Kerry Mills ''(né'' Frederick Allen Mills; 1 February 1869 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

– 5 December 1948 in

Hawthorne, California Hawthorne is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is part of a seventeen-city region commonly called the South Bay. As of the 2020 US census, Hawthorne had a population of 88, ...

), publishing also as F.A. Mills was an American ragtime composer and music publishing executive of popular music during the

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 ...

era. His stylistically diverse music ranged from ragtime through

cakewalk The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black slave plantations before and after emancipation in the Southern Uni ...

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

. He was most prolific between

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

and 1918.

Career

Mills trained as a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and was head of the Violin Department of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

School of Music when he began composing. 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 ...

in 1895 and started a music publishing firm, (F. A. Mills Music Publisher), publishing his own work and that of others.

Selected works

* "Impecunious Davis" * "In The City Of Sighs And Tears" * "Just For The Sake Of Society" * "Let's All Go Up To Maud's" * "The Longest Way 'Round Is The Sweetest Way Home" * "

Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis", better known as just "Meet Me in St. Louis", is a popular song from 1904 on the occurrence of the St. Louis World's Fair which celebrated the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The words were by Andrew B. Sterling; t ...

" (words by Andrew B. Sterling) *1895 : Rastus on Parade - Characteristic Two Step March for Piano *1895 : Shandon Bells - Two Step March *1896 : Happy Days in Dixie - Characteristic March *1897 : At A Georgia Camp Meeting - A Characteristic March listen to:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLR2ZI0evgs *1899 : Whistling Rufus - Characteristic Two Step March, Polka & Cakewalk *1899 : Impecunious Davis - A Characteristic March *1900 or before: Cake-Walk *1900 : Kerry Mills Medley - Themes from Previous Cake Walk and Songs *1902 : Harmony Moze - Characteristic Two Step *1902 : A Brand Plucked from the Burning (words by Alfred Bryan) *1902 : I Know She Waits for Me (words by Alfred Bryan) *1903 : Valse Hèléne *1903 : Petite Causerie - A Quiet Chat *1903 : Valse Primrose - Les Primevères *1903 : 'Leven Forty-Five From The Hotel - Two Step March *1903 : Me and Me Banjo - Characteristic Piece *1903 : Petite Causerie (A Quiet Chat) *1903 : Valse Helene *1903 : L'amour Aux Bois (Cupid's Bower) *1903 : Valse Primrose (Les Primeveres) *1903 : Like A Star That Falls From Heaven (words by Alfred Bryan) *1904 : We'll Be Together When the Clouds Roll By (words by Alfred Bryan) *1906 : Old Heidelberg: - Characteristic Two Step March *1906 : While The Old Mill Wheel Is Turning (words by Will D. Cobb) *1907 : Red Wing" - An Indian Intermezzo (words by Thurland Chattaway). Mills adapted the melody from

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's "The Happy Farmer" *1908 : Kerry Mills Barn Dance *1908 : Sun Bird - Intermezzo *1908 : Hallie (A Little Romance) *1908 : Sweet Sixteens - March *1908 : Any Old Port in a Storm (words by Arthur J. Lamb) *1908 : If You Were Mine (words by Arthur J. Lamb) *1909 : Comical Eyes (words by Bartley C. Costello) *1909 : Kerry Mills Rag Time Dance *1909 : A Georgia Barn Dance *1909 : The Scarf Dancer - A Novelty Two Step *1909 : Lily of the Prairie - Two Step Intermezzo *1909 : Sicilian Chimes - Reverie *1909 : Kerry Mills Potpourri *1909 : Don't Be an Old Maid, Molly *1909 : Where Were You Last Night? (words by Alfred Bryan) *1910 : That Fascinating Ragtime Glide *1910 : Valley Flower - Intermezzo *1910 : Kerry Mills Palmetto Slide *1910 : The Wyoming Prance - A Rag Time Two Step *1910 : I've Lost My Nannie *1911 : You've Got the Wrong Number, But You've Got the Right Girl (words by Arthur J. Lamb) *1914 : Kerry Mills Turkey Trot *1914 : Kerry Mills Fox Trot *1918 : Snooky Hollow - Intermezzo *1919 : Tokio - Fox Trot on Chorus from Geisha Girl

External links

Sheet music for his song "We'll Be Together When the Clouds Roll By"
from the collection at University of Oregon Libraries *
Kerry Mills recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Kerry 1869 births 1948 deaths American male composers American composers Musicians from Hawthorne, California Ragtime composers University of Michigan faculty

Career

Selected works

See also

External links

References