William E. Dulmage (August 17, 1883 – February 11, 1953) was a lyricist, composer, and music publisher in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1934, he composed "Tigers on Parade," which was dedicated to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and

Mickey Cochrane Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detro ...

. Dulmage wrote popular songs, including some

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

publications, and composed soundtracks for television shows and films.

Personal life

Dulmage was born on August 17, 1883, in Holly, Michigan. Will's high school education was supplemented with private music lessons in

Oakland County, Michigan Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...

, where he lived with his parents. Dulmage married Nina Bell Tallman on September 23. The couple had one son together. The family resided in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. Dulmage died on February 11, 1953, in Dearborn, Michigan.

Career

At the age of 25, Dulmage began work in the music department at Grinnell Brothers in Detroit. He most likely started off as a

song plugger A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

and moved his way up to manager of the Grinnell Brothers' Band and Orchestral department. Dulmage stayed with the company for 22 years. He later joined the

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

Company, serving as an executive in the sheet music department for twelve years. His wife was also employed at Wurlitzer, but in their accounting department. Dulmage was a member of the Geo. & Wm Finzel's Band and Orchestra. Throughout his songwriting career, he collaborated with lyricist Richard W. Pascoe. The two wrote the songs "Tenderly Think of Me" and "When It's Night Time in Nevada." The latter was featured in the movie ''

Night Time in Nevada '' Night Time in Nevada '' is a 1948 American Western film directed by William Witney and starring Roy Rogers. Plot Ran Farrell kills his mining partner and instead of giving the money to his partner's (Jim Andrews) daughter he steals it. Joan ...

'', which starred

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

. Besides this film, Dulmage also wrote the soundtracks to ''

The Gene Autry Show ''The Gene Autry Show'' is an American western/cowboy television series which aired for 91 episodes on CBS from July 23, 1950 until August 7, 1956, originally sponsored by Wrigley's Doublemint chewing gum. Overview Series star Gene Autry had alr ...

'' (1948) and ''The Black Rider'' (1950). Dulmage was the composer of three World War I songs: '' Say—You Haven't Sacrificed at All!'', ''H-O-M-E Spells Where I Long to Be'', and ''A Laddie in France is Dreaming, Little Girlie, of You''. In the 1940s, Will was the proprietor of a music store. Each of his family members had a role in the running of the store. His wife worked as the treasurer and his son was a salesman. In January 1947, Dulmage joined the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers 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 ...

Selected works

*''On the Highway to Galilee: Sacred Song''. With H.A. Kelly. 1934. D.L. Schroeder. *''When It's Night-Time in Nevada''. With Richard W. Pascoe and H. O'Reilly Clint. 1931. Jenkins Music. *''Tenderly Think of Me''. With Louis Forbstein. 1926. J.W. Jenkins Sons. *''Dreaming the Hours Away''. 1926. *''Faded Love Letters''. With Billy Jones, Ernest Hare, Luella Lockwood Moore, and Richard W. Pascoe. 1923. Brunswick. *''Say—You Haven't Sacrificed at All!''. With J. Fred Lawton. 1918. Chas E. Roat Music Co. *''H-O-M-E Spells Where I Long To Be''. With Eddie MacGrath and J. Fred Lawton. 1918. Eddie McGrath Publishing Co. *''A Laddie in France is Dreaming (Little Girlie of You)''. With Eddie McGrath. 1918. Eddie McGrath Publishing Co.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dulmage, Will E. 1883 births 1953 deaths American composers American male songwriters People from Holly, Michigan American male composers 20th-century American male musicians