Jack "Bones" O'Brien ''(né'' John Roger O'Brien; 16 October 1903 – 12 October 1982) was an American jazz pianist and songwriter from

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

. Notably, O'Brien was pianist, composer, and arranger with the

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), known professionally as Ted Weems, was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcai ...

orchestra from 1925 through 1941.

Growing up

John Roger O'Brien was born October 16, 1903, in

Lehighton, Pennsylvania Lehighton () is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Due in part to water power from the Lehigh River, Lehighton was an early center for U.S. industrialization. The Lehigh Valley ...

, to the marriage of Charles William O'Brien (1879–1960) and Anna Lena Fetherolf (1878–1967). He was raised in nearby

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

. In 1921, O'Brien graduated from Bethlehem Preparatory School in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

. He went on to

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...

, where he was in a fraternity, and then to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he studied organ with David McK. Williams ''(né'' David McKinley Williams; 1887–1978).

Career

From 1925 to 1941, O'Brien was pianist and arranger with

. He began songwriting, exclusively, in 1941. Before playing piano with

, O'Brien got an early start with Art Mickley ''(né'' Arthur Hazard Mickley; 1900–1978) and His Orchestra, when he was dubbed "Bones." He then was pianist for several years with the Mason-Dixon Orchestra. He then started his own orchestra. Then played piano with

for about 15 years. His song, "Remember Me," was once the theme song of

Morton Downey John Morton Downey (November 14, 1901 – October 25, 1985), also known as Morton Downey, was an American singer and entertainer popular in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, enjoying his greatest success in the late 1920s ...

. In 1941, O'Brien co-composed (with Moe Jaffe, and Bert Lee, pseudonym of

Bert Lown Bert Lown (born Albert Charles Lown; 6 June 1903 – 20 November 1962) was an American violinist, orchestra leader, and songwriter. Career Lown was born in White Plains, New York. He began as a sideman playing the violin in Fred Hamm's band, an ...

) "Thumbs Up!" ''(aka'' "British Delivers the Goods"), which became the official theme song of the

British War Relief Society The British War Relief Society (BWRS) was a US-based Humanitarianism, humanitarian umbrella organisation dealing with the supply of non-military aid such as food, clothes, medical supplies and financial aid to people in Timeline of the United Ki ...

. The song went on to become the theme and movie title for the 1943 film, '' Thumbs Up.''

ASCAP boycott

My Greatest Mistake "My Greatest Mistake" is a popular song written in 1940 by Jack Fulton and Jack "Bones" O'Brien. Comments The original piano and vocal score is in E major. The song was Jack Fulton's first hit. Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc., of New York was the ...

" was a hit in 1940 and was one of some 1,250,000 songs under an

ASCAP 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, broadc ...

license. In 1940,

attempted to double its fees to broadcasters for the airing of licensed songs. For ten months – January 1, 1941, to October 29, 1941 – radio broadcasters, namely

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, banned all music licensed by ASCAP. Given the timing of the launch of "

," the

ASCAP boycott The ASCAP boycott was a 1941 boycott of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) by radio broadcasters, due to license fees. From another perspective, it was a boycott of radio broadcasters by ASCAP, "concerned about the un ...

, according to O'Brien, stunted the momentum of the song's popularity.

Selected compositions

"Remember Me" (© 1932) (
ASCAP 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, broadc ...
)

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (G ...
(words)
Jack O'Brien (music)
"The Toyland Band" (© 1932) (
ASCAP 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, broadc ...
)
Walter Hirsch (1891–1967) (w&m)

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), known professionally as Ted Weems, was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcai ...
(w&m)
Jack O'Brien (w&m)
"On the Island of Catalina" (© 1939) (
ASCAP 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, broadc ...
)

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), known professionally as Ted Weems, was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcai ...
(w&m)
Jack O'Brien (w&m)
Moe Jaffe (w&m)
"
My Greatest Mistake "My Greatest Mistake" is a popular song written in 1940 by Jack Fulton and Jack "Bones" O'Brien. Comments The original piano and vocal score is in E major. The song was Jack Fulton's first hit. Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc., of New York was the ...
" (© 1940) (
ASCAP 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, broadc ...
)

Jack Fulton John Collins Fulton (June 13, 1903 – November 13, 1993) was an American composer, trombonist, and vocalist. At the age of 17, he started playing the trombone for small-town dances. He sang with the Mason-Dixon Orchestra. He also played the tro ...
(w&m)
Jack O'Brien (w&m)
"Moon Over Sun Valley" (© 1940) (
ASCAP 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, broadc ...
)

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), known professionally as Ted Weems, was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcai ...
(w&m)
Jack O'Brien (w&m)
Moe Jaffe (w&m)
"Thumbs Up" (© 1941)
Bert Lee (pseudonym of
Bert Lown Bert Lown (born Albert Charles Lown; 6 June 1903 – 20 November 1962) was an American violinist, orchestra leader, and songwriter. Career Lown was born in White Plains, New York. He began as a sideman playing the violin in Fred Hamm's band, an ...
) (w&m)
Moe Jaffe (w&m)
Jack O'Brien (w&m)
"From One Lonely Heart to Another" (© 1949) (
ASCAP 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, broadc ...
)
Moe Jaffe (words)
Jack O'Brien (music)
Open Up the Bottle (© 1939)
Moe Jaffe (words)
Jack O'Brien (music)

Family

John Roger O'Brien was born October 16, 1903, in

, to Charles William O'Brien (1879–1960) and Anna Lena Fetherolf (maiden; 1878–1967) * O'Brien married Helen Mosten Rusch (1905–1973) on May 8, 1931, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, with whom he had a son, John Rusch O'Brien. * O'Brien married Florence Erich Bower (1914–1997) on April 24, 1945, in

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Lehigh County (; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Lechaa Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the coun ...

, with whom he had a son, Kevin R. O'Brien.

Collaborators

* Glen Carr, orchestra leader *

Jack Fulton John Collins Fulton (June 13, 1903 – November 13, 1993) was an American composer, trombonist, and vocalist. At the age of 17, he started playing the trombone for small-town dances. He sang with the Mason-Dixon Orchestra. He also played the tro ...

Notes and references

Notes

Disambiguation

Jack O'Brien of this article is not to be confused with another Jack O'Brien ''(né'' John Joseph O'Brien; 1906–1996) from Connecticut, also a jazz pianist, but one who, among other things, performed with the New Yorkers ''aka'' the New Yorkers Tanzorchester, directed by George Carhart, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1927 and 1928 – and in Paris in 1928 with Lud Gluskin (1898–1989).

References

External links

"Jack O'Brien"
(biography), by

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

(retrieved May 11, 2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Jack 1903 births 1982 deaths Muhlenberg College alumni American jazz bandleaders American big band bandleaders Songwriters from Pennsylvania Orchestra leaders Big band pianists American jazz pianists Musicians from Allentown, Pennsylvania 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American songwriters