Bert Lown (born Albert Charles Lown;
6 June 1903 – 20 November 1962) was an American
violinist,
orchestra leader, and songwriter.
Career
Lown was born in
White Plains, New York. He began as a sideman playing the violin in
Fred Hamm's band, and in the 1920s and 1930s he led a series of
jazz-oriented
dance bands (the most famous being the
Biltmore Hotel Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a hotel chain created by the hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman.
The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and the gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attracti ...
Orchestra), making a large number of recordings in that period for
Victor Records. In 1925 (or 1930), (with Hamm,
Dave Bennett, and Chauncey Gray) he composed the well-known standard "
Bye Bye Blues." He also wrote some other songs, including "You're The One I Care For" and "Tired." By the mid-1930s he quit leading the orchestras, becoming a booking agent and manager; eventually he left the music industry and moved on to executive positions in the
television industry. He died of a
heart attack in 1962 in
Portland, Oregon.
Collaborators
The song writing, Lown's collaborators included
Moe Jaffe,
Jack O'Brien (pianist with
Ted Weems in the 1930s), and
Fred Hamm.
Recording history
* 1929 he recorded for
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
's dime store labels (
Diva,
Harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
, and
Velvet Tone
Velvet Tone Records was an American record label that was founded by Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North America ...
)
* 1930 he recorded for the Plaza/ARC dime store labels (including
Banner,
Cameo,
Pathe,
Perfect
Perfect commonly refers to:
* Perfection, completeness, excellence
* Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages
Perfect may also refer to:
Film
* Perfect (1985 film), ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama
* Perfect (2018 f ...
,
Jewel,
Regal Records,
Conqueror)
* 1930 he also recorded two sessions for
Hit of the Week
* 1930 he also recorded two sessions for
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
* 1930-1932 he recorded prolifically for
Victor
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
* 1933 while still signed to Victor, his records were assigned to the new
Bluebird dime store label (these sides were also released on ''Electradisk'', the super rare ''Sunrise'' label, as well as the special ''Fox Movietone'' label).
Selected compositions
* "
Bye Bye Blues"
* "You're the One I Care For"
* "By My Side"
* "Tired"
* "I'm Disappointed in You"
* "My Heart and I"
* "Today and Tomorrow"
* "Let Me Fill Your Day With Music"
* "Thumbs Up,"
theme song in 1941 of the
British War Relief Society
Pseudonym
Bert Lown sometimes used the pseudonym "Bert Lee."
References
External links
*
Biographyon
Allmusic site
Biography on American Big Bands site
1903 births
1962 deaths
American male violinists
20th-century American violinists
20th-century American male musicians
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