Biography
Edgar Leslie, a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, built an extended prosperous career crafting words for theatrical productions and motion pictures, where “Moon Over Miami” stands out as perhaps his most widely recalled composition. Born December 31, 1885, in Stamford, CT, and raised in New York, he began composing material for vaudeville performers and launched his professional songwriting career in 1909 with the appearance of “Lonesome.” He soon collaborated regularly with the young Irving Berlin, supplying lyrics for “I Didn’t Go Home at All,” “Sadie Salome (Go Home!),” and “Someone’s Waiting for Me (We’ll Wait, Wait, Wait)” that same year; further joint efforts with Berlin comprised “Don’t Put Out the Light” (1911), “There’s a Girl in Arizona” (1913), and “Let’s All Be Americans Now” (1917). Beyond the last of these, Leslie produced several additional American-themed numbers early on, among them “America, I Love You” (1915), “Rose of the Rio Grande,” “When Kentucky Bids the World Good Morning,” “In the Gold Fields of Nevada,” and others. His earliest major success arrived through songs written for Al Jolson, including the hit “He’d Have to Get Under—Get Out and Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile),” created with Grant Clarke and composer Maurice Abrahams in 1913, as well as 1923’s “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face,” fashioned with Clarke and composer Jimmy Monaco; the latter number appeared in Jolson’s landmark talkie The Jazz Singer. In 1917 he also wrote “For Me and My Gal” with lyricist Ray Goetz and composer George Meyer, a piece Jolson recorded yet one most closely linked to Judy Garland because it served as the title song of her 1942 film with Gene Kelly.
A 1927 journey to England led Leslie to partner with composer Horatio Nicholls—actually the pseudonym of music publisher Lawrence Wright—on multiple numbers, most prominently “Among My Souvenirs,” a popular melody that resurfaced as a hit for Connie Francis in 1959. In 1931 he helped establish the Songwriters Protective Association, which later developed into today’s Songwriters Guild of America. Leslie remained an active hitmaker through the 1930s, contributing to such songs as “Midnight Blue” (1936), “Were You Foolin’?,” “In a Little Gypsy Tearoom” (a hit for singer Arthur Tracy), “The Moon Was Yellow,” and “’Tain’t No Sin,” among many others. The period’s most lasting achievement was probably 1935’s “Moon Over Miami,” written with composer Joe Burke and carried to the summit of the charts by bandleader Eddy Duchin. 1945’s “Romance,” created with Walter Donaldson, marked one of Leslie’s final efforts; he then retired from songwriting and supported himself through publishing. He died in 1976.
A 1927 journey to England led Leslie to partner with composer Horatio Nicholls—actually the pseudonym of music publisher Lawrence Wright—on multiple numbers, most prominently “Among My Souvenirs,” a popular melody that resurfaced as a hit for Connie Francis in 1959. In 1931 he helped establish the Songwriters Protective Association, which later developed into today’s Songwriters Guild of America. Leslie remained an active hitmaker through the 1930s, contributing to such songs as “Midnight Blue” (1936), “Were You Foolin’?,” “In a Little Gypsy Tearoom” (a hit for singer Arthur Tracy), “The Moon Was Yellow,” and “’Tain’t No Sin,” among many others. The period’s most lasting achievement was probably 1935’s “Moon Over Miami,” written with composer Joe Burke and carried to the summit of the charts by bandleader Eddy Duchin. 1945’s “Romance,” created with Walter Donaldson, marked one of Leslie’s final efforts; he then retired from songwriting and supported himself through publishing. He died in 1976.
Albums