Biography
Lyricist Henry Creamer, who entered the world in Richmond, Virginia, during 1879, penned a string of enduring traditional pop standards such as the 1918 composition “After You’ve Gone” and the 1922 piece “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.” Before taking the stage as a singer and dancer in vaudeville circuits spanning the United States and Europe, he held a position at a New York music firm. Throughout those years he frequently partnered with pianist Turner Layton, the two men jointly crafting the material they presented on tour. In the 1920s Creamer supplied songs for several modest Broadway productions, among them Strut Miss Lizzie in 1922. Additional major successes credited to him include the 1909 number “That’s a Plenty,” the 1921 song “Dear Old Southland,” the 1926 work “Alabama Stomp,” and the 1930 ballad “If I Could Be With You,” which Ruth Etting recorded to strong effect and which later served as the signature theme for McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Across his career Creamer joined forces with composers J.C. Johnson and Jimmy Johnson as well as vaudevillian Bert Williams, and he helped establish Club Clef, an organization for Black entertainers.