Percy Wenrich (January 23, 1880 – March 17, 1952) was an American
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
of
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 ...
and
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 ...
.
Personal life and career
Born in
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...
to Daniel Wenrich and Mary Ray, he left for
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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in 1901 where he attended classes at the Chicago Musical College.
Wenrich moved on to
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 ...
around 1907 to work as a
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 ...
composer, but his music retains a Missouri folk flavor. He composed at least eighteen rags, including "Ashy Africa," "Noodles," "Peaches and Cream" (1905), "Crab Apples," and "The Smiler" (1907). His songs include "Wabash Avenue After Dark" and the hits "Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet"
(1909, lyrics by Stanley Murphy), "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose" (1914, lyrics by Jack Mahoney)
and "Minnetonka" (1921, lyrics by
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' By ...
).
"If It's Good Enough for Washington, It's Good Enough for Me" (1908, lyrics by
Ren Shields Ren Shields was an American folk musician born in 1868 in Chicago, Illinois. He died on 25 October 1913 in Massapequa, New York. He co-wrote the song with George "Honey Boy" Evans "In the Good Old Summer Time", (a part of which is sung by Laurel a ...
) was a song about a homeless man sleeping on a bench in a public square with statues of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
,
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
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* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
,
McKinley,
Grant
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Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
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* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
and
Lee
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
.
Wenrich married
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 ...
performer Dolly Connolly and in 1911 wrote the hit "Red Rose Rag" for her with lyrics by
Edward Madden
Edward Madden (July 17, 1878 – March 11, 1952) was an American lyricist.
Early life
Madden was born in New York City and graduated from Fordham University. After graduation, he wrote material for many singers including Fanny Brice and ...
. In 1912, Wenrich and Madden had another hit with "Moonlight Bay." Wenrich and Connolly toured together for many years.
In 1918, Wenrich joined
The Lambs Club
The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...
.
![Dolly Connelly LCCN2014712452](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Dolly_Connelly_LCCN2014712452.jpg)
In the late 1930s, Wenrich and several of his fellow hitmakers formed a sensational review called "
Songwriters on Parade Songwriters on Parade was a musical Vaudeville revue which featured hit songwriters of the day. It was considered one of the last Vaudevillian forays of this type. Between 1931 and 1940 (at least) various line-ups of popular songwriters would form ...
", performing all across the Eastern seaboard on the
Loew's and
Keith
Keith may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Keith (surname)
* Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949)
* Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...
circuits.
Wenrich's last memorable song "
Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon
"Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon" is a song written by Harry Tobias and Percy Wenrich in 1937 and performed by Bing Crosby. It reached #4 on the U.S. pop chart in 1937. Outside of the US, the song peaked at #1 in Canada, Germany and Norway.
Other char ...
" was published in 1937.
He died in New York City in 1952 at the age of 72.
Songs
* 1915 ''Mothers Must Pay for All'' (with Jack Mahoney)
* 1917 ''
Where Do We Go from Here?'' (with
Howard Johnson)
* 1918 ''
I Ain't Got Weary Yet'' (with
Howard Johnson)
* 1918 ''Lambs Gambol'' (with
William Jerome
William Jerome Flannery, September 30, 1865 – June 25, 1932) was an American songwriter, born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York of Irish immigrant parents, Mary Donnellan and Patrick Flannery. He collaborated with numerous well-known composers a ...
& J. F. Mahoney)
* 1918 ''You Can Tell That He's an American'' (with
Howard Johnson)
* 1918 ''Rainbow from the U.S.A., A.'' (with
William Jerome
William Jerome Flannery, September 30, 1865 – June 25, 1932) was an American songwriter, born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York of Irish immigrant parents, Mary Donnellan and Patrick Flannery. He collaborated with numerous well-known composers a ...
& J. F. Mahoney)
* 1919 ''By the Camp'' ''Fire'' (with Mabel Elizabeth Girling)
* 1919 ''Casey'' (with John B. Kennedy)
See also
*
List of ragtime composers
A list of ragtime composers, including a famous or characteristic composition.
Pre-1940
*Felix Arndt (1889–1918), "Nola" (1916)
*May Aufderheide (1888–1972), "Dusty Rag" (1908)
*Roy Bargy (1894–1974), "Pianoflage" (1922)
* Harry Belding (18 ...
References
External links
* Biograph
Percy Wenrich, "The Joplin Kid" Parlor Songs.
The Music of Percy Wenrich, part 1 Parlor Songs.
The Music of Percy Wenrich, part 2 Parlor Songs.
*
*
audio early 20th century recordings of Wenrich compositions at the Library of Congress jukeboxPercy Wenrich recordingsat 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:Wenrich, Percy
1880s births
1952 deaths
American male composers
American composers
People from Joplin, Missouri
Ragtime composers
20th-century American male musicians