Biography
Born on 14 May 1891 in Akron, Ohio, Grant Clarke died just five days after his fortieth birthday in California. Although his working life proved relatively short, he supplied words for a remarkable number of durable and instantly hummable numbers that defined their era. Before concentrating on songwriting he trod the boards and spent time in music publishing, later penning tailor-made material for such headliners as Al Jolson, Nora Bayes, Fanny Brice and Bert Williams. One early effort, “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” created in 1912 with Lewis Muir and Maurice Abrahams, scored immediately with Bob Roberts and resurfaced decades later in versions by Pinky Tomlin, Eddy Howard, Jo Stafford and even David Seville’s Chipmunks in 1959. From then until the close of the 1920s Clarke maintained a steady flow of crowd-pleasing successes, many of them tailored for stage productions: “He’d Have To Get Under—Get Out And Get Under—To Fix Up His Automobile” (Edgar Leslie–Abrahams), “Goodbye Virginia” (Jean Schwartz), “There’s A Little Bit Of Bad In Every Good Little Girl” (Fred Fisher), “Everything Is Peaches Down In Georgia” (Milton Ager–George W. Meyer), “In The Land Of Beginning Again” (Meyer), “Rosie (Make It Rosy for Me)” (J.L. Merkur), “Second Hand Rose” (James Hanley, unveiled by Fanny Brice in the 1921 Ziegfeld Follies), “Blue (And Broken Hearted)” (Leslie–Lou Handman), “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face” (Leslie–Jimmy Monaco), “(Home In) Pasadena” (Leslie–Harry Warren, later revived in Britain by the Temperance Seven in 1961), the pair “Mandy, Make Up Your Mind” and “I’m A Little Blackbird Looking For A Bluebird” (both Meyer–Roy Turk–Arthur Johnston, introduced in the 1924 revue Dixie To Broadway), “Avalon Town” (Nacio Herb Brown) and the 1929 hit “Am I Blue?”
That last song, together with “In The Land Of Let’s Pretend,” “Let Me Have My Dream,” “Welcome Home” and “Don’t It Mean A Thing To You?,” was written with Harry Akst for the early sound picture On With The Show, which featured Ethel Waters. Clarke and the same composer continued their partnership on further screen numbers including “I’m The Medicine Man For The Blues,” “Jig Jigaloo,” “Is Everybody Happy?,” “As Long As I’m Here With You,” “Come Back To Me,” “One Little Drink” (with Ed Ward) and “Wishing And Waiting For Love” (1930). Among his final compositions were “Weary River” (Louis Silvers) and “Sugar Cane” (Charles Tobias). Additional partners across his career included Milton Ager, Al Piantadosi and Archie Gottler.
That last song, together with “In The Land Of Let’s Pretend,” “Let Me Have My Dream,” “Welcome Home” and “Don’t It Mean A Thing To You?,” was written with Harry Akst for the early sound picture On With The Show, which featured Ethel Waters. Clarke and the same composer continued their partnership on further screen numbers including “I’m The Medicine Man For The Blues,” “Jig Jigaloo,” “Is Everybody Happy?,” “As Long As I’m Here With You,” “Come Back To Me,” “One Little Drink” (with Ed Ward) and “Wishing And Waiting For Love” (1930). Among his final compositions were “Weary River” (Louis Silvers) and “Sugar Cane” (Charles Tobias). Additional partners across his career included Milton Ager, Al Piantadosi and Archie Gottler.