Dudley Mecum (1896–1978) was an American

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 ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

. He was based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and had a musical group, '' Dudley Mecum's Wolverines.'' In the 1920s he also performed with a number of other ensembles such as

Merritt Brunies Merritt Brunies (December 25, 1895 - February 5, 1973), was an American jazz trombonist and cornetist. Brunies was born into a well-known musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana; among its members were George Brunies and Albert Brunies. Merrit ...

and his ''Friar's Inn Orchestra.'' Mecum wrote the lyrics for the song "

Angry Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...

" which was composed by Merritt Brunies, Henry Brunies, and Jules Cassard in 1925. By 1929 Mecum had become a full-time songwriter. His other published pieces included "How's Your Folks and My Folks", recorded by the pianist and vocalist

Art Gillham Art Gillham (January 1, 1895, St. Louis, Missouri – June 6, 1961, Atlanta, Georgia) was an American songwriter, who was among the first crooners as a pioneer radio artist and a recording artist for Columbia Records. With Billy Smythe and Scott ...

while testing new electric microphone technology, "I've Got the Blues for Tennessee", co-written by Mecum with Cal DeVoll and Wallace Bradley. Mecum also performed as vocalist on the popular recording of the tune " 42nd Street" by the

Don Bestor Don Bestor (September 23, 1889 - January 13, 1970) was an American bandleader, probably best known for directing the orchestra in the early years of ''The Jack Benny Program'' on old-time radio.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrat ...

orchestra in 1933.

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1896 births 1978 deaths Songwriters from Illinois Musicians from Chicago 20th-century American composers The Wolverines (jazz band) members {{US-songwriter-stub