Gerald Emmett Teifer (May 28, 1922 – September 20, 2004) was an American songwriter, music publisher, recording industry executive, and entertainer.
Biography
He was born in
Muskegon, Michigan
Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expa ...
and moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, then in 1956 he moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
His professional career took him to Los Angeles, and Nashville where he influenced the lives of many in the music business. Gerry's songs and collaborations were recorded by numerous artists including,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
George Strait
George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...
,
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...
,
Johnnie Ray
John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blu ...
, and
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
.
As a songwriter his best known hits were "A Full Time Job" recorded by
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...
(1952),
[BILLBOARD HOT COUNTRY SONGS 1944-2008](_blank)
/ref> and "I Don't Care (As Long As You Care For Me)", a song performed regularly on the Liberace
Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
show (circa 1953).[Sony/ATV Music Publishing : Welcome](_blank)
/ref> He also co-wrote the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
theme song (under the pseudonym of Bob Bundin), which was heard on radio and early television as "Here Come The Yankees".[
Gerry was also a talented whistler, and released several singles on Epic Records including "Poco A Poco", "Stop, Look And Whistle", "Heartaches", and "Blue Brazil". As a whistler he also recorded with Chuck Sagle and his Orchestra, was on the ]Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Red ...
album ''Double Time'' on Warner Brothers Records, and performed on numerous commercials.
During his career, he was the first General Manager of the CBS publishing company April/Blackwood Music,JOHNNY CYMBAL
Johnny Cymbal (born John Hendry Blair; February 3, 1945 – March 16, 1993) was a Scottish-born American songwriter, singer and record producer who had numerous hit records, including his signature song, "Mr. Bass Man".
Overview
During a 33-ye ...
President of Metromedia Music, President of RCA Records publishing division Sunbury-Dunbar Music in New York, Vice-President of ATV Music Group in Nashville and in New York, and head of foreign licensing for Opryland Music Group in Nashville.["Detailed Bio"](_blank)
of songwriter Byron Hill
Byron Hill (born December 12, 1953), is an American songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Living and working professionally in Nashville, TN for more than forty years, his songs have been recorded by many Country and Pop artists.
Musi ...
He was an Army paratrooper during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, a touring table tennis champion, and was well known among his colleagues as an excellent tennis player who regularly won music industry tournaments.[
He married Elizabeth Edmans and had 3 sons, James, Bruce and Gary. He later had 8 grandchildren, Elizabeth, Dawn, Christine, Erin, Dylan, Claire, Lydia and Linda.
He retired to Dunedin, Florida, and died at St. Mark Village, ]Palm Harbor, Florida
Palm Harbor is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2016 American Community Survey, the CDP had a population of 60,236.
Culture
Palm Harbor is located north of downtown St. ...
, on September 20, 2004, at the age of 82.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teifer, Gerald
1922 births
2004 deaths
Songwriters from Michigan
American country songwriters
American male songwriters
People from Muskegon, Michigan
People from Palm Harbor, Florida
20th-century American musicians
20th-century American male musicians
United States Army personnel of World War II