Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes 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 ...

Early life

Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, United States, Henderson moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and became a popular composer in

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

. He was one third of a successful songwriting and music publishing team with Lew Brown and Buddy De Sylva from 1925 through 1930, responsible for several editions of the revue called ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway theatre, Broadway revues produced by George White (producer), George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the career ...

'' and such book musicals as '' Good News'', '' Hold Everything!'', and '' Follow Thru''. After De Sylva's departure, Henderson continued to write with Brown through 1933. Then, he worked with other partners. In 1934, he composed the musical '' Say When'' with lyricist Ted Koehler.

Music

Henderson's biggest hit songs included "Annabelle" (1923), " Bye Bye Blackbird", "

Has Anybody Seen My Girl? "Has Anybody Seen My Girl? (Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue)" is an American popular song that achieved its greatest popularity in the 1920s. It is sometimes known simply as "Has Anybody Seen My Girl?" and sometimes simply as "Five Foot Two, Eyes of ...

" (a/k/a "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"), "

I'm Sitting on Top of the World "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" is a popular song with music written by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. It was published in 1925. It is now in the public domain. The song was most likely first recorded by Art Gillham ...

", " Don't Bring Lulu" (all 1925), " The Birth of the Blues" (1926), "The Varsity Drag", " The Best Things in Life Are Free" (both 1927), " You're the Cream in My Coffee", " Button Up Your Overcoat" (both 1928), "You Are My Lucky Star", "

I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All ''Sunny Side Up'' (stylized on-screen as ''Sunnyside Up'') is a 1929 American pre-Code Fox Movietone musical film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, with original songs, story, and dialogue by B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson. ...

", "(Keep Your) Sunny Side Up" (all 1929), "The Thrill Is Gone", " Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (both 1931), and " Animal Crackers in My Soup" (1935).Archived a
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Career

Henderson also worked as an accompanist to song and dance acts in

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

. His last Broadway show was a resuscitation of the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the ...

'', one of several put on after Ziegfeld's death. Henderson's, in 1943, had the longest run of any ''Follies'' at 553 performances. He effectively retired from composing in the late 1940s, and worked on an opera which was never completed.

Death

Henderson died of a heart attack in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

in December 1970, at the age of 74.

In popular culture

''Good News'' has been adapted for film twice; in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January– February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the count ...

. The 1956 film '' The Best Things in Life Are Free'' was a dramatization of the songwriting team of Henderson, Brown and De Sylva; Henderson was played by Dan Dailey. The film included many of the trio's songs. In 2000, a revue of Henderson's music called ''It's the Cherries'' opened in

as the inaugural show of the

American Composer Series The American Composer Series is an ongoing performance series in the cabaret revue format, paying tribute to the greatest composers of popular American music on the American scene, particularly those composers associated with Tin Pan Alley.

References

External links

* *
Ray Henderson
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

Ray Henderson recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Ray 1896 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American composers Broadway composers and lyricists Musicians from Buffalo, New York Songwriters from New York (state) Vaudeville performers