Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) 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 ...

Early life

Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, United States, Henderson moved 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 ...

and became a popular composer in

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 ...

. He was one third of a successful songwriting and music publishing team with

Lew Brown Lew Brown (born Louis Brownstein; December 10, 1893 – February 5, 1958) was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States. During World War I and the Roaring Twenties, he wrote lyrics for several of the top Tin Pan Alley composers, espec ...

and

Buddy De Sylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Recor ...

from 1925 through 1930, responsible for several editions of the revue called ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. Fie ...

'' and such book musicals as '' Good News'', ''

Hold Everything! ''Hold Everything!'' is a musical comedy with lyrics by Lew Brown and B. G. de Sylva, music by Ray Henderson, and has an accompanying book by John McGowan and B. G. de Sylva. Produced by Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley, the Broadway production ...

'', and ''

Follow Thru ''Follow Thru'' is a 1930 American pre-Code musical romantic comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was the second all-color all-talking feature to be produced by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the hit 1929 Broadway mu ...

''. After De Sylva's departure, Henderson continued to write with Brown through 1933. Then, he worked with other partners. In 1934, he composed the musical '' Say When'' with lyricist

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but w ...

Music

Henderson's biggest hit songs included "Annabelle" (1923), "

Bye Bye Blackbird "Bye Bye Blackbird" is a song published in 1926 by Jerome H. Remick and written by composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Sam Lanin's Dance Orchestra in March 1926. Song in ...

", " Has Anybody Seen My Girl?" (a/k/a "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"), " I'm Sitting on Top of the World", "

Don't Bring Lulu "Don't Bring Lulu" is a 1925 Dixieland jazz song. Background ''Don't Bring Lulu'' was first published by Jerome H. Remick, based in Detroit and New York City, United States, in 1925. It is the 63rd most covered song from 1925. "Lulu" in the son ...

" (all 1925), "

The Birth of the Blues "The Birth of the Blues" is a popular 1926 song composed by Ray Henderson, with lyrics by Buddy DeSylva and Lew Brown. It was used in the Broadway revue ''George White's Scandals of 1926''. It was recorded in its debut year by Paul Whiteman (with v ...

" (1926), "The Varsity Drag", "

The Best Things in Life Are Free "The Best Things in Life Are Free" is a duet between American singers Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson, recorded for the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced soundtrack to the 1992 American film '' Mo' Money'', starring Damon Wayans. The song was ...

" (both 1927), "

You're the Cream in My Coffee "You're the Cream in My Coffee" is a popular song published in 1928. Popular recordings were by Annette Hanshaw, Ben Selvin (vocal by Jack Palmer), Ted Weems (vocal by Parker Gibbs) and Ruth Etting. The music was written by Ray Henderson, with ...

", "

Button Up Your Overcoat "Button Up Your Overcoat" is a popular song. The music was written by Ray Henderson, the lyrics by B.G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The song was published in 1928, and was first performed later that same year by vocalist Ruth Etting. However, the mos ...

" (both 1928), "You Are My Lucky Star", " I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All", "(Keep Your) Sunny Side Up" (all 1929), "The Thrill Is Gone", "

Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" is a popular song with music by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Lew Brown, published in 1931. Ethel Merman introduced this song in George White's ''Scandals of 1931''. A Rudy Vallée version, recorded in 1931, spent f ...

" (both 1931), and "

Animal Crackers in My Soup "Animal Crackers in My Soup" is a song introduced by Shirley Temple in the film ''Curly Top'' (1935). The lyrics were written by Irving Caesar and Ted Koehler and the music by Ray Henderson; the sheet music was published by Sam Fox Publishing Com ...

" (1935).Archived a
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Wayback Machine

Career

Henderson also worked as an accompanist to song and dance acts in

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 ...

. His last Broadway show was a resuscitation of the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...

'', one of several put on after Ziegfeld's death. Henderson's, in 1943, had the longest run of any ''Follies'' at 553 performances. He effectively retired from composing in the late 1940s, and worked on an opera which was never completed.

Death

Henderson died of a heart attack in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

in December 1970, at the age of 74.

In popular culture

''Good News'' has been adapted for film twice; in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

. The 1956 film ''

'' was a dramatization of the songwriting team of Henderson, Brown and De Sylva; Henderson was played by

Dan Dailey Daniel James Dailey Jr. (December 14, 1915 – October 16, 1978) was an American dancer and actor. He is best remembered for a series of popular musicals he made at 20th Century Fox such as ''Mother Wore Tights'' (1947). Biography Early life Da ...

. The film included many of the trio's songs. In 2000, a revue of Henderson's music called ''It's the Cherries'' opened in

as the inaugural show of the American Composer Series.

References

External links

* *
Ray Henderson
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Ray Henderson recordings
at 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:Henderson, Ray 1896 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American composers Broadway composers and lyricists Musicians from Buffalo, New York Songwriters from New York (state) Vaudeville performers