Charles N. Daniels (April 12, 1878 – January 23, 1943), was a composer, occasional lyricist, and music publishing executive. He employed many pseudonyms, including Neil Moret, Jules Lemare, L'Albert, Paul Bertrand, Julian Strauss, and Sidney Carter. His creative work is generally credited as "Moret" while his business dealings and

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

membership were under the name Daniels.

Biography

Daniels was born in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

, and brought up in

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

and

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. At 18 he won a prize for his composition "Margery", which was performed by

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

's band. By 1899, Daniels was such a celebrity that when Carl Hoffman published the sheet music for

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

's "

Original Rags "Original Rags" (copyrighted March 15, 1899) was an early ragtime medley for piano. It was the first of Scott Joplin's rags to appear in print, in early 1899, preceding his " Maple Leaf Rag" by half a year. Publication history The tune's copy ...

," he made a point to credit Daniels as the arranger. It's not known if Daniels actually arranged the piece or merely transcribed it. In 1904 he started the Daniels and Russel publishing firm in Saint Louis, later forming his own firm and working as an executive with Jerome H. Remick & Co. In 1928 he wrote the music for the song "She's Funny That Way", to words that Richard A. Whiting— normally a composer himself— wrote as a gift to his wife. This was recorded by a number of singers, including

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American popular music and country music singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard' ...

, Richard's daughter. He also composed " Chloe (Song of the Swamp)" (1927; words by

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' By ...

), "Moonlight and Roses Bring Mem'ries of You" (1925; words and music Moret and Ben Black, but based upon an organ composition by Edwin H. Lemare), and did both words and music for "Song of the Wanderer" (1926). Under his real name Daniels published "You Tell Me Your Dream, I'll Tell You Mine" with A. H. Brown and Seymour Rice in 1899. A version of the song with lyrics by Gus Kahn was copyrighted by Villa Moret Music Publishers (another of Daniels' publishing enterprises) in 1928. The song been recorded hundreds of times, notable recordings including the

Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies a ...

in 1931, the

Eureka Brass Band The Eureka Brass Band was a brass band from New Orleans, active from 1920 to 1975, that recorded prolifically for Atlantic Records, Pax, Alamac, Folkways, Jazzology, and Sounds of New Orleans. The group's membership varied at any given time, u ...

in 1951,

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

in 1961, as well as versions by

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 ...

and

the Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely a ...

. The

Kirby Stone Four The Kirby Stone Four were an American vocal ensemble popular in the 1950s and early 1960s. Kirby Stone founded the group in the years after World War II and began playing clubs in the New York area. They won slots on local television, including ''T ...

recorded a counterpoint arrangement of it in 1959 under the title "The I Had a Dream Dear Rock". A definitive biography of him has been written by his niece, Nan Bostick.

References

External links

Charles Daniels Sheet Music Collection (ARS.0153), Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound
*
List of works by Neil Moret in the Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet Music from the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections
*Sheet music fo
"On Mobile Bay"
Detroit: Jerome H. Remick & Co., 1910. Fro
Alabama Sheet Music Collection
*Th
Charles N. Daniels papers
at th
American Heritage Center

Charles N. Daniels recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Charles N 1878 births 1943 deaths American male composers American composers People from Leavenworth, Kansas Pseudonymous writers Songwriters from Kansas American male songwriters