James Anthony Cavanaugh (

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 ...

, 29 October 1892 - New York City, 18 August 1967) 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 ...

. Among his best known songs were "

Mississippi Mud "Mississippi Mud" is a 1927 song written by Harry Barris, first sung by Bing Crosby as a member of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys. Background The Rhythm Boys originally recorded the song on June 20, 1927 in New York for Victor as a medley with " ...

" (1927, made popular by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

), " Crosstown" (1940, co-written with John Redmond), and "The Gaucho Serenade" (title track of the soundtrack to the

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

1940 movie

Gaucho Serenade ''Gaucho Serenade'' is a 1940 American Western film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and June Storey. Written by Betty Burbridge and Bradford Ropes, the film is about a singing cowboy who goes up against a gr ...

Biography

Marriage, work as chauffeur and military service during WWI

Born in 1892 in

, in 1917 Cavanaugh was living in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, at 511 W 130th St., was married to "Martha V. Conroy", and was working as a private chauffeur for a businessman at 43 West 55th St. also in Manhattan. In October of 1918, he was drafted despite this, but luckily the armistice was signed 11/11/18 and Cavanaugh was discharged honorably in mid-December in the general demobilization.

From chauffeur to professional songwriter, through a house moving and military service during WWII

James and Martha Cavanaugh would go on to raise six children. In the 1930 Census he still listed himself as a chauffeur, still living in Manhattan. In the 1940 US census, the family had moved to 316 East 184th Street in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, but Cavanaugh, despite having written successful songs for seven years by that time, still listed his occupation as "chauffeur". Finally, by 1942, when he registered for the "Old Man Draft" at the age of 50, he listed his employer as ASCAP, 30 Rockefeller Center, NYC, and he was already living in the Bronx (where he will live until his death in 1967): he had made the transition to become a professional songwriter.

S WW II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. History ...

/ref>

Songs

(Note: listing is incomplete) * 1933 "

I Like Mountain Music ''I Like Mountain Music'' is a 1933 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on June 14, 1933. This cartoon is a follow-up to the 1932 short ''Three's a Crowd (1932 film), Three's a Crowd'', in w ...

" Lyrics: James Cavanaugh, Music: Frank Weldon * 1934 " Breakin' The Ice"

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

, James Cavanaugh and Weldon Thomas * 1939 "

Long Time No See "Long time no see" is an English language, English expression used as an Formality, informal greeting by people who have not seen each other for an extended period. The phrase is also acronymized as LTNS in Internet slang. Its Word origin, or ...

Arthur Altman Arthur Altman (1910, in Brooklyn – January 18, 1994, in Lake Worth, Florida) was an American songwriter whose credits include "All or Nothing at All", with lyrics by Jack Lawrence, and the lyrics for "All Alone Am I", "I Will Follow Him "I ...

and James Cavanaugh - recorded by the Andrews Sisters * 1939 " Goody Goodbye" James Cavanaugh (lyrics) Nat Simon (music) * 1940 " You're Breaking My Heart All Over Again" James Cavanaugh, Athur Altman and

John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as lead ...

- recorded by Vera Lynn * 1944 "

You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" is a popular song written by Russ Morgan, Larry Stock, and James Cavanaugh and published in 1944. The song was first recorded by Morgan and was a hit for him in 1946, reaching the No. 14 spot in the char ...

" co-written with

Russ Morgan Russell Morgan (April 29, 1904 – August 7, 1969) was an American big band leader and arranger during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known for being the one of the composers of the song "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", with Larry Stock ...

and

Larry Stock Larry Stock, December 4, 1896 - April 5, 1984) was an American songwriter. Biography Born 'Lazarus Goldberger' in 1896 in New York City, the son of Adolf Goldberger and Ella Goldberger ne Ehrlich. Ella Ehrlich and her sister Bella along with their ...

* 1944 "

I'm a Little on the Lonely Side I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * "I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" (p ...

, James Cavanaugh and

Frank Weldon Frank Weldon ( Lawrence, Massachusetts, -1970) was an American songwriter. He wrote, or co-wrote, many popular songs of the 1930s and 1940s.Don Tyler ''Hit songs, 1900-1955: American popular music of the pre-rock era'' 2007 "Frank Weldon - Frank W ...

* 1945 "

I'd Do It All Over Again "I'd Do It All Over Again" is a hit 1945 song by Dick Robertson, Frank Weldon and James Cavanaugh. It was recorded by the orchestras of Hal McIntyre and again by Frankie Carle Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March ...

, James Cavanaugh and Dick Robertson * 1945 "

Dearest Darling Dearest may refer to: * ''Dearest'' (2012 film) ('' Anata e''), a 2012 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata * ''Dearest'' (2014 film) (''Qin Ai De''), a 2014 Chinese film directed by Peter Chan * "Dearest" (Ayumi Hamasaki song) * ''Dearest'' ...

" Dick Robertson, James Cavanaugh and

* 1945 " Did You Ever Get That Feeling In The Moonlight?" James Cavanaugh,

and

Ira Schuster Ira Schuster (October 13, 1889 – October 10, 1946) was an American songwriter, who worked as a pianist at various publishing companies on Tin Pan Alley in the early 20th century. He was also known as John Siras. Biography He was born in New ...

* 1948 "

The Little Old Lady of Threadneedle Street ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" co-written with

and

Guy Wood Guy B. Wood (24 July 1911 – 23 February 2001) was a musician and songwriter born in Manchester, England. Wood started his career in music playing saxophone in dance bands in England. He moved to the United States in the 1930s, where he worked f ...

* 1950 "

Christmas in Killarney "Christmas in Killarney" is an Irish-American Christmas song written by John Redmond, James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon, copyright 1950. This song has been performed by many artists. Two recordings made the '' Billboard'' retail chart in 1950 ...

" again co-written with

and

* 1951 "

32 Feet and 8 Little Tails 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, James Cavanaugh and

References

1892 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians {{US-songwriter-stub