Biography
Reginald “Reg” Connelly, born in Britain, formed one side of a songwriting team alongside fellow Londoner James “Jimmy” Campbell. During the peak years of Tin Pan Alley in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the pair focused chiefly on words and frequently enlisted external composers to shape the melodies. At the outset they collaborated solely with one another, most often under the shared alias Irving King; their standout achievement in that period was the 1925 release “Show Me the Way to Go Home.” Their initial enduring standard arrived in 1928 when they joined composer Ted Shapiro on “If I Had You,” a song later interpreted by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and numerous jazz performers. In 1931 they produced the major hit “Goodnight Sweetheart” with composer Ray Noble, which crooner Rudy Vallee turned into a popular success. Their greatest achievement came in 1933 through a partnership with composer Harry Woods on “Try a Little Tenderness,” a song that remained a perennial and was later recast by Otis Redding in 1966 as a defining soul recording. Beyond their joint compositions, Connelly and Campbell operated an independent music-publishing firm.