Harry Archer (composer)

Harry Archer (February 21, 1888 – April 23, 1960) was an American composer and orchestra leader. He is best remembered for six Broadway shows from the 2nd and 3rd decades of the 20th-century, but also made several popular recordings in the 1920s for Brunswick Records.

Biography

Harry was born as Harry Auracher. On February 21, 1888 in Creston, Iowa. He received his high-school education at Michigan Military Academy, and his post-secondary education at Knox College (Illinois) and also at Princeton University. He played brass instruments, mastering the range of that class with the exception of the French Horn, and also was a proficient pianist.

Archer’s compositions had appeared in plays as early as 1911, but the first play he wrote the score for was ''Pearl Maiden'' in 1912. This play starred Jefferson De Angelis and Flora Zabelle in a plot that owed much to Floradora. The music was considerably better reviewed than the plot. The play had a tenure of 24 performances in New York, then travelled to Boston and then lesser locations. For a time he led a dance orchestra in Chicago, then spent some working in the Paul Whiteman orchestra, during which time he composed sporadically for various theatre productions and scored a few plays which were flops.

Paul Whiteman was asked to provide an orchestra for ''Little Jessie James'', and Archer was designated to lead the outfit, as well as provide songs and orchestrations. This show was a huge success, and was not only staged on Broadway but also as far afield as Germany and Hungary. The breakout song was "I Love You", which was the biggest hit of Archer’s career. Lyrics for this show were by Harlan Thompson. The success of the show led to Archer’s scoring of several further 1920s musicals, but none were as successful as ''Little Jesse James''. ''Paradise Alley'', a 1922 offering, was revived in 1924 and also produced in Australia but the show was considered old fashioned and lacked the spark of the Archer-Thompson pairing. The two continued to work together, producing ''My Girl'', ''Merry Merry'' and ''Twinkle Twinkle'' between 1924 and 1926, all of which were modest successes. The 1928 show ''Just a Minute'' was not a success, and Archer’s career on Broadway ended at this point.

Archer did continue to compose, and his songs continued to be used in the theatre. He composed and scored for off-broadway productions at such places as the Provincetown Playhouse. Plans to revive a re-worked ''Little Jesse James'' later in his life never came to fruition. He died in New York City, April 23, 1960.

Archer’s compositions are considered “lightly jazzy” and catchy, best he was best suited to the farcical librettist Thompson. Archer also worked extensively with Howard Johnson. Despite his string of successful shows in the mid 1920s, Archer never became a “fashionable” composer, and has become obscure since his heyday.

Recordings

Archer began recording for Brunswick Records and their subsidiary Vocalion in November 1925. Often the same recording would be used on both labels, but a pseudonym of The Vanderbilt Orchestra was used on the Vocalion label. The recordings most often utilized studio vocalists such as Irving Kaufman and Franklyn Baur. The recordings proved popular, and Joel Whitburn estimates that three were top-20 hits. In 1926 his recording of "Sweet and Low-Down" (Brunswick 3096) is listed at #10. "When Day Is Done" (Brunswick 3399) from 1927 is listed at #14. His last recording session took place on January 23, 1928, but a final #20 hit from March, 1928 "Thinking of You" (Brunswick 3704) was to follow.

Shows

*1912 – ''Pearl Maiden''
*1919 – ''Love for Sale''
*1921 – ''Peek-a-boo''
*1922 – ''Paradise Alley''
*1923 – ''Little Jessie James''
*1924 – ''Paradise Alley'' (revival)
*1924 – ''My Girl''
*1925 – ''Merry Merry''
*1926 – ''Twinkle Twinkle''
*1928 – ''Just a Minute''
*1945 – ''Entre Nous''

Selected compositions

*“Alone In My Dreams”
*“Anything Your Heart Desires” from ''Just a Minute'' – 1928
*“Before the Dawn” from ''My Girl'' – 1924
*“The Break-Me-Down” from ''Just a Minute'' – 1928
*“Desert Isle” from ''My Girl'' – 1924
*“Ev’ry Little Note”
*“Find a Girl” from ''Twinkle, Twinkle'' – 1925
*“From Broadway to Main Street” from ''Little Jesse James'' – 1923
*“Get a Load of This” from ''Twinkle, Twinkle'' – 1925
*“A Girl Like You” from ''My Girl'' – 1924
*“Heigh-Ho Cheerio” from ''Just a Minute'' – 1928
*“I Love You” from ''Little Jesse James'' – 1923
*“I Was Blue” from ''Merry, Merry'' – 1925
*“I’d Rather Be the Girl in Your Arms” – 1926
*“I’m Goin’ to Dance with the Guy What Brung Me”
*“It Must Be Love” from ''Merry, Merry'' – 1925
*“Little Jesse James” from ''Little Jesse James'' – 1923
*“My Home Town in Kansas” from ''Little Jesse James'' – 1923
*“My Own”
*“Pretty, Petite and Sweet” from ''Just a Minute'' – 1928
*“Rainbow”
*“Suppose I Had Never Met You”
*“Sweet and Low” – 1930
*“The Sweetest Girl This Side of Heaven”
*“Twinkle, Twinkle” from ''Twinkle, Twinkle'' – 1925
*“Where the Golden Daffodils Grow” – 1930
*“White Sails” – 1939
*“You and I” from ''My Girl'' – 1924
*“You Know, I Know” from ''Twinkle, Twinkle'' – 1925

References

External links

Harry Archer recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Harry
1888 births
1960 deaths
American musical theatre composers
Songwriters from Iowa
20th-century American composers
Brunswick Records artists