Peter Dale Wimbrow, usually known as Dale Wimbrow, (June 6, 1895 – January 26, 1954) was an American composer, radio artist and writer. He is best known for the poem, The Guy in the Glass, written in 1934. Earlier in his career, he created several musical recordings in the still-young recording industry, and was known as "The Del-Mar-Va Songster". He occasionally recorded with a quartet of musicians known as the "Rubeville Tuners", and he was also sometimes known as Peter Dale.[1]
Peter Dale Wimbrow was born June 6, 1895, in Whaleyville, Maryland, the son of Nutter Jerome Wimbrow (1867-1957) and Sallie Mary Wimbrow, née Dale (1873-1951). He studied at Western Maryland College until World War I, although no source can be supplied.
Wimbrow's early career was in music and radio. Under his own name and as Old Pete Daley of Whaleysville, he became known for his records and radio performances with orchestras.[2] His credits include a number of recordings in the 1920s, in which he performed as the solo vocalist, and often as his own accompanist (on the ukulele). The majority of those songs were his own creation, and he began turning to songwriting almost exclusively in the later part of the decade.[3] Perhaps his best-known musical composition was the 1930 jazz tune entitled "Accordion Joe". Played by Duke Ellington's band, it appeared that same year as the soundtrack to an animated short film of the same name, starring Betty Boop. The tune has appeared several times over the years in Duke Ellington compilation albums.
Wimbrow established the Indian River News newspaper in June 1948. It was published until September 1966, 12 years after his death in 1954, carried on by his wife.[4] [5]
Wimbrow wrote The Guy in the Glass for publication in The American Magazine in 1934. It is often mistitled The Man In The Glass. The poem became a popular clipping passed between people, and the author's credit was often dropped, leading to inquiries as to the author in newspapers as early as 1938.[6]
Ann Landers printed the poem in her column on October 5, 1983, incorrectly attributing it to an anonymous man who died as a result of struggles with drug abuse. Landers received numerous letters that attributed or claimed different authorship of the poem, but only one of the letters published in her December 5, 1983, column correctly identified the author as Wimbrow.[7]
Wimbrow married Dorothy Livezy, a radio writer and producer. The couple had two children, Sally Dale Wimbrow and Peter Dale Wimbrow, Jr.
Peter Dale Wimbrow died on January 26, 1954, in Sebastian, Florida and was interred at Dale Cemetery in Whaleyville, Maryland.
Dale Wimbrow Park, in Roseland, Florida, is named in his honor.
The poem, The Guy in The Glass, was famously recited by Nigel Adkins, manager of Southampton Football Club in October 2012 during an interview with BBC South following a 4–1 defeat to West Ham United.[8]
| Song Title | Performing Artist | Year Recorded | Label | Role / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Rock-a-bye Baby Days" | Dale Wimbrow (The Del-Mar-Va Songster) (hereinafter "Dale Wimbrow") | 1925 | Victor Talking Machine Company (Victor) | male vocal solo, ukulele (self accompaniment) |
| "Country Bred and Chicken Fed" | Dale Wimbrow and his Rubeville Tuners | 1926 | Edison Records Diamond Disc 11346Blue Amberol Records 5276 | male vocal solo, ukulele (self accompaniment); Released on diamond disc and phonograph cylinder; Digitized and available to listen or download |
| "So Long North (I'm Headin' South)" | Dale Wimbrow Rubeville Tuners | 1926 | Edison | vocal solo, ukulele, songwriter; Digitized (from Victrola playback) and available for listening. |
| "Sleepy Town" | Dale Wimbrow Rubeville Tuners | 1926 | Victor | vocal solo, songwriter |
| "Shake That Thing" | Original Indiana Five | 1926 | Victor | vocal solo |
| "Uncle Hezekiah" | Dale Wimbrow | 1926 | Victor | vocal solo, ukulele (self accompaniment) |
| "Strutting at the Funny Paper Ball" | 1926 | songwriter | ||
| "From Midnight Till Dawn" | 1927 | Victor | songwriter | |
| "Old Fashioned Locket" | 1927 | Victor | songwriter | |
| "Oshkosh" | Dale Wimbrow Rubeville Tuners | 1927 | vocal solo, ukulele, songwriter | |
| "Roll Right Off'a My Green" | Dale Wimbrow Rubeville Tuners | 1927 | Columbia | vocal solo, ukulele, songwriter |
| "Oshkosh" | Dale Wimbrow Rubeville Tuners | 1928 | Edison | vocal solo, ukulele, songwriter |
| "Roll Right Off'a My Green" | Dale Wimbrow Rubeville Tuners | 1928 | Edison | vocal solo, ukulele, songwriter |
| "Black Sheep Blues" | Dale Wimbrow | 1928 | Victor | vocal solo, ukulele (self accompaniment) |
| "Think of Me, Thinking of You" | 1928 | Victor | songwriter | |
| "Wife o'Mine" | 1928 | Victor | composer | |
| "Wife o'Mine" | 1928 | Edison | composer | |
| "I Got Religion" | Rollickers | 1928 | Edison | songwriter (with Irving Bibo) |
| "The County Fair in Delaware" | Dale Wimbrow | 1928 | Columbia; "Del-Mar-Va Special Record" private label[9] | vocal solo, songwriter; Digitized and available for listening. |
| "The Good Old Eastern Shore" | Dale Wimbrow | 1928 | Columbia; "Del-Mar-Va Special Record" private label[10] | vocal solo, songwriter; Digitized and available for listening. |
| "Think of Me, Thinking of You" | Piccadilly Players | 1929 | Edison | songwriter (with Johnny Marvin & Charlie Abbott) |
| "Every Moon's a Honeymoon (With You)" | 1929 | Victor | lyricist | |
| "Plucky Lindy's Lucky Day" | 1929 | Victor | songwriter | |
| "Plucky Lindy's Lucky Day" | High Hatters | 1929 | Victor | songwriter |
| "That's What I Call Heaven" | 1929 | Victor | songwriter | |
| "That's What I Call Heaven" | Leo Reisman Orchestra
| 1929 | Victor | songwriter |
| "That's What I Call Heaven" | Rollickers | 1929 | Edison | songwriter |
| "Goodness Gracious, Gracie" | 1929 | Edison | songwriter (with Casem & Charlie Abbott) | |
| "Accordion Joe" | Jack Teagarden / Cornell & his Orchestra | 1930 (2006) | Jazz Oracle | composer (Wimbrow has sole credit for this original version); Released in 2006 on 1930 Studio Sessions[11] |
| "Accordion Joe" | 1930 | various | composer (with Charles Cornell (alias Cornell Smelser)) | |
| "The First Girl I Met Was the Last Girl I Loved" | Harriet Lee | 1931 | composer (with Charles Abbott) | |