William Merrigan Daly Jr. (1 September 1887 – 3 December 1936) was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

, musical director and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Life and career

William Daly was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of a successful song-and-dance man. He attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1908. By 1911 he was a writer, editor, and eventually general manager for ''

Everybody's Magazine ''Everybody's Magazine'' was an American magazine published from 1899 to 1929. The magazine was headquartered in New York City. History and profile The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little r ...

'' in New York. Daly left the company in 1914 to pursue a show business career. He married in 1915 settling in New York City. Daly played piano with various Broadway orchestras, and in time established himself as a songwriter, arranger, orchestrator, and music director, conducting more than twenty shows between 1915 and 1934. He met

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

in the late 1910s. Daly and George Gershwin collaborated on several Broadway scores. Both contributed songs to ''Piccadilly to Broadway'' (1920), a show which closed in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

, and ''For Goodness' Sake'' (1922). The two jointly composed the score for ''Our Nell'' in 1923. This was the beginning of a long friendship; Daly was a frequent arranger, orchestrator and conductor of Gershwin's music, and Gershwin periodically turned to him for musical advice. Gershwin dedicated his 1926 '' Preludes for Piano'' to Daly. Around 1930, Daly also became conductor and music director of the

National Broadcasting Company 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 ...

radio orchestra. Daly died suddenly of a heart attack in December 1936.

Works

;Operetta * ''Western Stuff'', Operetta in 1 reel (1917); libretto by

James Montgomery Flagg James Montgomery Flagg (June 18, 1877 – May 27, 1960) was an American artist, comics artist, and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters, particularly his ...

;Broadway musical contributions (songs and numbers) * ''Betty'' (1916) :: ''Spilling the Beans'', Fox-trot * ''Everything'' (1918) :: "You're the Very Girl I've Looked For" :: "Sunshine Alley" :: "Come to the Land of Romance" :: "Roll Along" * ''

Kissing Time ''Kissing Time'', and an earlier version titled ''The Girl Behind the Gun'', are musical comedies with music by Ivan Caryll, book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, and additional lyrics by Clifford Grey. The story is based on the 1 ...

'' (1920); earlier version staged in London :: "The Nicest Sort of Feeling" * ''For Goodness' Sake'' (1922); co-composed with Paul Lannin; additional songs by

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

:: "All to Myself" :: "When You're in Rome" :: "Every Day" :: "Twilight" :: "Greatest Team of All" :: "Oh Gee! Oh Gosh! I Love You" :: "In the Days of Wild Romance" :: "When Somebody Cares" :: "The French Pastry Walk" :: "The Whichness of the Whatness" * ''

Earl Carroll Earl Carroll (September 16, 1893 – June 17, 1948) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, songwriter and composer. Early life Carroll was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1893. He lived as an infant in the Nunnery Hill ( Fin ...

's Vanities of 1923'' (1923) :: "A Girl Is Like Sunshine" :: "Laugh While You're Dancing Around" * ''Our Nell'' (1923); co-composed with

:: "Gol-Durn!" :: "Innocent Ingenue Baby" :: "Old New England Home" :: "The Cooney County Fair" :: "Names I Love to Hear" :: "By-and-By" :: "Madrigal" :: "We Go to Church on Sunday" :: "Walking Home with Angeline" :: "Oh, You Lady!" :: "Little Villages" * ''Jack and Jill'' (1923) :: "Hello! Good-Bye" :: "Pretty City Girl (I Want a Pretty Girl)" ;Filmography * ''

Air Mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

'' as 'Tex' Lane (1932); directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

* "Could I Be in Love?", Song from the 1937 film ''

Champagne Waltz ''Champagne Waltz'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Gladys Swarthout, Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie. The theme of the film was inspired by the eponymous hit song, written in 1934, by the compositional ...

'' directed by

A. Edward Sutherland Albert Edward Sutherland (January 5, 1895 – December 31, 1973) was a British-born film director and actor. Born in London, he was from a theatrical family. His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Rin ...

;Literary * ''George Gershwin as Orchestrator'' (1933); published in the 15 January 1933 issue of

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Notes

References

External links

* *
Schenectedy Gazette, 7 May 1930: ''Dynamic Daly – Radio's New Orchestra Leader Works Hard to Attain Good Effects''

Caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

of William Daly as conductor. {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, William Merrigan 1887 births 1936 deaths American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers American male conductors (music) American music arrangers 20th-century American conductors (music) American music directors Songwriters from New York (state) Musicians from Cincinnati Musicians from New York City Songwriters from Ohio Harvard University alumni 20th-century American composers American male pianists Classical musicians from New York (state) Classical musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters