Robert Hunter MacGimsey (1898 – 1979) was an American composer. His most famous song was "

Sweet Little Jesus Boy "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" is a spiritual Christmas song composed by Robert MacGimsey and published in 1934 by Carl Fischer Music. Baritone Lawrence Tibbett was the first to record it. Robert Merrill recorded his version in 1947 (Victor 10-1303). ...

" (1934), a well-known

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

written in the style of an

African-American spiritual Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the ...

Early years

Born Robert Hunter MacGimsey in Pineville, Louisiana, of white parents, MacGimsey spent most of his formative years in the company of blacks who lived with and worked for and with his family. Due to their influence he wrote in an "African American" style,. and he is often mistakenly assumed to be a black composer. When he was young, MacGimsey sang in the church choir that his mother directed. She ensured that he received training in music, eventually studying under

Frank Damrosch Frank Heino Damrosch (June 22, 1859 – October 22, 1937) was a German-born American music conductor and educator. In 1905, Damrosch founded the New York Institute of Musical Art, a predecessor of the Juilliard School. Life and career Damrosch w ...

at the Institute of Musical Art in New York.

Law and politics

Before he became known for his musical accomplishments, MacGimsey was an attorney in

Lake Providence, Louisiana Lake Providence is a town in, and the parish seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. ...

, in addition to being an adviser to United States Senator

Joseph E. Ransdell Joseph Eugene Ransdell (October 7, 1858July 27, 1954) was an attorney and politician from Louisiana. Beginning in 1899, he was elected for seven consecutive terms as United States representative from Louisiana's 5th congressional district. He sub ...

from Louisiana. In 1960, MacGimsey said that he was giving up music to dedicate the remainder of his life to good government.

Whistling

MacGimsey was also famous for double whistling, or whistling duets.

Composing

MacGimsey is also known for the song "How Do You Do?" which was originally written for the

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

live-action musical drama ''

Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson; produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures. ...

''. The song is also featured in the theme-park attraction

Splash Mountain Splash Mountain is a log flume at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Magic Kingdom, based on the animated sequences of the 1946 Disney film ''Song of the South''. Although there are variations in the story and features between the three locatio ...

located in

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

, and

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be ...

. MacGimsey also composed " Shadrack," which was a 1962 hit for

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), better known as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960 ...

that was also recorded by

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and many others. In 1947,

Robert Merrill Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting an ...

recorded a disc (Victor 10-1303) with MacGimsey's songs ("Sweet Little Jesus Boy" and "To My Mother") on both sides. MacGimsey worked with singer

John Gary John Gary (born John Gary Strader; November 29, 1932 – January 4, 1998) was an American singer, recording artist, television host, and performer on the musical stage. Early life From Watertown, New York, Gary started singing at the age of 5. ...

, beginning with their first meeting after Gary had left the Marines. Gary made a demonstration record with four new songs by MacGimsey, and a friendship developed thereafter.

Papers

MacGimsey's library, letters and works can be found in the library archives at

Louisiana College Louisiana Christian University (LCU) is a private Baptist university in Pineville, Louisiana. It enrolls 1,100 to 1,200 students. It is affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). Louisiana Christia ...

, Pineville, Louisiana.

References

External links

*List of recordings of Robert MacGimsey songs at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

.com (

link 1 Link 1 is a computer network standard developed by NATO to provide information exchange for air defence. General description Link 1 is a point-to-point, duplex, non-encrypted, digital NATO Tactical Data Link (TDL) Standard for the automatic ...

link 2 *List of Robert MacGimsey songs at

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, broadca ...

.com
link
American male composers 1898 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians {{US-composer-19thC-stub