Moe Jaffe
Encyclopedia
Moe Jaffe was a songwriter and bandleader who composed more than 250 songs. He is best known for six: "Collegiate" (which was played by Chico Marx
in the movie "Horse Feathers
"), “The Gypsy in My Soul
", “If I Had My Life to Live Over
", “If You Are But a Dream
", “Bell Bottom Trousers
”, and “I'm My Own Grandpa
".
, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. Shortly after his birth, the family emigrated to America and settled in Keyport, New Jersey
. After graduating from Keyport High School
, Jaffe worked his way through the University of Pennsylvania
's Wharton School
(class of '23) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School
(class of '26) by playing piano and leading a campus dance band, Jaffe's Collegians.
It was the band's theme song, “Collegiate", that turned him toward Tin Pan Alley
. Written by Jaffe and fellow student Nat Bonx, “Collegiate” was well known on the campus when Fred Waring
(a Pennsylvania State grad) brought his "Pennsylvanians" to play at the university's annual Ivy Ball. Waring received so many requests for the song that he assumed it was published. When he learned that the writers were students, he arranged to meet them. On April 4, 1925, Waring recorded “Collegiate” at the Victor Talking Machine Company
studios in Camden, New Jersey
. It was one of the first electrical recordings of a song, using an electrical microphone instead an acoustic horn.
Waring's recording helped make “Collegiate” number three in the country, selling more than one million copies of sheet music. To date, the song sold has over five million discs and was "interpolated" into several movies, including Chico Marx's piano version in Horse Feathers (1932).
Jaffe continued his songwriting, primarily as a lyricist, though he wrote the music for some songs. In 1927, a Shubert Brothers production, "Listen, Dearie", had included the song “Sweetest Little Girl", by Jaffe, Nat Bonx and Clay Boland. Jaffe contributed songs to three revues produced by the Messrs. Shubert: “Pleasure Bound", “A Night in Venice” and “Broadway Nights".
One of his most successful songs, “The Gypsy in My Soul", was written with Clay Boland in 1937 for the 50th annual production of the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig
Show.
"Varsity shows" at the time were major productions, playing in theaters and drawing audiences from outside the university community. The songs were printed in a portfolio and sold as souvenirs. In 1935, Brooks Bowman wrote “East of the Sun
” for a Princeton Triangle show and copyrighted it. After that, contributing songwriters secured independent publication of their songs, which were published in individual copies, orchestrated for dance, and recorded by name artists.
Jaffe teamed with Clay Boland to write the scores for nine Mask & Wig shows between 1936 and 1950. Since “The Gypsy in My Soul” has been recorded at least 100 times since then, it was wise for Jaffe and Boland to retain the rights.
, when it was featured by Kate Smith
, Buddy Clark
and Bob Eberly
, among others.
In 1941, Jaffe, Nat Bonx and musician Jack Fulton adapted Anton Rubenstein's classical “Romance", added lyrics, and called their version “If You Are But a Dream". After Jimmy Dorsey
and his Orchestra introduced the song (with Bob Eberly's vocal), it went on to take a permanent place among Frank Sinatra
's greatest hits—recorded on Columbia with Axel Stordahl
's arrangement, and on Capitol with Nelson Riddle
's arrangement. This version is featured in the film Radio Days
.
In 1944, Jaffe took credit for words and music, without collaboration, on
"Bell Bottom Trousers” -- although he would freely admit that it wasn't an entirely original concept. For a hundred years or more, sailors sang a much bawdier version of the tune, much too "blue" for the times. Fortunately, Jaffe's cleaned-up version was tame enough for Ruth McCullough to sing when Tony Pastor
's orchestra recorded the song. And additional recordings by Guy Lombardo
, Louis Prima, Jerry Colonna and others made “Bell Bottom Trousers” Tune-Dex Digest's number two selling song for 1944-45 (second to “Don't Fence Me In”).
In the mid 1940s, Jaffe formed a business collaboration with Paul Kapp, a personal manager for musical artists. Together, they founded General Music Publishing Company, which had its first big hit in 1948 with Jaffe's song “I'm My Own Grandpaw", co-written with Dwight Latham. Latham was a singer with The Jesters, a popular trio known for their novelty songs. He was probably the one who remembered an anecdote, attributed to Mark Twain
, that described someone who became his own grandfather by marrying his daughter's stepmother. A more recent (and credible) attribution (in O.V. Michaelsen's Words at Play: Quips, Quirks and Oddities [Sterling Publishng, Co., New York, 1997]) indicates that the song was based on a story called Singular Intermarriages, printed in Charles Bombaugh's "Gleanings" in 1870. Whatever its origins, “I'm My Own Grandpaw” has been consistently performed and recorded ever since—including a 2001 release by Willie Nelson
.
Other songs in the Jaffe catalog include “Oh, You Sweet One,” written with Paul Kapp in 1949, recorded by The Andrews Sisters; “Bread and Gravy”, written with Dwight Latham in 1948, recorded by Homer and Jethro
; “I Don't Know from Nothin'", written with Henry Tobias in 1949, recorded by Don Cornell
and Laura Leslie with the Sammy Kaye
Orchestra; “It's Just a Matter of Opinion,” written with Carl Lampl in 1946, recorded by Gene Krupa
; “An Apple a Day", written with Clay Boland in 1936, recorded by Hal Kemp; and “Charlie Was a Boxer", written with George Keefer and Vincent Lopez
in 1940, and recorded by Lopez.
A few Jaffe songs have a spiritual or gospel flavor, such as: “Get Together with the Lord", written with Bickley Reichner in 1945, recorded by Andy Kirk
's Orchestra with The Jubalaires; “Pray”, written with Reichner and Clay Boland in 1950, recorded by Hank Snow; “Just Whisper”, written with Reichner in 1951, recorded by Savannah Churchill
; and “These Things Are Known (Only to God)”, written with Paul Kapp in 1951, and recorded by Jan Peerce
.
By the 1960s, the music industry had changed dramatically, and the kind of songs Jaffe wrote fell out of public favor. Fortunately, a few of his tunes continued to be recorded, especially “Gypsy in My Soul”, primarily by jazz artists, and “Grandpaw”, mostly by country singers. Also, General Music Publishing enjoyed a few more prosperous years by publishing a song called “I Left My Heart in San Francisco
”, written by Douglass Cross and George Cory.
By the time of Tony Bennett
's hit, though, Jaffe was suffering from Parkinson's Disease
and his overall health was failing. He had lived in Teaneck, New Jersey
for many years, and died at a hospital in nearby Englewood, New Jersey
, on December 2, 1972.
Chico Marx
Leonard "Chico" Marx was an American comedian and film star as part of the Marx Brothers. His persona in the act was that of a dim-witted albeit crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes, and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat.As the first-born of the...
in the movie "Horse Feathers
Horse Feathers
Horse Feathers is a Marx Brothers film comedy. It stars the four Marx Brothers and Thelma Todd. It was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S. J. Perelman, and Will B. Johnstone. Kalmar and Ruby also wrote some of the original music for the film...
"), “The Gypsy in My Soul
The Gypsy in My Soul
"The Gypsy in My Soul" is a popular song written for the 50th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig show in 1937 by two Penn graduates, Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe. Boland wrote the music and Jaffe the lyrics...
", “If I Had My Life to Live Over
If I Had My Life to Live Over
"If I Had My Life to Live Over" is a popular song.It was written by Moe Jaffe, Larry Vincent and Henry Tobias and published in 1939.The song is now a recognized standard, recorded by many artists....
", “If You Are But a Dream
If You Are but a Dream
"If You Are But a Dream" is a popular song published in 1942 with words and music by Moe Jaffe, Jack Fulton and Nat Bonx. The melody is based on Anton Rubinstein's "Romance in E flat, Op. 44,No. 1," popularly known as "Rubenstein's Romance....
", “Bell Bottom Trousers
Bell Bottom Trousers
"Bell Bottom Trousers" is an old sea shanty about a simple English girl and a sailor, and possibly originated in the British Royal Navy. It is a "bawdy" shanty and is typical of the vulgarity of many sea shantys...
”, and “I'm My Own Grandpa
I'm My Own Grandpa
"I'm My Own Grandpa" is a novelty song written by Dwight Latham and Moe Jaffe, performed by Lonzo and Oscar in 1947, about a man who, through an unlikely combination of marriages, becomes stepfather to his own stepmother — that is, tacitly dropping the "step-" modifiers, he becomes his own...
".
First success
Jaffe was born into a Jewish family in Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. Shortly after his birth, the family emigrated to America and settled in Keyport, New Jersey
Keyport, New Jersey
Keyport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,240. Keyport's nickname is the "Pearl of the Bayshore" or the "Gateway to the Bayshore"....
. After graduating from Keyport High School
Keyport High School
Keyport High School is a five-year public high school in Keyport, New Jersey, United States, for students in grades 8-12, operated as part of the Keyport Public Schools. Students in grades 9-12 from Union Beach attend the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship...
, Jaffe worked his way through the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
's Wharton School
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
(class of '23) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Law School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Ivy League, it is among the oldest and most selective law schools in the nation. It is currently ranked 7th overall by U.S. News & World Report,...
(class of '26) by playing piano and leading a campus dance band, Jaffe's Collegians.
It was the band's theme song, “Collegiate", that turned him toward Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
. Written by Jaffe and fellow student Nat Bonx, “Collegiate” was well known on the campus when Fred Waring
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
(a Pennsylvania State grad) brought his "Pennsylvanians" to play at the university's annual Ivy Ball. Waring received so many requests for the song that he assumed it was published. When he learned that the writers were students, he arranged to meet them. On April 4, 1925, Waring recorded “Collegiate” at the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
studios in Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
. It was one of the first electrical recordings of a song, using an electrical microphone instead an acoustic horn.
Waring's recording helped make “Collegiate” number three in the country, selling more than one million copies of sheet music. To date, the song sold has over five million discs and was "interpolated" into several movies, including Chico Marx's piano version in Horse Feathers (1932).
On Broadway
From the late 1920s through the mid '40s, Jaffe's songwriting made Jaffe and his orchestra a Philadelphia favorite. Their music was broadcast live from the Georgian Room of the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. For many summers, he also took his band to Poland Spring, Maine, where they were the house orchestra at the Poland Spring House.Jaffe continued his songwriting, primarily as a lyricist, though he wrote the music for some songs. In 1927, a Shubert Brothers production, "Listen, Dearie", had included the song “Sweetest Little Girl", by Jaffe, Nat Bonx and Clay Boland. Jaffe contributed songs to three revues produced by the Messrs. Shubert: “Pleasure Bound", “A Night in Venice” and “Broadway Nights".
One of his most successful songs, “The Gypsy in My Soul", was written with Clay Boland in 1937 for the 50th annual production of the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig
Mask and Wig
The Mask and Wig Club, founded in 1889 by Clayton Fotterall McMichael, is the oldest all-male collegiate musical comedy troupe in the United States...
Show.
"Varsity shows" at the time were major productions, playing in theaters and drawing audiences from outside the university community. The songs were printed in a portfolio and sold as souvenirs. In 1935, Brooks Bowman wrote “East of the Sun
East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)
"East of the Sun " is a popular song written by Brooks Bowman, an undergraduate member of Princeton University's Class of 1936, for the 1934 production of the Princeton Triangle Club's production of Stags at Bay...
” for a Princeton Triangle show and copyrighted it. After that, contributing songwriters secured independent publication of their songs, which were published in individual copies, orchestrated for dance, and recorded by name artists.
Jaffe teamed with Clay Boland to write the scores for nine Mask & Wig shows between 1936 and 1950. Since “The Gypsy in My Soul” has been recorded at least 100 times since then, it was wise for Jaffe and Boland to retain the rights.
Later hits
Although "book shows" like the Mask & Wig productions provide songwriters with a context, most of Jaffe’s subsequent songs, written with various collaborators, were created independently of the stage. In 1937, for example, Jaffe teamed up with Henry Tobias and Larry Vincent to write “If I Had My Life to Live Over", a sentimental waltz that caught on after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when it was featured by Kate Smith
Kate Smith
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
, Buddy Clark
Buddy Clark
Buddy Clark was a popular American singer in the 1930s and 1940s.-Life and career:Clark was born Samuel Goldberg to Jewish parents in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He made his Big Band singing debut in 1934 with Benny Goodman on the Let's Dance radio program. In 1936 he started to perform on the...
and Bob Eberly
Bob Eberly
Bob Eberly was a big band vocalist, best-known for his association with Jimmy Dorsey and his duets with Helen O'Connell....
, among others.
In 1941, Jaffe, Nat Bonx and musician Jack Fulton adapted Anton Rubenstein's classical “Romance", added lyrics, and called their version “If You Are But a Dream". After Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
and his Orchestra introduced the song (with Bob Eberly's vocal), it went on to take a permanent place among Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's greatest hits—recorded on Columbia with Axel Stordahl
Axel Stordahl
Axel Stordahl was an arranger who was active from the late 1930s through the 1950s. He is perhaps best known for his work with Frank Sinatra in the 1940s at Columbia Records...
's arrangement, and on Capitol with Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
's arrangement. This version is featured in the film Radio Days
Radio Days
Radio Days is a 1987 comedy film directed by Woody Allen. The film looks back on an American family's life during the Golden Age of Radio using both music and memories to tell the story.-Plot:...
.
In 1944, Jaffe took credit for words and music, without collaboration, on
"Bell Bottom Trousers” -- although he would freely admit that it wasn't an entirely original concept. For a hundred years or more, sailors sang a much bawdier version of the tune, much too "blue" for the times. Fortunately, Jaffe's cleaned-up version was tame enough for Ruth McCullough to sing when Tony Pastor
Tony Pastor
Tony Pastor was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid-to-late nineteenth century...
's orchestra recorded the song. And additional recordings by Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, Louis Prima, Jerry Colonna and others made “Bell Bottom Trousers” Tune-Dex Digest's number two selling song for 1944-45 (second to “Don't Fence Me In”).
In the mid 1940s, Jaffe formed a business collaboration with Paul Kapp, a personal manager for musical artists. Together, they founded General Music Publishing Company, which had its first big hit in 1948 with Jaffe's song “I'm My Own Grandpaw", co-written with Dwight Latham. Latham was a singer with The Jesters, a popular trio known for their novelty songs. He was probably the one who remembered an anecdote, attributed to Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, that described someone who became his own grandfather by marrying his daughter's stepmother. A more recent (and credible) attribution (in O.V. Michaelsen's Words at Play: Quips, Quirks and Oddities [Sterling Publishng, Co., New York, 1997]) indicates that the song was based on a story called Singular Intermarriages, printed in Charles Bombaugh's "Gleanings" in 1870. Whatever its origins, “I'm My Own Grandpaw” has been consistently performed and recorded ever since—including a 2001 release by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
.
Other songs in the Jaffe catalog include “Oh, You Sweet One,” written with Paul Kapp in 1949, recorded by The Andrews Sisters; “Bread and Gravy”, written with Dwight Latham in 1948, recorded by Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. Haynes and Kenneth C. Burns , popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versions of popular songs...
; “I Don't Know from Nothin'", written with Henry Tobias in 1949, recorded by Don Cornell
Don Cornell
Don Cornell was an American singer prominent mainly in the 1940s and 1950s noted for his smooth but robust baritone voice....
and Laura Leslie with the Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye , born Samuel Zarnocay, Jr., was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era.-Biography:...
Orchestra; “It's Just a Matter of Opinion,” written with Carl Lampl in 1946, recorded by Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
; “An Apple a Day", written with Clay Boland in 1936, recorded by Hal Kemp; and “Charlie Was a Boxer", written with George Keefer and Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez
Vincent Lopez was an American bandleader and pianist.Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York and was leading his own dance band in New York City by 1917...
in 1940, and recorded by Lopez.
A few Jaffe songs have a spiritual or gospel flavor, such as: “Get Together with the Lord", written with Bickley Reichner in 1945, recorded by Andy Kirk
Andy Kirk
Andrew Dewey Kirk was a jazz saxophonist and tubist best known as a bandleader of the "Twelve Clouds of Joy," popular during the swing era....
's Orchestra with The Jubalaires; “Pray”, written with Reichner and Clay Boland in 1950, recorded by Hank Snow; “Just Whisper”, written with Reichner in 1951, recorded by Savannah Churchill
Savannah Churchill
Savannah Churchill was a successful American singer of pop, jazz, and blues music in the 1940s and 1950s.-Career:...
; and “These Things Are Known (Only to God)”, written with Paul Kapp in 1951, and recorded by Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is the father of film director Larry Peerce....
.
By the 1960s, the music industry had changed dramatically, and the kind of songs Jaffe wrote fell out of public favor. Fortunately, a few of his tunes continued to be recorded, especially “Gypsy in My Soul”, primarily by jazz artists, and “Grandpaw”, mostly by country singers. Also, General Music Publishing enjoyed a few more prosperous years by publishing a song called “I Left My Heart in San Francisco
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in 1954 by George Cory and Douglass Cross, and best known as the signature song of Tony Bennett...
”, written by Douglass Cross and George Cory.
By the time of Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
's hit, though, Jaffe was suffering from Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and his overall health was failing. He had lived in Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....
for many years, and died at a hospital in nearby Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
, on December 2, 1972.
External links
- Complete Biography
- ASCAP song list
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kDHD4Bs_EIChico Marx playing "Collegiate" to Thelma ToddThelma ToddThelma Alice Todd was an American actress. Appearing in about 120 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films like Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring with Buster Keaton and Jimmy...
in Horse Feathers] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxV6HUgQ0A8&feature=fvwrel"Collegiate" used in Animal CrackersAnimal crackersAnimal crackers are a children's snackAnimal Crackers may also refer to:* Animal Crackers , the 1928 Broadway play by George S...
as entry music for Harpo - 7:30 mark] - Fred Waring's group singing the song in the 1920's