Harry Carroll (November 28, 1892, in Atlantic City, New Jersey – December 26, 1962, in

Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania Mount Carmel is a borough in Northumberland County, located in the Coal Heritage Region of Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River Valley, United States. The population was 5,725 at the 2020 census. It is located 88 miles (141 km) north ...

) was an American songwriter, pianist, and composer.

Biography

Carroll taught himself how to play the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and began playing in movie houses before he finished grade school. After he graduated from high school, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where he worked as an arranger in Tin Pan Alley and at night entertained at the Garden Café and accompanied various

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 ...

shows. He contributed the song (lyric by Ballard MacDonald) "Nix on the Concertina, Lena" to the Ziegfeld Follies of 1910. In 1912, Carroll was hired by the Schubert brothers'

Winter Garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtro ...

productions as a contract writer. He worked with Arthur Fields to produce his first hit, ''On the Mississippi.'' In 1913 he again collaborated with Ballard MacDonald on the big hit song " The Trail of the Lonesome Pine." He wrote several

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 ...

stage scores including some popular favorites: "

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popular music, popular Vaudeville song. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from ''Fantaisie-Impromptu'' by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy (lyricist), ...

" (based on a section of ''

Fantaisie-Impromptu Frédéric Chopin's ''Fantaisie-Impromptu'' ( pl, Fantazja-Impromptu) in C minor, Op. posth. 66, WN 46 is a solo piano composition. It was composed in 1834 and published posthumously in 1855 despite Chopin's instruction that none of ...

'' by Frédéric Chopin), " By the Beautiful Sea" and "There's a Girl in the Heart of Maryland." Harry Carroll toured with vaudeville star Anna Wheaton for many years during this time. Harry Carroll served as the director of ASCAP from 1914 to 1917. He later moved west 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 ...

and became involved in early movies.

Personal

Carroll's first marriage to Radio City Rockette, Estelle Cooper in 1921 ended in a bitter divorce in 1925, though not finalized until 1934. Carroll's second marriage was to singer and dancer Pauline Baker (b. circa 1912, d. before 2011). They had two children, Harriett (b. circa 1932, d. before 2011) and Pauline ("Polly") (1934-2011). Harry and Pauline Carroll performed in Las Vegas and toured in the 1940s and together wrote "Say When," a song which Pauline introduced at Grace Hayes Lodge in the San Fernando Valley and was featured in ''Blackouts of 1942.''

Death

He died on December 26, 1962, in

, survived by his second wife and 2 daughters and numerous grandchildren.

Legacy

In 1970, eight years after his death, Carroll was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

.Harry Carroll (I) – Biography
/ref>

References

External links

*
Harry Carroll recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Harry 1892 births 1962 deaths Songwriters from New Jersey Musicians from Atlantic City, New Jersey Musicians from New York City Vaudeville performers Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians