Harry D. Kerr Explained

Harry David Kerr (8 October 1880 Santa Rosa, California – 21 May 1957 Los Angeles) was an American songwriter, lyricist, author, and lawyer. Kerr became active in music at age 15 (1895). The practice of law had been his prime avocation until 1920, when he decided to focus on songwriting. But he still continued to use his legal training in music. In 1922, while living in New York City, Kerr prepared the incorporation documents for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), of which he had become one of 90 charter members at its founding in 1914.

Copyright activist

From February 1900 to 1903, he had studied law in the law office of George H. Cobb of Watertown, New York. In May 1905, Kerr received an LL.B. from Albany Law School.

Beginning in 1907 as a young lawyer, Kerr worked for about 18 months with a coalition in Washington, D.C., for the passage of the Copyright Act of 1909, which secured the rights of composers to charge royalties on the sales of sound recordings. While lobbying for it, Kerr was associated with the New York City law firm Dougherty, Olcott & Tenney.

The U.S. Congregational Committee on Copyrights began hearings Mary 26–28, 1908, at the Library of Congress, to vet the concerns and proposals of authors and managers. Constituent groups giving testimony were the (i) National Association of Theatrical Managers, (ii) the Allied Copyright Committee, and (iii) the White Rats, an author advocacy group of which Kerr was a member.

In 1909, Kerr also wrote the lyrics to "Get on a Raft With Taft," President William H. Taft's campaign song — a particularly memorable concept given that Taft weighed 300 lbs. Taft signed the Copyright Act into law.

Growing up

Kerr attended Gouverneur High School, Gouverneur, New York, during the 1899–1900 school-year. He moved to Watertown, New York, sometime after that, but before 1901.

Career before becoming a lawyer

In June 1901, Kerr moved from Watertown, New York, to Denver to accept an executive and governance position — corporate secretary and director — with The New York Mining and Development Company, of which Ezekiel Hanson Cook, PhD (1845–1907), who from 1994 to 1889 had been the president of Potsdam Normal College, was president. Charles Finding was the Vice President and Charles Love was the Treasurer. The same group of executives simultaneously ran another Denver-based mining company called Mountain Pride Mining Co.

Selected songs

(publisher unknown)
Windsor Music Co, Chicago, New York
Willis Woodward & Co., New York
The Mammoth Music Company, Albany, New York
Roger A. Graham, Providence
Metropolis Music Co.
M. Witmark & Sons
Jerome H. Remick & Co., Detroit, New York
Leo Feist, Inc.

French Version: "Tout ton amour pour moi," French text by A. Bollaert

Victor Kremer Co, Chicago
Miller Music Publishing Co., Chicago
Vinton Pub. Co., Boston
Joe Morris Music Co., New York
Church, Paxson and Co., New York
G. Schirmer
C. C. Church & Co., Hartford
New Amsterdam Music Corporation, New York
Gillick Co., San Francisco
Joseph W. Stern & Co.
Chas. E. Roat Music Co., Battle Creek, Michigan
Edward L. Ballenger Music Publishing Co., Los Angeles
Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
Pace & Handy Music Co., Memphis
ArtMusic, Inc., New York (Will Von Tilzer; né William Gumm; 1882–1952)
Broadway Music Corporation (Will Von Tilzer; 1882–1952)
Los Angeles Music Publishing Co.
T. Presser, Philadelphia
F.B. Haviland Pub. Co. (Frederick Benjamin Haviland; 1867–1932)
C. Arthur Fifer Music Co., Quincy, Illinois (Charles Arthur Fifer; 1884–1950)
L.F. Collin, Melbourne (distributor for C. Arthur Fifer Music Co.)
Wright Music, Seattle
A.J. Stasny Music Co.
J.W. Jenkin's Sons Music, Kansas City, Missouri
Maurice Richmond (1880–1965), New York

(aka "Share Your Heart" & "Will You Share Your Heart With Me?")

Nacio Herb Brown, Los Angeles
Chappell & Co., Ltd., London
Allan & Co., Melbourne
J Mills, New York
Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc.
Sam Fox Publishing Company
Henry Burr Music Corporation, New York
Forster Music Publisher, Inc., Inc., Chicago
Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco
J. Albert & Son, Sydney
DeSylva, Brown and Henderson Inc., New York — selling agents – Crawford Music Corp.
Suttons, Melbourne
R.L. Huntzinger, New York
William Conrad Polla (1876–1939)
Boston Music
State Theatre Collection, Sydney, Australia (for cinema use)

Selected recordings

Record labels

Blue Amberol Records
Nordskog Records
Brunswick Records
Victor

Song titles

"Neapolitan Nights" ("Oh, Nights of Splendor")

Filmography

Hold Me in Paradise (2010 film) — "Do You Ever Think Of Me?" (uncredited)

Episode 8.46 (1963) — "Neapolitan Nights" (uncredited)

Screenplays

The Motorcycle Kid (1953) (original story)

Radio theme music

Pseudonyms

Progressive sociological essays by Kerr

Family

Kerr was married twice.

His first marriage was to Harriet Lodge Hastings (maiden; 1883–1946). They married on October 9, 1905, in Albany, New York. His second marriage was to Ruth Eleanor Minter (maiden; 1892–1969). They married on December 20, 1919, in Santa Ana, California, and remained married until his death.

References

General references
Inline citations

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