Maurice Abrahams (March 18, 1883 – April 13, 1931) 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. ...

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 ...

, who was successful in the early years of the 20th century.

Biography

Abrahams was born in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and emigrated to the US as a child in 1892, becoming a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in 1910.New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940 for Maurice Abraham, Circuit Court, Southern District Vol 078-080 14 May-10 June 1910 (No 38491-39986), ''Ancestry.com''
/ref> He became a songwriter, writing popular

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

songs in

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 ...

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 ...

. Successful songs co-written by Abrahams included "Hitchy-Koo" (1912, written with L. Wolfe Gilbert and Lewis F. Muir); " Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (1912, written with Muir and

Grant Clarke Grant Clarke (May 14, 1891, Akron, Ohio – May 16, 1931, California) was an American songwriter. Clarke moved to New York City early in his career, where he worked as an actor and a staff writer for comedians. He began working on Tin Pan Alley, ...

); and " He'd Have to Get Under — Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)" (1913, written with Clarke and Edgar Leslie).Biography, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 29 March 2017 His biggest success, "Ragtime Cowboy Joe", was a pop hit for Bob Roberts (1912), Pinky Tomlin (1939),

Eddy Howard Edward Evan Duncan Howard (September 12, 1914 – May 23, 1963) was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Eddy Howard was born in Woodland, California, and after attending San Jose State Coll ...

(1947),

Jo Stafford Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classical tr ...

(1949), and David Seville and the Chipmunks (1959). Some of his songs were written for his wife, the vaudeville performer Belle Baker, whom he married in 1919. Abrahams became manager of several music publishing firms, before starting his own publishing business in 1923. He died in New York in 1931, aged 48.

References

External links

* Jewish American songwriters 1883 births 1931 deaths Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States {{US-composer-19thC-stub