Geoffrey O'Hara (February 2, 1882 – January 31, 1967) was a Canadian American composer, singer and music professor.

Early life

O'Hara was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He initially planned a military career. O'Hara entered the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

at age 18 and he trained with the 1st Hussars. He had to abandon his military career upon the death of his father, Robert O'Hara.

Career

He moved to the United States in 1904, the same year he began performing in

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. He began recording for

Edison Records Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's founda ...

in 1905. In 1913 O'Hara undertook the recording of traditional Indian songs on behalf of the American government. He was recorded on

phonograph cylinder Phonograph cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity (c. 1896–1916), these hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engra ...

lecturing about the complexity of the music as well as singing and playing several types of

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

traditional songs in 1914. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was a singing instructor of patriotic songs for American troops. O'Hara lectured on music and songwriting, and held positions at Teachers' College of Columbia University (1936–37), Huron College and the University of South Dakota, where he later received and honorary Doctor of Music degree in 1947. He lectured for the remainder of his life. In 1920, O'Hara helped organize The Composers' and Lyric Writers' Protective League. He also was a board member of the

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers 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 ...

(ASCAP), was the president of the Composers-Authors Guild, and served in the

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

(USO). He was a National Patron of

Delta Omicron Delta Omicron () is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship. History Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity was founded on September 6, 1909 at ...

, an international professional music fraternity.

Personal life

In 1919, he married Constance Dougherty from Massachusetts, and together they had two children; the same year, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Works

O'Hara composed over 500 popular and patriotic songs, and hymns. He had some moderate

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

hits in the 1910s with songs such as ''Your Eyes Have Told Me What I Did Not Know'' (1913), ''Tennessee, I Hear You Calling Me'' (1914), ''The Old Songs'', and '' Over the Top: Military March'' (1917). His one huge hit was his song

K-K-K-Katy "K-K-K-Katy" is a World War I-era song written by Canadian American composer Geoffrey O'Hara in 1917 and published in 1918. The sheet music advertised it as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors", as well as "T ...

(1918), one of the most popular tunes of the

era. It was sung in both World War I and World War II, occasionally as "K. K. K. K. P." He was commissioned by the Wilson administration to compose the modern day version of the Star Spangled Banner.

Songs

* 1917 ''Give a Man a Horse He Can Ride'' (L: James Thomson) * 1917 ''Give Three Loud Cheers'' with Samuel Stewart (L: Edith M. Gibbs) * 1917 ''Over the Top March'' * 1917 ''Send Me a Curl'' * 1917 ''Woman Who Waits at Home, The'' (L: Gordon Johnstone) * 1918 ''Aw Sammie!'' (L: H.Sanborn) * 1918 ''I Don't care Where They Send Me'' (L: Schuyler Green) * 1918 ''I Love the merry Merry Sunshine'' * 1918 ''

'' * 1918 ''Over Yonder Where the Lilies Grow'' * 1918 ''Patriotism'' (L: William Horatio Day) * 1918 ''South Will Do Her Part, The'' (L: H. Sanborn) * 1919 ''There Is No Death'' (L: Gordon Johnstone) * 1920 ''Get Up and Get Out'' (L: Gordon Johnstone)

References

Bibliography

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External links

Geoffrey O'Hara, composer, singer and lecturer (1882-1967)
*
Geoffrey O'Hara 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:Ohara, Geoffrey 1882 births 1967 deaths Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Chatham-Kent Vaudeville performers Canadian composers Canadian male composers 20th-century Canadian male singers