Melville Bernd Kaufman (April 23, 1879 – February 21, 1932) was a prolific American

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

piano composer. Among his best known works were "Me-Ow", "More Candy", "Taxi", "Step With Pep" and "Pick A Chicken", the latter of which was advertised as a favorite dance number for Vernon Castle. His numbers were featured by bandleaders such as Vincent Lopez,

Earl Fuller Earl Bunn Fuller (March 7, 1885 – August 19, 1947) was a pioneering American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, composer and instrumentalist. Fuller helped to initiate the popularity of jazz in New York City shortly before America's entry into W ...

, and

Joseph C. Smith Joseph C. Smith (August 13, 1883 – March 22, 1965) was an American violinist, composer, dance band leader and recording artist most popular in the second and third decades of the 20th century. Biography Joseph Cyrus Smith was born in Sag H ...

. Several of his compositions were recorded and turned into piano rolls, and many tunes were used in soundtracks and cartoons into the 1950s. Kaufman was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Sam Fox Publishing Company The Sam Fox Publishing Company was an American music publishing house, founded in 1906 by Sam Fox of Cleveland, Ohio. The company was the first to publish original film scores in the United States, and was the publisher of numerous artists and int ...

. After his death, his widow May Z. Kaufman became executor of his estate, and in 1934 sued Sam Fox Publishing Company for unpaid royalties due to

synchronization rights A music synchronization license, or "sync" for short, is a music license granted by the holder of the copyright of a particular composition, allowing the licensee to synchronize ("sync") music with some kind of visual media output (film, televisi ...

(an industry term which didn't exist when the contracts were first written in 1919). Sam Fox Publishing Company sought to rewrite their contract with Kaufman's estate (and presambly other artists) to clarify the differences (in meaning and in accounting) between mechanical reproducing rights and synchronization rights. This resulted in a further settlement arbitrated by

ASCAP 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 ...

's John G. Paine, which Sam Fox appealed to the New York Supreme Court. Earlier, in 1926, Kaufman had endorsed efforts to amend United States copyright law to better protect rights-holders' interests in light of the new radio broadcast medium. Kaufman died in New York City.

Selected compositions

* ''Be Careful'' ( Artur Guttman made an arrangement of this foxtrot for piano and violin) * ''Bing! Bing!'' (foxtrot) * ''Cheer Up'' (one-step) * ''Come Across'' * ''Corn-Huskers'' * ''Frisky'' (foxtrot) * ''Good Scout March'' * ''Hamadan'' (sometimes listed as ''Hamidan'') * ''Happy Go Lucky'' * ''I'm a Sentimental Dreamer'' * ''It's A Bird'' * ''Listen to This'' * ''Magnolia Bloom'' * ''Maria'' (a "novelty fox trot") * ''Me-Ow'' (one-step), later used in the Looney Tunes short

Tweety's Circus ''Tweety's Circus'' is a 1955 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on June 4, 1955, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. Plot The story centers on Sylvester visiting a circus, where he not o ...

. * ''More Candy'' (one-step) * ''Muslin Rag'' * ''Ouch'', which played during a segue in

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

's 1927 reissue of the 1917 movie '' Shoulder Arms'' * ''Pack Me Up In Your Heart'' * ''Persian Moon'' * ''Pick A Chicken'' * ''Pins and Needles'' (one-step) * ''Play Ball'', which was composed for Harold Lloyd's movie '' The Freshman'' * ''Playtime'' * ''Plenty Sweet'' * ''Squidulum'' (words by his wife May Z. Kaufman) * ''Step with Pep'' * ''Stick Around (''also known as ''Introduce Me'') * ''Stop It'' * ''Taxi'' * ''Step With Pep'' * ''Umbrellas To Mend'' * ''Up We Go'' * ''Watch It'' * ''Yah-de-Dah'' (the sheet music cover shows

's band)

References

External links

*
"Kaufman, Mel B."
''Discography of American Historical Recordings'',

University of California, Santa Barbara Library The University of California, Santa Barbara Library is the university library system of the University of California, Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. The Library includes four facilities: Two libraries (the Main Library (Davidson Libra ...

* https://www.peacherineragtime.com/product-page/step-with-pep-cd First CD dedicated to the music of Kaufman, by Andrew Greene and the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra 1879 births 1932 deaths American male jazz composers Musicians from Newark, New Jersey {{US-composer-19thC-stub