Ben Homer (born Benjamin Hozer, 27 June 1917,

Meriden, Connecticut Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) was an American songwriter, composer and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

Biography

He joined the Meriden Symphony Orchestra when he was eleven years old, and wrote a class song at Jefferson Junior High School in 1932. He became a member of the

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...

when he was fifteen. He later attended the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

on a scholarship, and returned there as a teacher in the 1940s. He began his professional career by moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1938 and changing his name to Homer. He began composing for bandleader Les Brown in 1940, writing some material with lyricist

Bud Green Bud Green (19 November 1897 – 2 January 1981) was an American lyricist especially of Broadway musicals and show tunes Early life and family Green was born Moses David Green in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and immigrated to the United Sta ...

. His most popular works are " Sentimental Journey" (1944), "Bizet Has His Day" (1945) (a jazz arrangement of

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

's "

Farandole The Farandole is an open-chain community dance popular in Provence, France. The Farandole bears similarities to the gavotte, jig, and tarantella. The carmagnole of the French Revolution is a derivative. Traditional dance The farandole is consi ...

" from L’Arlésienne-Suite), "Shoot the Sherbet to Me Herbert" (1939), and "Joltin' Joe Di Maggio" (1941).

References

1917 births 1975 deaths American male composers Songwriters from New York (state) People from Meriden, Connecticut 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters {{US-composer-20thC-stub