Roy Kenneth Turk (September 20, 1892 – November 30, 1934) 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

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 ...

, who frequently collaborated with composer Fred E. Ahlert, with whom he wrote their popular 1929 song " Mean to Me", which became a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

. In 1926 he collaborated with Lou Handman on his best known song, the 1927 hit

Are You Lonesome Tonight? "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (sometimes stylized as Are You Lonesome To-night?) is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927, first by Charles Hart, but also with successful versions by Vaughn De ...

, whose best version was the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

one, released in 1960. He worked with many other composers, including for film lyrics. Turk was elected posthumously to the

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 1970.

Overview

Among his compositions (with music by Fred Ahlert unless otherwise noted): * 1923 – "My Sweetie Went Away" (music by Lou Handman) * 1927 – "

" (music by Lou Handman), popularized in 1960 by

* 1928 – " I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" * 1928 – " Mean to Me" * 1931 – " I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" * 1931 – " Walkin' My Baby Back Home" * 1931 – " Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" for

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 ...

* 1932 – "Love, You Funny Thing!" He also worked with composers such as Harry Akst, George W. Meyer, Charles Tobias, Arthur Johnston, Maceo Pinkard, and J. Russell Robinson.

References

* ''The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary,'' Third edition,

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers 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 ...

, New York (1966) * ''ASCAP Biographical Dictionary,'' Fourth edition, compiled for the

, by Jaques Cattell Press, R.R. Bowker, New York (1980) * ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz, 1900–1950,'' Three volumes, by Roger D. Kinkle, Arlington House Publishers,

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

(1974) * ''Songwriters. A biographical dictionary with discographies,'' by Nigel Harrison, McFarland & Co.,

Jefferson, North Carolina Jefferson is a town in and the county seat of Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,622. History The North Carolina General Assembly created a special commission in 1799 to found a county seat fo ...

(1998) * ''Sweet and Lowdown. America's popular songwriters'', by Warren Craig, Scarecrow Press,

Metuchen, New Jersey Metuchen ( ) is a suburban Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan River, Raritan Valle ...

(1978), Biographies appear in the 'After Tin Pan Alley' section, beginning on page 91 * ''American Popular Songs. From the Revolutionary War to the present,'' edited by David Ewen, Random House, New York (1966)

External links

Biography of Roy Turk
at the

Roy Turk 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 ...

. Jewish American songwriters American lyricists Songwriters from New York (state) 1892 births 1934 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American songwriters {{songwriter-stub