Arthur Altman (1910, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

– January 18, 1994, in

Lake Worth, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Worth ...

) was an American songwriter whose credits include "

All or Nothing at All "All or Nothing at All" is a song composed in 1939 by Arthur Altman, with lyrics by Jack Lawrence. Frank Sinatra recording Frank Sinatra's August 31, 1939 recording of the song, accompanied by Harry James and his Orchestra was a huge hit in 194 ...

", with lyrics by

Jack Lawrence Jack Lawrence may refer to: *Jack Lawrence (songwriter) (1912–2009), American songwriter *Jack Lawrence (artist) (born 1975), British comic book artist and animator * Jack Lawrence (bluegrass) (born 1953), American bluegrass guitarist * Jack Lawre ...

, and the lyrics for "

All Alone Am I "All Alone Am I" is a song from 1962 popularized by the American singer Brenda Lee. The song was originally composed by the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis and recorded in Greek by Tzeni Karezi for the soundtrack of the film ''To nisi ton genneon' ...

", "

I Will Follow Him "I Will Follow Him" is a popular song that was first recorded in 1961 by Franck Pourcel, as an instrumental titled "Chariot". The song achieved its widest success when it was recorded by American singer Peggy March, Little Peggy March with English ...

", and " Truly, Truly True". Altman studied

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and began his professional career as a violinist with the CBS Radio Orchestra. His first nationally known song was "Play Fiddle Play", which he wrote in the early 1930s for the orchestra leader Emory Deutsch. Among the 400 songs he wrote, "All or Nothing at All" appears on more than 180 albums recorded by more than 150 artists including

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 ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, Pop music, pop, rock and roll, Folk music, folk, Swing music, swing, and country music. He started his car ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, 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, phrasing, timing, in ...

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People ...

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

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 from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, and

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

. He died of a heart ailment.

References

External links

List of songs written by Altman, as listed as ASCAP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altman, Arthur 1910 births 1994 deaths Jewish American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) American male violinists 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews American male songwriters