Doris Fisher (May 2, 1915 – January 15, 2003) was an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and

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 ...

, collaborating both as lyricist and composer. She co-wrote many popular songs in the 1940s, including "

Whispering Grass "Whispering Grass (Don't Tell the Trees)" is a popular song written by Fred Fisher and his daughter Doris Fisher. The song was first recorded by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra in 1940. The Ink Spots featuring Bill Kenny also recorded it the sam ...

", " You Always Hurt the One You Love", "

Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" is a 1944 song performed as a duet by The Ink Spots, featuring Bill Kenny, and Ella Fitzgerald. Their recording was made on August 30, 1944 for Decca Records (catalog No. 23356B). The song was written by Allan ...

", " That Ole Devil Called Love", and " Put the Blame on Mame." Her songs were recorded by

the Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ac ...

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

, Bing Crosby,

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

, Pearl Bailey,

the Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...

and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

amongst others.

Biography

Fisher was born in New York, the daughter of noted songwriter Fred Fisher. Her brothers Dan Fisher ("

Good Morning Heartache "Good Morning Heartache" is a song written by Irene Higginbotham, Ervin Drake, and Dan Fisher. It was recorded by jazz singer Billie Holiday on January 22, 1946. Bill Stegmeyer and his Orchestra (Decca Session No. 54) New York City, January 22, ...

") and Marvin Fisher ("When Sunny Gets Blue") also became songwriters. "ASCAP Songwriter Doris Fisher Dies At 87", ASCAP, January 23, 2003
Retrieved 5 May 2014 In the late 1930s she sang regularly on radio station WOR with Eddy Duchin's band. Dennis McLellan, "Obituaries: Doris Fisher, 87; Co-Wrote String of 1940s Hits Recorded by Bing Crosby, Many Others", ''Los Angeles Times'', January 25, 2003
Retrieved 4 May 2014 She also performed with other

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

s including

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, and led the vocal group Penny Wise and Her Wise Guys who recorded for the

Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

label in 1938. Biography by Eugene Chadbourne at Allmusic.com
Retrieved 4 May 2014 Pamela Rose, ''Doris Fisher, 1915 - 2003, Queen of the Jukebox''
/ref> Her first hit composition came the same year, co-writing the

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

"Tutti Frutti" with its performer, Slim Gaillard. Following its success, she began writing songs for

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1909 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of '' Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Act ...

's ''

Star and Garter ''Star and Garter'' is a 1942 American musical revue starring comedian Bobby Clark and produced by Mike Todd. The show, which opened at Broadway's Music Box Theatre on 24 June 1942, was a smash hit, closing on 4 December 1943 after 609 performa ...

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. Biography by Jason Buchanan at All Movie Guide
Retrieved 5 May 2014 In 1940 she co-wrote "

" for

The Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ac ...

with her father. Her most successful songwriting period came after she met

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

Allan Roberts in 1944, in her father's office at the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

. Within a year of starting to work together, they co-wrote " You Always Hurt the One You Love", a no.1 hit that year for the Mills Brothers and in 2017 the Mills Brothers version was inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame; "Good, Good, Good (That's You, That's You)", recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters; "

", another no. 1 hit for the Ink Spots with

; " That Ole Devil Called Love" recorded by

; "Angelina (The Waitress at the Pizzeria)", a hit for

; "

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

", a hit by

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

; and "Invitation to the Blues", which she co-wrote with Roberts and Arthur Gershwin, the younger brother of

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and Ira Gershwin and which was first recorded by

Ella Mae Morse Ella Mae Morse (September 12, 1924 – October 16, 1999) was an American singer of popular music whose 1940s and 1950s recordings mixing jazz, blues, and country styles influenced the development of rock and roll. Her 1942 recording of "Cow-Cow ...

. In 1945, she and Roberts were signed by Harry Cohn of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

in Hollywood to a seven-year contract to supply songs for films."Columbia Pix Sets Two for Tune Staffers", ''Billboard'', 26 May 1945, p.15
/ref> They had immediate success with the songs " Amado Mio" and " Put the Blame on Mame", written for ''

Gilda ''Gilda'' is a 1946 American film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Rita Hayworth in her signature role and Glenn Ford. The film is known for cinematographer Rudolph Maté's lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis's wardrobe fo ...

'' starring

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

, and in all contributed to about twenty films for the company, including ''

Dead Reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...

'' and ''

The Lady from Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Altho ...

''. Fisher's other hit compositions included "That's Good Enough for Me" and "Tired", recorded by Pearl Bailey; "Let's Stay Young Forever", and "It's So Easy". Credits at IMDb
Retrieved 5 May 2014 In a 1947 interview, Fisher said that "Allan is the tear-jerker of the team, and I specialize in light stuff." Fisher's "lighthearted, sentimental" compositions were so popular that at the time she was known as the "Queen of the Juke Box."
Retrieved 5 May 2014 She married real estate developer Charles Gershenson, from Detroit, Michigan in 1947 and left the music business soon afterwards, moving to

Detroit 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 t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

to raise their two children, Frederika and Ned Gershenson. She became a collector of antique American furniture, and an advisor on

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

. In the early 1960s she advised President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

and his wife Jacqueline on interior design for the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. Fisher and Gershenson divorced in the 1960s, and she returned to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

where she set up a retail business, Cookstores, selling kitchen and dining room items. Fisher died at Century City Hospital in Los Angeles in January 2003, aged 87. Her friend, the pianist and singer

Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for cele ...

, praised her tenacity and talent in what at the time was a man's world.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Doris 1915 births 2003 deaths Songwriters from New York (state) Singers from New York City 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women