Ira Schuster (October 13, 1889 – October 10, 1946) was an American

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 ...

, who worked as a

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 ...

at various publishing companies on

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

in the early 20th century. He was also known as John Siras.

Biography

He was born in

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 ...

on October 13, 1889, to Sarah and Morris Schuster. His father was from Germany and his mother from England. He had a brother,

Joseph Schuster (vaudeville) Joseph Schuster (1896 - June 10, 1959) was an American composer and music publisher. He was also a vaudeville and radio performer. With John A. Tucker John Aloysius Tucker (June 18, 1896 - February 16, 1971) was a fireman and a music composer. He wa ...

. Schuster married Minnie and had two children, Wallace Schuster and Phoebe Schuster. Schuster collaborated with other notable songwriters of the time, and had a string of hits in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Schuster was also one of the first songwriters to form his own

publishing company Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. His best known songs include "Hold Me," "

In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town "In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town" is a popular song written by Ira Schuster and Jack Little with lyrics by Joe Young, published in 1932. Ted Lewis and His Band performed it in the film ''The Crooner'' in 1932. His version was released as a sing ...

," "Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes," "I Am an American," "Go Home and Tell Your Mother," "Any Day Now," "I'm Alone Because I Love You" and "Let’s Grow Old Together." Schuster died in New York, aged 55, in October 1946.

Legacy

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 ...

Songs

A Shanty in Old Shanty Town "In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town" is a popular song written by Ira Schuster and Jack Little with lyrics by Joe Young, published in 1932. Ted Lewis and His Band performed it in the film ''The Crooner'' in 1932. His version was released as a sing ...

(1932)

References

External links

Songwriters Hall of Fame entry

Allmusic.com
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Ira Schuster 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:Schuster, Ira 1889 births 1946 deaths American pianists Songwriters from New York (state) American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists American male songwriters