Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc. is an American music publishing company established in 1900.
History
The company was established 1900 in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
's
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 ...
by
Maurice Shapiro (1872–1911), who had worked at Adelphi Music publishing company, and his brother-in-law, real-estate dealer
Louis Bernstein (1873–1962)
(not to be confused with the Louis Bernstein better known as
Leonard
Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname.
The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...
). Early on the company also included songwriter
Harry Von Tilzer
Harry Von Tilzer (born Aaron Gumbinsky, also known as Harry Gumm; 8 July 1872 – 10 January 1946) was an American composer, songwriter, publisher and vaudeville performer.
Early life
Von Tilzer was born in Detroit, Michigan. His parents, Sarah ...
, who composed what became the company's first hit, "
A Bird in a Gilded Cage
"A Bird in a Gilded Cage" is a song composed by Arthur J. Lamb and Harry Von Tilzer. It was a sentimental ballad (or tear-jerker) that became one of the most popular songs of 1900, reportedly selling more than two million copies in sheet music.R ...
".
The song, with lyrics by
Arthur J. Lamb, sold two million copies of sheet music,
which encouraged Von Tilzer to form his own publishing company in 1902.
When Maurice Shapiro died in 1911, Bernstein took over the company.
The company became a successful publisher of popular music, especially
novelty song
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
s. They made a contract with newspaper publisher
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...
in 1916 to include their songs in Hearst's newspapers, which greatly increased the sales. Among the company's successful publications was
Vernon Dalhart
Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad " Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country son ...
's "
The Prisoner's Song
"The Prisoner's Song" is a song copyrighted by Vernon Dalhart in 1924 in the name of Dalhart's cousin Guy Massey, who had sung it while staying at Dalhart's home and had in turn heard it from his brother Robert Massey, who may have heard it while ...
", published in 1924.
One of the company's major hits was "
Yes! We Have No Bananas
"Yes! We Have No Bananas" is an American novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn published March 23, 1923. It became a major hit that year (placing No. 1 for five weeks) when it was recorded by Billy Jones (singer), Billy Jones, Billy Murra ...
" published in 1923. The same year the song was published, they sued lyricist and publicist C.F. Zittel who was making a film using the title "Yes, We Want No Bananas" which they considered an unauthorized use of the title. Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. did give permission to producer
to produce a
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
using the title, but the project did not come to fruition.
Shapiro and Bernstein, along with
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
and
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, formed a company called Mood Music in 1947 to publish songs from film musicals including ''
The Jolson Story
''The Jolson Story'' is a 1946 American biographical musical film, a highly fictionalized account of the life of singer Al Jolson, produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by Alfred E. Green. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes a ...
''.
In May 2020, Shapiro Bernstein was acquired by
Golnar Khosrowshahi
Golnar Khosrowshahi (born September 18, 1971) is an Iranian-Canadian businesswoman and the CEO and Founder of Reservoir Media Management, Inc. She is currently a member of the New York Philharmonic Board of Directors, and she also served as Boar ...
's
Reservoir Media Management
Reservoir Media (), also known as Reservoir Media Management, Reservoir, Reservoir Holdings, Inc''.'', is an independent music company based in New York City with additional offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, London, and Abu Dhabi.
R ...
.
[ ]
Company name
The company started out as Shapiro, Bernstein & Von Tilzer. When Von Tilzer left in 1902, the name was changed to Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
Shapiro joined
Jerome H. Remick in 1904 to form Shapiro & Remick, Co., but left the company to Remick in 1905. The following year he re-established his own publishing firm under the name Shapiro Music Publisher. Bernstein changed the name back to Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. after Shapiro's death.
See also
*
Shapiro, Bernstein and Co. v. H.L. Green Co.
Notes
External links
Official siteMichael BrettlerNAMM Oral History Interview (2013(
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Bernstein and Co.
Sheet music publishing companies
Music publishing companies of the United States