Milton Samuels Explained

Milton Samuels
Birth Name:Isadore Milton Samuels
Birth Date:28 January 1904
Birth Place:Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Death Place:Studio City, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality:American
Occupation:ComposerLyricistMusic publisher
Years Active:1920–1980
Children:Lorelei (Samuels) Trepper, Edward Samuels

Isadore Milton Samuels (January 28, 1904 – January 29, 1990) was an American pianist, composer, and music publisher.

Early life

Samuels was born January 28, 1904, in Denver, Colorado, to Russian-Jewish Immigrants Elias Samuels and Rachel Samuels (nee Varchavsky). Elias was the first rabbi and cantor at Temple Beth Medrosh Hagadol in Denver.[1] Samuels showed an early proclivity to music, and his father hoped he would also choose a career as a cantor. Samuels, however, was far more interested in popular music and jazz.

Musical career

Samuels got his first job at 13 playing piano in a local bordello[2] and played there until he was 19 when he formed his own touring dance band. He entered the music publishing business in 1926 working as a pianist and song plugger.[3] He continued to work as a music publisher, first in Chicago during the 1930s and early 1940s, and then in Hollywood from 1943 until the late 1960s.[4] [5] [6] He worked the longest as the Hollywood manager for the publishing firm Bregman, Vocco, & Conn from 1949 until 1967.[7]

Samuels was a prolific songwriter throughout his entire life, writing popular songs in a variety of genres, production pieces, music for film, and ad jingles. He began writing popular songs early in his life. He was just 22 years old when he wrote "Countin' the Days", which was recorded by Emil Seidel, followed over the next year with three more hit songs, "Don't You Remember Sally?" recorded by the house orchestra for Columbia Records The Columbians, "Smilin' Skies" recorded by numerous artists of the late 1920s, and "Sweet Liza", recorded by Ben Pollack and others.[8] His most well known later songs include the standard "Jim", first recorded in 1941 by Jimmy Dorsey and Dinah Shore; "Angeline" recorded by Dick Todd and others; the country music song "Tennessee Blues", recorded by Tex Ritter and others; and "I'm Moody" recorded by Jack Jones. Samuels collaborated with a number of other composers and lyricists, including Johnny Mercer, Caesar Petrillo, Art Kassel, and Charley Straight.

Samuels also wrote songs under the pseudonyms Edward Ross[9] and Jay Spector.[10]

Personal life

Samuels was married to Esther Samuels (née Spector) from 1927 until her death in 1970. They had two children, pianist and composer Lorelei Samuels Trepper, and the pianist, composer, and conductor Eddy Samuels. Samuels lived in Los Angeles until his death in 1990 at the age of 86.[11]

Selected works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: American Jewish Yearbook . The Jewish Publication Society of America; The Lord Baltimore Press; The Friedenwald Company . 1899 . Adler . Cyrus . 5660; September 5, 1899 to September 23, 1900 . Baltimore, Maryland . 116.
  2. Samuels, Milton, & Tozer, Tom (1976). But don't tell mama. Unpublished memoir.
  3. Book: McNamara, Daniel I. (Ed.) . The ASCAP biographical dictionary of composers, authors and publishers . Thomas Y Crowell Co. . 1952 . New York, New York . 434.
  4. News: May 19, 1943 . Mills installs entirely new professional department . 40 . Variety . October 3, 2023.
  5. News: September 14, 1943 . Vocco to concentrate on Triangle; Bregman, Conn ditto on B-V-C . 47 . Variety . October 3, 2023.
  6. News: March 16, 1949 . BVC's Finburgh to NY as Bourne Mgr . 38 . Variety . October 3, 2023.
  7. Book: The Lynn Farnol Group (Eds) . The ASCAP biographical dictionary of composers, authors and publishers. . American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers . 1966 . New York, NY . 638.
  8. Web site: October 3, 2023 . Discography of American Historical Recordings .
  9. Web site: Jim . September 21, 2023 . SecondHandSongs.
  10. Web site: 1946-1954 Copyright Registration Cards O-Z . September 21, 2023 . Internet Archive.
  11. Web site: October 3, 2023 . Find A Grave .

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