Brownskin Flapper," "On the Moonlit Swanee," "Essence," "Forget Your Troubles, "(I've Got Those) Runnin' Wild Blues," "Dandy," "My Creole Girl," "Planning," "Love Me," and "Don't Be Blue." Music popularized on disc by

Zez Confrey Edward Elzear "Zez" Confrey (3 April 1895 – 22 November 1971)
- accessed August 2011 was an American composer and perf ...

and His Orchestra (Victor 19055), Albert E. Short's and His Tivoli Syncopators (Vocalion 14554), and the new Synco Jazz Band (Perfect 14104). Musical, Comedy, Original, Broadway
Description: A musical in two acts
Setting: Summer Time in Jimtown, South Carolina

''Review''

The Negro hit of the year, with book by Irving C. Miller and music by Maceo Pinkard, opened at Daly's 63rd Street Theater in November. "The dressing rooms, which were built for ''

Shuffle Along ''Shuffle Along'' is a musical composed by Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle and a book written by the comedy duo Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. One of the most notable all-Black hit Broadway shows, it was a landmark in African-Amer ...

,''" say

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drum ...

, "were completed just in time for ''Liza.''" A few months later ''Liza'' moved to the Nora Bayes Theater on 44th Street, and became the first Negro show to play Broadway proper during the regular season. (Only the summer months had been available for Negro productions heretofore, while the critics wondered why the shows were presented at such a hot time of the year.) ''Liza'' ran for 172 performances at a time when a run of one hundred was considered good. Maceo Pinkard died in

on July 19, 1962. Each year, Bluefield State University holds a weeklong festival in honor of its famous alumnus. In 1999, the Grammy-nominated album '' The Love Movement'' by

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

included a sample of the 1920 Maceo Pinkard composition "Start It Up."

Film scores

Pinkard's compositions as a

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

were used in a number of movies, which were compiled from previously written musical compositions. Partial list includes:

References

External links

Maceo Pinkard recordings
at 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:Pinkard, Maceo 1897 births 1962 deaths American male composers African-American songwriters Musicians from Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield State College alumni Songwriters from West Virginia Music of Omaha, Nebraska Musicians from Omaha, Nebraska 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters