Dave Dreyer (September 22, 1894 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 ...

, New York – March 1, 1967 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) was an American composer and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. He started off as a pianist with vaudeville greats such as

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

, Sophie Tucker,

Belle Baker Belle Baker (December 25, 1893 in New York City – April 29, 1957 in Los Angeles) was an American singer and actress. Popular throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Baker introduced a number of ragtime and torch songs including Irving Berlin's " ...

, and Frank Fay. In 1923 he worked for the Irving Berlin Music Company. While there, he worked numerous film scores. He later became the head of the music department of RKO Radio. He left the Music Company in 1947.

Songs

He began to produce hits by collaborating with other artists. Some of these are: *"

Me and My Shadow "Me and My Shadow" is a 1927 popular song. Officially the credits show it as written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer, with Jolson and Dreyer being shown on the sheet music as being responsible for the music and Rose the lyrics. Al ...

" (with Billy Rose,

) *"

There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" is a 1928 song sung by Al Jolson in the early Warner Bros. talking picture '' The Singing Fool'' the same year. The song, along with " Sonny Boy" and "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", which were also in ''The ...

" *"

Back in Your Own Backyard "Back in Your Own Backyard" is a popular song. Officially the credits show it as written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer; in fact, Billy Rose was exclusively a lyricist, Dreyer a composer, and Al Jolson a performer who was often given cre ...

" (with Billy Rose, Al Jolson) *"

Cecilia (Dreyer and Ruby song) "Cecilia", full title "Does Your Mother Know You're Out Cecilia", is a 1926 song written by Dave Dreyer with lyrics by Harry Ruby. The song was first recorded by Whispering Jack Smith on Victor Records. Johnny Hamp was another who enjoyed success w ...

" *"Four Walls" (with Billy Rose, Al Jolson) *"Golden Gate" *"In a Little Second Hand Store" *"Wabash Moon" *"I’m Following You" *"I Wanna Sing About You" *"I’m Keeping Company" *"

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...

" (with Oramay Diamond, Clyde Otis) *"Next Stop Paradise" *"Hold My Hand" *"What Am I Supposed to Do?" *"Honey Babe" *"Eternal Love" (with

Ballard MacDonald Ballard MacDonald (October 15, 1882 – November 17, 1935) was an American lyricist, who was one of the writers of Tin Pan Alley. Born in Portland, Oregon, he was a charter member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ...

Peter DeRose Peter DeRose (or De Rose) (March 10, 1896 – April 23, 1953) was an American composer of jazz and pop music during the era of Tin Pan Alley. Biography A native of New York City, he showed a gift for all things musical at an early age. He lea ...

) *"Find the Girl" (with Ballard MacDonald) He was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

in 1970.

You Can't Be True, Dear

" You Can't Be True, Dear" is sometimes listed under Dreyer's credits. However, the song was written by composer

Hans Otten Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

and lyricist

Gerhard Ebeler Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to: Given name * Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate * Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark * Gerhard Barkhorn (1919– ...

, and the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

words were written by

Hal Cotten HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

at Dreyer's request so that a vocal could be dubbed into the Ken Griffin recording.Bryon Young page on Ken Griffin and "You Can’t Be True, Dear"
, theatreorgans.com; accessed May 28, 2017.

References

External links

Dave Dreyer recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. 1894 births 1967 deaths Vaudeville performers 20th-century American composers {{US-keyboardist-stub