Roy Alfred (May 14, 1916 – 2008) was an American

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 ...

lyricist whose successful songs included "

The Hucklebuck "The Hucklebuck" (sometimes written "The Huckle-Buck") is a jazz and R&B dance tune first popularized by Paul Williams and His Hucklebuckers in 1949. The composition of the tune was credited to Andy Gibson, and lyrics were later added by Roy ...

", " Rock and Roll Waltz", " Who Can Explain?", and "

Let's Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key) "Let's Lock the Door (And Throw Away the Key)" is a song written by Roy Alfred and Wes Farrell and was released by Jay and the Americans in 1964. The song went to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music in ...

". His first major success as a lyricist was "The Best Man", written with Fred Wise, and a hit for

Nat "King" Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

in 1946. In 1949, Alfred wrote the words for "The Hucklebuck", a tune originally written as an instrumental credited to

Andy Gibson Albert "Andy" Gibson (November 6, 1913 – February 11, 1961) was an American jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer. Career Gibson played violin early on before settling on trumpet. Although he played professionally in many orchestras, he did ...

, which was first recorded by Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers. The vocal version became a hit for

Roy Milton Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader. Career Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation bef ...

, the

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

Orchestra, and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

in 1949, and was later also successful for

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...

(1960) and in Britain for Coast to Coast (1981). Songs written by Roy Alfred, ''MusicVF.com''
Retrieved 19 October 2015 Alfred also wrote the lyrics for "Kee-Mo Ky-Mo", written with

Bob Hilliard Bob Hilliard (born Hilliard Goldsmith; January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs: " Alice in Wonderland", "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", " Any Day Now", "Dear Hearts and Gentle ...

in 1949, and continued to write successfully through the 1950s and 1960s, often writing

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

lyrics. One of his most successful lyrics was "Rock and Roll Waltz", composed by

Shorty Allen Shorty is a nickname, usually for a short person. See Shorty (nickname). Shorty may also refer to: Music Artists * Ras Shorty I, Trinidadian artist and founder of soca music. * Shorty (band), an American rock band formed in 1991 * Shorty (Ameri ...

and an international hit for

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

in 1955. Alfred's other successes included "Wisdom of a Fool" (written with

Abner Silver Abner Silberman (28 December 1899, in New York City, New York, United States – 24 November 1966) as pen name Abner Silver, was an American songwriter who worked primarily during the Tin Pan Alley era of the craft. Career Usually composing the m ...

, 1956), "

That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On "That's It—I Quit—I'm Movin' On" is a song recorded by American singer Sam Cooke, released on February 14, 1961 by RCA Victor. Produced by Hugo & Luigi and arranged and conducted by Sammy Lowe, the song was a top 30 hit on '' Billboard'' Ho ...

" (written with Del Serino, 1961), and "Let's Lock the Door (and Throw Away the Key)", written with

Wes Farrell Wes Farrell (December 21, 1939 – February 29, 1996) was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Farrell was born in New York, United States. Farrell's catalogue includes clos ...

and a hit for

Jay and the Americans Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Ya ...

in 1964. He set up the Jonroy music publishing company in 1988, and died in 2008. SecondhandSongs.com
Retrieved 19 October 2015

References

External links

Discogs.com

DBoPM.com
1916 births 2008 deaths American lyricists {{US-songwriter-stub