Bert Lown (born Albert Charles Lown; 6 June 1903 – 20 November 1962) was an American

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 ...

ist,

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

leader, and songwriter.

Career

Lown was born in

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

. He began as a sideman playing the violin in

Fred Hamm Fred Hamm was a Chicago jazz bandleader, orchestra leader and co-author of the song "Bye Bye Blues (song), Bye Bye Blues." In 1925 in music, 1925 he took over the leadership of the Benson Orchestra (founded by Edgar Benson (musician), Edgar Benson). ...

's band, and in the 1920s and 1930s he led a series of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

-oriented

dance bands (; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by ...

(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 The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

. 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 Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

industry. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1962 in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Collaborators

The song writing, Lown's collaborators included

Moe Jaffe Moe Jaffe (October 23, 1901 – December 2, 1972) was a songwriter and bandleader who composed more than 250 songs. He is best known for six: "Collegiate" (which was played by Chico Marx in the movie ''Horse Feathers''), "The Gypsy in My Soul", " ...

, Jack O'Brien (pianist with

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes, known professionally as Ted Weems (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcair ...

in the 1930s), and

Recording history

* 1929 he recorded for Columbia's dime store labels (

Diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...

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 in 1925 and shut down in 1932. Velvet Tone contained material identical to that of Columbia's two other low price labels, Harmony Records and Diva Records (and ...

) * 1930 he recorded for the Plaza/ARC dime store labels (including

Banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

, Cameo,

Pathe Pathe or Pathé may refer to: * Pathé, a French company established in 1896 * Pathé Exchange, U.S. division of the French film company that was spun off into an independent entity * Pathé News, a French and British distributor of cinema news ...

, Perfect, Jewel, Regal Records, Conqueror) * 1930 he also recorded two sessions for

Hit of the Week Hit of the Week was an American record label founded in 1930 that sold low-priced records made of Durium instead of the usual shellac. History Around 1930, several types of thin, flexible records made of various plastic formulations were introduc ...

* 1930 he also recorded two sessions for Columbia * 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 The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

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 The British War Relief Society (BWRS) was a US-based humanitarian umbrella organisation dealing with the supply of non-military aid such as food, clothes, medical supplies and financial aid to people in Great Britain during the early years of th ...

Pseudonym

Bert Lown sometimes used the pseudonym "Bert Lee."

References

External links

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

site
Biography on American Big Bands site
1903 births 1962 deaths American male violinists 20th-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-violinist-stub