Ruth Lowe (August 12, 1914 – January 4, 1981) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ...

and songwriter. She composed the first ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' top 80 song "

I'll Never Smile Again "I'll Never Smile Again" is a 1939 song written by Ruth Lowe. It has been recorded by many other artists since, becoming a standard. The most successful and best-known million selling single version of the song was recorded by Tommy Dorsey and ...

Early life

Born in Toronto but raised in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, Lowe returned to her birth country of Canada as a young woman and began working as a pianist. In 1936, Lowe was working in the 'Song Shop' in Toronto when

Ina Ray Hutton Ina Ray Hutton (born Odessa Cowan; March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984) was an American singer, bandleader, and the elder sister of June Hutton. She led one of the first all-female big bands. Biography A native of Chicago, Hutton began da ...

brought her

all-female band An all-female band is a musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed. While ...

(the

Melodears There were two independently created and independently operating groups known as the Melodears or Melo-Dears in the 1930s and 1940s, one a band, the other a vocal trio, with similar names only by coincidence. There is no known connection between th ...

) to town. Her piano player had taken ill, and Hutton was frantically trying to locate a good-looking blonde lady replacement. Lowe auditioned, and became the regular pianist in Ina Ray's band. At age 23 in 1938, Lowe married Harold Cohen, a Chicago music publicist. It was a happy marriage that only lasted one year until Cohen's death during an operation in 1939. In her deep grief, Lowe returned to live in Toronto. In her apartment, she composed "I'll Never Smile Again".

Songwriter

The song "I'll Never Smile Again" was first heard on the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

's (CBC) radio program ''Music By Faith'', in an arrangement by Canadian musician

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listenin ...

, who would soon go on to fame in the US and the world. Approximately a year later, Lowe passed a copy of the tune to a guitarist in 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 ...

band, Carmen Mastren, hoping to have Dorsey hear the tune. Dorsey initially passed on the song, giving it to

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

, but then had it arranged for his young singer,

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 ...

, and the Pied Pipers. It was an early, major hit song for Sinatra. Lowe wrote the lyrics for another Frank Sinatra hit, "

Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day) "Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)" is a 1943 song written by Ruth Lowe, Paul Mann, and Stephan Weiss. Frank Sinatra first recorded the song for commercial release by Columbia Records on May 1, 1945, having previously recorded it for a V-Dis ...

". She and her son Tom Sandler wrote the song "Take Your Sins to the River" for The Travellers.

Personal life and legacy

In 1945, Lowe married Nathan Sandler and the union produced two sons, Tommy and Stephen. Lowe died of cancer in 1981. "I'll Never Smile Again" was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 1982. In 2020,
Until I Smile at You: How One Girl’s Heartbreak Electrified Frank Sinatra’s Fame!
', a biography written by Peter Jennings with Tom Sandler, Lowe’s son, was published by Castle Carrington Publishing. In 2021,
Ruth's Wonderful Song
', a children's book biography by Jennings, was published by Tellwell Talent.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Ruth Canadian women pianists Canadian songwriters 1914 births 1981 deaths People from Verdun, Quebec Musicians from Montreal 20th-century Canadian pianists Melodears members 20th-century Canadian women musicians Canadian expatriates in the United States 20th-century women pianists