Eddie Farley
b. 1905, Newark, NJ, USA, d.
Overview
Eddie Farley is the Farley half of the 'Riley-Farley Orch. He is included here because of their 1936 novelty composition, "The Music Goes 'Round and 'Round." In late 1936, the two men split, and each organized his own group.

   Leonard Feather
b. Sept. 14, 1914, London, England, d. Sept, 22, 1994
Jazz critic; composer/arranger; pianist and recording bandleader
Feather began his career in his English homeland. But in 1935, when he was a writer for the well known British music magazine 'Melody Maker', Leonard came to New York, and in due course became one of America's best known Jazz writers. During his career, he contributed to such Jazz magazines as Metronome, Down Beat, Orchestra World, and Song Hits, He was also a regular contributor to Look, Modern Screen, and Esquire.

Curiously, he is best recalled today as a jazz critic and writer, but he was also a prolific composer. (And because of this, he is included here in the Tunesmiths Database.) Over a 100 of his tunes were recorded at one time or another, by such bands as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie Barnet and most of the other top jazzmen. Lionel Hampton, -who once called him "America's foremost Blues composer," helped to popularize Feather's "Evil Gal Blues" and "Blow Top Blues". Among vocalists, Dinah Shore recorded his "Dinah's Blues" for RCA Victor and Lena Horne sang his song "Unlucky Woman" on the screen.

Feather appeared, as jazz expert, on a number of radio shows including the 'RCA Victor Show' and 'The Lower Basin Street Chamber Music and Jazz Society' program. His blues piano playing has been heard in Carnegie Hall and on the air in guest appearances with such bands as Lionel Hampton's and Woody Herman's.

During 1941 and 1942, he presented two series of lectures on Jazz at the 'New School' in New York. He was a staunch advocate of racial democracy in music (and elsewhere). Don De Leighbur, wrote in New York's Black owned newspaper 'The Amsterdam News', "Because of his versatility and because he is the only Jazz critic active today who can practice what he preaches, Leonard is better liked and respected among the musicians themselves than any other swing authority."

In 1943, Esquire Magazine conducted a national poll using a panel of Jazz experts as voters, the result of which was the first Jazz Concert at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, along with the awarding of Gold and Silver "Esky" statuettes to the winners. In 1945 a third category was added to the Gold and Silver awards -the 'New Stars' - winners of which represented the outstanding youngsters who made their mark in Jazz, -in the opinion of the experts. And in 1946, the panel of voters, all musicians themselves, voted and awarded each "musician's musician", a 'New Star' Bronze "Esky" statuette. As Esquire Magazine's Jazz authority, Feather was instrumental in both helping to choose the winners, but also in presenting the prizes and in arranging to have record albums released.

Leonard was 80 years of age when he died, just 8 days after his birthday.

   Leo Ferre
b: August 24, 1916, Monaco, d: July 14 (19?), 1993, Castellina-in-Chian, Italy
lyricist/singer/Composer
né: Leo Albert C. A. Ferre
Overview:
Ferre is recalled today as one of a 'Quod Libet' that also included Eddy Marnay, Stephane Golmann and Francois Lemarque. During his career, he not only wrote lyrics, but also sang, and composed many songs. He was very active politically, supporting such causes as the Anachist Movement and the Communist Party.

Ferre's father, Joseph, was director of the Monaco Casino, and his mother, Marie, had a sewing workshop. He had a sister, Lucienne, who was three years his elder. At age nine, he was sent to Italy, where he boarded at the Holy-Charles Bordighera High School (operated by the Brothers of the Christian Ecoles). He didn't take kindly to their discipline, and held a grudge against his father for having sent him so far from the family. In his solitude, began to take an interest in music and poetry and also gave French lessons at the high school.

In the fall of 1935, he went to Paris to continue his general studies, and in 1939 received a diploma in Political Sciences. He then performed compulsory military service and was released in 1940. Re-locating to Monaco, he began a business as a Hotel forms distributor. He became quite active in the 'Anarchist Federation', and soon also became a member of the local Communist Party. In October 1943, Ferre married Odette.

His next job was with 'Radio Monte-Carlo' where he worked as an announcer, sound effects engineer and pianist. He began to meet entertainers and became friends with singers Edith Piaf and Charles Trenet, both of whom advised him to seek work as an entertainer in Paris.

There, he first worked at the Parisian cabaret 'Beef on the Roof', where he shared the billing with such acts as 'The Brothers Jacques' and 'Rock-Aznavour'. In 1947, for the first time, one of his tunes was sung by an established star, - Juliette GrTco. In 1950, he and Odette were divoced. Ferre met his second companion, Madeleine, who was somewhat more intellectual than Odette, in a parisian coffee shop. This same year, Ferre composed an opera, "The Life of Artist", revealing his talent as a composer, as well as a lyricist.

In 1953, Leo met famed American expatriate Josephine Baker, at the l'Olympia theatre. He also signed with the Odeon record label, for whom he recorded his work "Paris Riff-Raff". The recording was very successful, and he re-located to Paris, and also bought a home in the countryside. In 1954, for the 'Opera Monte-Carlo', he composed an oratorio ("Song of the Evil-Liked") based on a work of Guillaume Apollinaire. In March 1955, he first became a 'starring act' at the Olympia, and before the year ended, he had recorded 8 new songs, usually accompanying himself only on the piano or the organ.

He and Surrealist poet AndrT Breton became friends after Breton heard some of Ferre's love songs, but the friendship was broken in 1956, when Ferre presented the old poet wtih an anthology of seventy-seven poems and songs that Leo had written and sung before. This work took a position against the writings of the Surrealists. AndrT Breton was dissatisfied and protested this vision of poetry and refused to write the preface. (Their friendship ended, and remained ended until Breton died in 1966.) Also in 1956, he wrote the unsuccessful "Harms" ballet, for the choreographer Petit Roland and his company. It ran for only four performances before being withdrawn from the Theater of Paris.

In April 57, he sang on "The Flowers of the Evil" disc, -in homage to Charles Baudelaire, French poet of the XIXFme century. In January 1958, he sang at the 'Bobino'. In 1961, he recorded (for Eddy Barclay's label "The Songs d'Aragon", and a warm friendship developed between Ferre and Louis Aragon. A little later, he recorded the successful "Paname". It heralded a prolific and prosperous decade. He produced a show starring himself at the Theater of the Old Dovecote, with such new songs as "Merde to Vauban", "The Rich", and "Thank you Satan". The press was extravagant.

In 1962 (at age 45), he was appearing at the l'ABC, and recording too. In 1963, he and Madeleine adopted a young girl, - PTpTe. In '65 and '66, he made two trips to Canada, granting many radio and television interviews. In 1966, he returned to the Parisian scene again appearing at Bobino. Interestingly, he now composed "Salvation Beatnick", which many critics now feel pre-saged the coming 'Hippie' generation.

He and Madeleine had been living away from Paris, with the children, numerous domestic animals and a bunch of Chimpanzees. But they had grown away from each other and a painful divorce ensued in 1968. In May 1968, Ferre was again politically active with agitation for the Anachist movement. In October, he embarked on an unsuccessful tour of North Africa. In early 1969, he released a new recording inspired by the Anarchist agitation of May 1968.

On January 6, 1969, a French journalist (with the magazine, Rock and Folk) brought about a meeting between Ferre and Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens. He also found a new companion, Marie-Christine, whom he had met before his separation with Madeleine. They re-located to Italy, close to Florence in Tuscany. In May 1970, their first son Mathieu was born. Ferre also had a new album this same year -"Love Anarchy" (performed with the group 'Zoo').

The music scene had turned to the Beatles and the Moody Blues, and Ferre drifted away from solo recitals, and began to perform with a French pop group, 'Zoo'. In 1971, he recorded "Solitude", with this same group Zoo. In 1972, he again appeared at the l'Olympia for three weeks. He began to interpret not only his own songs, but also the ones of John-Roger Caussimon, (including the very beautiful "Do Not Sing of Death"), and the works of the Quebec (Canada) singer Robert Charlebois.

In 1973, his father died. In 1974, he self-produced a show at the Opera Comique, a room usually reserved for classical music. In the summer of 1975, he tried a new musical adventure, when he went to Switzerland and conducted a true symphonic orchestra. In the fall, he repeated this experience in Belgium, and then at the Palace of Congresses in Paris (with works by Ravel and Beethoven on the program). However, the Classical music critics were not very kind to him. Also in 1975, he left the house of Barclay, and recorded, for CBS, an album of Classical Music by Ravel.

From 1976 to 1990, he recorded with CBS, then RCA and at last EPM: "My life is a Slalom" released in 1979; "The Violence and Boredom" in 1980; "The Loubards" in 1985, "One is Not Serious When One is Seventeen Years Old" in 1986, and "The Old Buddies" in 1990.

He and wife Marie-Christine were now living in the Tuscan region of Italy. On July 1974, the family was enlarged with the birth of CTcile, then with their second girl, Manuella, in January 1978. Though getting on with age, he remained a popular singer with recitals at l'Olympia, or the TLP Dejazet (another Parisian room) and continued to tour in France and abroad. All the while, he still actively supported the Anarchist cause.

On July 14, 1993, at age 77, Ferre died following a long illness. He had first mentioned the illness in 1992, when it had prevented his return on the scene to the Big Rex to Paris. His son Mathieu continues to promote the work of his famous father.

   Buddy Fields
Currently no information available
1931 "I Can't Write The Words", music by Gerald Marks

   Dorothy Fields
b. July 15, 1905, Allenhurst, NJ.,USA. d. July 10, 1974, New York, NY USA
Overview.
Lew Fields, of the famous vaudeville team of Weber and Fields, had a daughter who would become the most successful woman lyricist in the history of American Popular song. She was the lyricist half of the McHugh and Fields songwriting team, and, later, of the Jerome Kern and Fields team. (photo source uncredited.)

Dorothy started writing poetry as a teenager. In 1926, she commenced her professional career writing material for Harlem's Cotton Club floor shows. Dorothy did not tell her father when she teamed up with McHugh, because she knew he would violently oppose her association with a mobster-operated Harlem night club. However, it turned out to be a wonderful place to begin her lyric-writing career. (McHugh and Field were succeeded at the Cotton Club by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler.)

In 1928, she and Jimmy McHugh were collaborating on the score for the all-negro revue 'Blackbirds'. The show had one of her most famous songs "I Can't Give You Anything But Love". In 1935, Fields started working with Jerome Kern. They went to Hollywood where they worked on the RKO Film 'Roberta', which produced "Lovely To Look At." She returned to Broadway in 1939, and for ten years, she worked as both a lyricist and a librettist. In 1950 she returned to Hollywood and signed with MGM.

Brief Chronology of Fields's best-known lyrics include:
1928, for the Broadway revue, 'Blackbirds',
        "I Can't Give You Anything but Love"
        "Diga Diga Doo"
1930 "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
        "Exactly Like You"
1931 "Cuban Love Song"
1933 "Don't Blame Me"
1934 "Lost in a Fog"

In 1935, Dorothy began to work with Jerome Kern, in Hollywood.
1935 For the film, 'Roberta', starring Irene Dunne.
   "Lovely to Look At"
   "I Won't Dance"
1935 For film, 'Hooray For Love', the title song,
   "Hooray for Love"
1935 For the film 'Every Night At Eight', the song,
   "I'm in the Mood For Love"
   "I Feel a Song Comin' On"

1936 For film 'Swing Time', Starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
   "The Way You Look Tonight", An Academy Award winner.
   "A Fine Romance"
   "Bojangles of Harlem"
1938 For film 'Joy of Living',
   "You Couldn't Be Cuter"

In 1950, Dorothy signed with MGM Studios, and in 1965, sang the song:
   "Big Spender."
1969 For the film, Sweet Charity',
   "My Personal Property"
   "It a Nice Face"

Dorothy Fields was the first woman elected to the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. In 1974, she suffered a fatal heart attack, at age 68, a tragic loss to the world of music.

   Sylvia FIne
b. August 29, 1913, New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. d. Oct. 28, 1991, New York (Manhattan), NY, USA. (emphysema)
Currently no information on this excellent songwriter, who won her fame composing songs for her famous husband, Comedian Danny Kaye.
In 1940, Sylvia married actor Danny Kaye, and they remained married until Danny's demise in March 1987. The marriage produced one child, a daughter Dena. Sylvia was a very talented composer and lyricist who used her considerable talents to further her husband's career. Today few people recall that Kaye's special material, including such specialty numbers as "Anatole of Paris" were actually Sylvia's work. Sylvia wrote many of the songs Kaye performed in his films - 'Up in Arms', 'Wonder Man', 'The Kid From Brooklyn', 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty', 'The Inspector General', and 'The Court Jester'. Curiously, and sadly, Sylvia's material catapulted Kaye to the heights of stardom, while she languished in his shadow. Fine also received Oscar nominations for the songs she created for 'The Moon is Blue' and 'The Five Pennies', the theme song for a film in which she also appeared.. The 1941 show 'Let's Face It' had music by Cole Porter, but little known is the fact that Sylvia wrote the tunes that Danny Kaye sang including "Melody in Four F"

Her film composing credits include:
   Up in Arms (1944, starred Danny Kaye, she contributed some songs)
   The Kid from Brooklyn (1946, starred Danny Kaye, uncredited for her contribution of the song "Pavlova")
   The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947, starred Danny Kaye)
   The Inspector General (1949, starred Danny Kaye, Sylvia's songs and was also associate producer)
   On the Riviera (1951, she contributed some songs)
   Knock on Wood (1954)
   The Court Jester (1956, starred Danny Kaye, she contributed some songs)
   The Five Pennies (1959)
   On the Double (1961, she contributed some songs - uncredited)
   Lipstick on Your Collar (1993 TV, the song "The Man With the Golden Arm")
   The Straight Story (1999, song "Happy Times" -credited as S. Fine)

Sylvia graduated from New York's Hunter College, which now has a theatre named in her honor.

   William Finn
b. 1948
Overview
Composer-Lyricist William Finn, while noted for a very engaging originality in his words and music, has none-the-less only been heard in the off-Broadway theaters. This will change.

March 3, 1981, show 'In Trousers' opened off-Broadway (W. 73rd St.)
April 9, 1981, show 'March of the Falsettos'; opened off-Broadway.
"My father's a Homo, My Mother's not Thrilled At All"
"Love is Blind"
"Father To Son"
His next show (book, lyric, music) 'Rape' was a musical characterization of Aubrey Beardsley.
Then, 'Scrambled Eggs', a show about a whorehouse.

   Ted Fio Rito, aka: Ted Fiorito
b. Dec. 20, 1900, Newark, NJ, USA. d. July 22, 1971, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.
Overview.
Ted Fiorito is recalled today as a very successful pianist and bandleader, who on occasion composed popular songs. In the early 1930's, his young girl vocalist was future film star Betty Grable (shown here in her famous 1943 World War II Pin-up pose). Later, in the early 1940's, another actress, June Haver also sang with the band. His orchestra had it's most success in the mid-1930's, due to it's wide exposure on radio, records, and movies. By the 1940's, his fame began to diminish. In the 1950's and '60's Fiorito led bands in Chicago and Arizona.

Among his best known songs are:
1922 "Toot, Toot, Tootsie!", written by Gus Kahn; Ernie Erdman; Dan Russo and Ted Fiorito
1924 "Charley, My Boy"
1925 "Alone At Last", Gus Kahn lyric.
192? "Roll Along Prairie Moon", written by Harry MacPherson; Albert Von Tilzer and Ted Fiorito
1926 "I Want Somebody to Cheer Me Up", with Gus Kahn lyric
1928 "I'm Sorry Sally", Kahn and Fiorito
1929 "Nothing On My Mind", Kahn and Fiorito song.
19?? "I Never Knew", Kahn and Fiorito
1936 "When The Moon Hangs High"
Please see our FioRito Entry, on our BigBands Database.

   George Fenton
b: Oct. 19, 1950, London, England, U.K.
Currently no information available.
While his first truly big movie score was for the film "Gandhi", it should be noted that he has written for well over 75 Film and TV shows. His Theme Music (all for the BBC) also includes "The Nine O'Clock News", "The Money programme", "Newsnight" and "Telly Addicts".

    "Blue Planet, The" (2001/III) (mini TV Series )
   Navigators, The (2001)
   Summer Catch (2001)
   Lucky Numbers (2000 ... aka: Bon numro, Le (2001 France)
   Center Stage (2000/I)
   Bread and Roses (2000.. aka: Bread and Roses (2000 France).. aka: Pan y rosas (Spain)
   Anna and the King (1999)
   Grey Owl (1999)
   Entropy (1999)
   "Talking Heads 2" (1998) (mini - TV Series )
   You've Got Mail (1998)
   Living Out Loud (1998)
   Ever After (1998)
   My Name Is Joe (1998)
   Object of My Affection, The (1998)
   Dangerous Beauty (1998 ... aka: Destiny of Her Own, A (1999 Australia)
   Woodlanders, The (1998)
   In Love and War (1996)
   Crucible, The (1996)
   Carla's Song (1996 ... aka: Cancin de Carla, La (1996 Spain)
   Multiplicity (1996)
   Heaven's Prisoners (1996)
   Mary Reilly (1996)
   Viking Sagas, The (1995 ... aka: Icelandic Sagas, The)
   Land and Freedom (1995..aka: Terra e libert (1995 Italy)..aka Tierra y libertad (Spain)
   China: Beyond the Clouds (1994 TV)
   Mixed Nuts (1994 ... aka: Lifesavers (1994)
   Madness of King George, The (1994 -adaptations - He parodied the music of George Handel.)
   Ladybird Ladybird (1994)
   Born Yesterday (1993)
   Shadowlands (1993 in collaboration with Richard Attenborough )
   "Life in the Freezer" (1993 - TV Series )
   Groundhog Day (1993)
   Hero (1992 ... aka: Accidental Hero (1992)
   Final Analysis (1992)
   102 Boulevard Haussmann (1991 TV)
   China Moon (1991)
   Tacones lejanos (1991 -songs..aka: High Heels.. aka: Talons aiguilles (1992 France)
   Fisher King, The (1991 -Nominated for an Academy Award )
   "Trials of Life, The" (1990 TV Series )
   White Palace (1990)
   Long Walk Home, The (1990)
   Memphis Belle (1990)
   We're No Angels (1989)
   Dressmaker, The (1988)
   Handful of Dust, A (1988)
   High Spirits (1988)
   Dangerous Liaisons (1988 -Nominated for an Academy Award )
   "Talking Heads" (1987 mini - TV Series )
   White Mischief (1987)
   Cry Freedom (1987 --Nominated for an Academy Award )
   East of Ipswich (1987 TV)
   "Call Me Mister" (1986 TV Series )
   84 Charing Cross Road (1986)
   Walter and June (1986 ... aka: Loving Walter (1986)
   Clockwise (1986)
   Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985)
   "Jewel in the Crown, The" (1984) (mini -TV Series )
   Company of Wolves, The (1984)
   Englishman Abroad, An (1983 TV)
   Runners (1983)
   Saigon: Year of the Cat (1983 TV)
   Gandhi (1982 and additional music. Nominated for an Academy Award )
   Woman of No Importance, A (1982 TV... aka: Alan Bennett Season: A Woman of No
       Importance -UK: series title)
   "Bergerac" (1981 TV Series theme)
   History Man, The (1981 TV... aka: Malcolm Bradbury's The History Man)
   Hussy (1980)
   Rain on the Roof (1980 TV)
   "Shoestring" (1979 TV Series )
   Bloody Kids (1979)
   "Out" (1978) (mini - TV Series )
   Private Road (1971)

   Buddy Feyne
b: June 9, 1912, New York (Harlem), NY, USA. d: Dec. 10, 1998, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
né: Bernard Feinstein
Early in his career, Buddy, while singing with various -now obscure- bands in and around New York, began writing special material for himself and for other vocalists. He changed his name to Feyne in the 1930s upon the advice of comedian Milton Berle. Berle, who had himself begun life as Berlinger, advised that "Feinstein sounds too Jewish".

In the early 1930s, Buddy was working (in New York's Brill Building) as a song plugger. During the late 1930s Feyne was busy in radio, not only as a solo singer, but as a writer-producer of the series 'Rhythm School of the Air'. Then, in 1939, Erskine Hawkins and his band introduced the song "Tuxedo Junction" at New York's famed Savoy Ballroom, and it was an immediate hit. The song, an instrumental co-composed by Hawkins and his saxophonists Bill Johnson and Julian Dash, was named after a railroad stop in Alabama. Hawkins recorded the song for the Bluebird label, and it became his biggest success. The piece soon replaced "Swing-Out" as his signature tune. Shortly afterwards, Glenn Miller recorded his own version of "Tuxedo Junction" (also for RCA's Bluebird label), scoring an even greater hit. The song's publisher then sent the 28-year-old Feyne to meet with Hawkins as a possible lyricist. Feyne reportedly dashed off the complete lyric on the spot. The song was successfully recorded by the Andrews Sisters and by Jan Savitt and other orchestras.

In 1940, Feyne and Bill Johnson's "Dolimite" recording by the Hawkins band, for Bluebird, caught the attention of Jimmy Dorsey, who recorded it with his orchestra for Decca. That same year, he also collaborated with Robert B. Wright on the words for "After Hours", a haunting blues piece originally composed as an instrumental for the Hawkins band by its chief arranger and pianist Avery Parrish. It became an instant classic, and for many years any piano player worth his salt knew how to play this blues tune. Avery Parrish left the Hawkins orchestra in 1941, moved to California, and subsequently got into a bar fight (no doubt 'after hours'). He suffered partial paralysis, and at the age of 24, never played again. He died under mysterious cirumstances at age 42.

During the Second World War, Buddy served in the Pacific theater of war with the 77th Infantry Division, presenting Army shows, while also winning the Bronze Star (for bravery going behind enemy lines), and "The Purple Heart" (for injury sustained in line of duty). He also wrote for the Armed Forces Radio Service and produced shows for servicemen. He composed "Soldier Boy" & performed it on Armed Forces Radio. Interesting to note is that during this time Buddy also found time to teach 200 service men ballroom dancing.

After the war, he attended the American Academy of Television in Los Angeles where he studied TV production techniques. He continued to write special material for night club singers, and wrote "Preview Theatre" for KFWB in California, and "The Bill Harrington Show" for television in New York (which he produced). He also launched a music publishing firm. In 1946, he and Robert B. Wright put words to "The Jersey Bounce", an instrumental co-composed five years earlier by Wright, Bobby Plater, Tiny Bradshaw and Edward Johnson, and originally popularized by the Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman bands.

During 1950-'55, he wrote songs and musicals with Bill Harrington & Harry Revel, including the musical plays "So This Is Brooklyn" and "Song of Texas". He was the star of such radio shows as "After School Swing Special" and "The Nursery Crime Detective". He subsequently formed 'Essenjay Music Publishing Co.', and the 'Segue Records' label. In 1954 Feyne collaborated with Maurice Shapiro on "Why", a song that gave Top-40 records to both Nat "King" Cole and Karen Chandler. (Caution. Do not confused with the 1959 ballad of that title, recorded by such artists as Frankie Avalon and Anthony Newley'.)

During the 1960s-'70s, he created reviews and special material for the 'Lamb's Club Salute to Ed Sullivan' (produced by Harry Delmar in New York City), and the 1964 revue 'Up Your Alley'. Between 1971-'73, he work on film Scores for 'Diary of a Stewardess' and for 'Dead End Dolls'.

Still active during 1984-98, he re-worked 'So This Is Brooklyn' and contributed to several albums by Bill Baker. He composed "She Carries The Torch", and later sang at Barbara's in Los Angeles, CA.

Feyne wrote more than 400 songs. His collaborators included Milton Berle, Harry Revel, Bill Harrington, Raymond Scott, Al Sherman, Peter Tinturin, Avery Parrish, Louis Jordan, Oakley Haldeman, Erskine Hawkins, Lester Young, Bobby Plater. His songs have been recorded by Joe Williams, The Manhattan Transfer, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald and countless others. Among the songs on which Buddy worked are:
   "Tuxedo Junction", with Julian Dash, William Luther Johnson, Erskine Hawkins.
   "Jersey Bounce", with Myron C. Bradshaw, Rob't Bruce, Ed Johnson, Bobby Plater.
   "Why", with Maurice Shapiro
   "After Hours", with Avery Parrish, Robert Bruce.
   "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid", with Lester Young.
   "Joe's Notion", Words and Music by Buddy Feyne.
   "Love Had A Preview Last Night", with Peter Tinturin.
   "In A Blue Mood", with William Edgar Battle, Irving Miller.
   "Lost In A Dream", with William Edgar Battle.
   "Lunar Rhapsody", with Harry Revel.
   "Lunette", with Harry Revel.
   "Doodle Bug Hop", with Teddy McRae.
   "After School Swing Session", with Louie Jordan.
   "Celestial Nocturne", with Harry Revel.
   "Like An Answer To A Prayer", with William O. Harrington.
   "Mojave Lullaby", with Irving Miller.
   "Rinka Tinka Man", with Joseph C. Garland.
   "She Works In Men's Pajamas", with William O. Harrington.
   "Si Si Senorita", with Maurice Shapiro.
   "Thru A Veil of Indifference", with George Sterney, Peter Tinturin.
   "Yiddishe Mambo", with William O. Harrington.
And perhaps 400 others.
The Big Bands Database Plus thanks Ms. Stephanie Feyne for the above information on her father, Buddy Feyne.

   Roberto Firpo
Pianist, composer and leader.
b: May 10, 1884, Las Flores, Argentina; d: June 14, 1969
Here's a photo of Firpo, and here's an interesting photo of an Early Firpo Orch.. This very early (ca. 1910) photo seems to have been taken in Max Gluksmann's Odeon Records recording studio. And, here's a much later photo (source unknown) showing Roberto Leading the band Roberto had to quit school when he was in the fifth grade in order to help his father at the family's grocery store. He was 13 years old at the time. When he was 15, he was in the coastal holiday resort of Bahia Blanca, looking for a summer job when he first heard a pianist playing Tango songs in the local Cafe, for the holiday revelers from Buenos Aires. Young Roberto persuaded the café owner to let him play the piano when the café was closed. With the end of summer season, Firpo headed for Buenos Aires in search of better opportunities. At first he worked as bricklayer, milkman, grocery store clerk, shoe factory worker, and at the Vasena foundry. These lowly jobs eventually provided him with enough money to purchase his dream, - a piano.

In 1903, at age 19, he began studying with composer/pianist Alfredo Bevilacqua, (composer of "Apolo", "Venus", "Independencia", and others). In 1907, just four years later, he had already composed his own first songs; "La Chola", "El Compinche" and "La Gaucha Manuela". In addition, he "debuted" as a working musician in a trio with Francisco Postiglione on violin and Juan Carlos Bazan on clarinet. They played at the famed Hansen's Cafe, -for the princely sum of three pesos per night and permission to ask for tips.

In 1913, he formed his first orchestra, and and also composed: "De Pura Cepa", "Arganaraz", "Sentimiento Criollo", and "Marejada". By 1914, he was already recording. Firpo was the first to integrate the piano into a Tango sextet. He also introduced a more romantic, lyrical melodic style to his Tango compositions. A fine example being his early hit "Alma de Bohemio", written and first recorded in 1914. It is important to note that these two innovations - including the piano, and more lyricism in the tunes - were hugely influential in creating the modern Tango. Very many other Tangos and waltze's would follow. In 1916, while appearing in Montevideo, Uruguay, he discovered and premiered what is undeniably the one quintessential Tango, - "La Cumparsita", composed by Gerardo Hernan Matos Rodriguez (as a March). It is interesting to note that the song was originally written in two sections. For his performance, Firpo, in typical "old Guard" fashion, composed a third section -- but neglected to jointly sign his own name as co-composer. The commercial rights to "La Cumparsita" would in time produce millions of pesos, none of which ever went to Firpo. Later, talking about "La Cumparsita", Firpo recalled:
   "In 1916, I was playing at the Cafe La Giralda, in Montevideo (Uruguay), when one day
   a man accompanied by about fifteen young men arrived -all of them students- to
   tell me that they had brought a little March and they wanted me to arrange it because they
   thought inside it there was a Tango. They wanted it ready for that evening, because
   a young boy called Matos Rodriguez needed it. In the sheet music, two-four time, the first
   section appeared a little and of the second section there was nothing. I got a piano and
   remembered two Tangos of my own, composed in 1906 which had not achieved any success:
   "La Gaucha Manuela" and "Curda Completa". I put a little of each one. In the evening
   I played it with (such others as) "Bachicha" , "Deambroggio" and "'Tito' Roccatagliatta".
   It was an apotheosis. Matos Rodriguez...(did well)... . But the Tango was forgotten, its
   great success came only when Enrique Maroni and Pascual Contursi added lyrics."

Firpo would go on to perform at such famed venues as Armenonville, Bar Iglesias, Teatro Buenos Aires, El Tambito, Rodriguez Pena, L'Abbaye, Colonia Italiana, Palais de Glace, Teatro Nacional, and the Salon San Martin, all of which brought fame and money for both his appearances and for his recordings.

In 1930, he Firpo abandoned the Tango, but only briefly. He felt that being a "cattle baron" was the only proper way to be a rich Argentine. The first year went well, but the second year was a disaster. His herd was destroyed due to river flooding. He tried investing in the stock market to recoup his severe losses, but only managed to lose everything he had left. Later, he described his feeling to Héctor and Luis Bates:
   "With the money I got for the recordings I felt myself as a cattleman. Everything I had,
   I invested in livestock. In just one year, I managed to earn a million pesos .... But
   later, sadly, that well-known flooding of the Paraná River ravaged my livestock;
   I wanted to recover from such a loss and tried my luck in the stock market. There I lost
   whatever I had left. I had to return to my previous work. I put together my orchestra
   and started all over again".

During the next twenty-five years, Firpo would produce a very long string of high quality recordings. Over his long career, he often appeared with both small groups and a full orchestra Examples of his small groups include his (1933) "Roberto Firpo y su Cuarteto", which included Juan Cambareri "El Mago del Bandoneon" (the wizard of the bandoneon), and later his 'Quinteto de Antes'. It should be noted that this wonderful Tango composer and musician enjoyed a very prolific recording career. His discographic work included perhaps 3000 disks, of which about half were 'big tin horn' "Acoustic" type recordings. For over twenty years, Firpo had been at the cutting edge of Tango, greatly shaping it's style and form. He would come to personify the 'Guardia Vieja' (old guard). Though the newer concepts of Tango's 'Epoca de Oro' (golden age) would leave him behind, he still continued to record successfully until 1959. The great Tango master died on June 14th 1969, leaving a huge body of work and his indelible mark on the Tango.

   Horacio Ferrer
Currently no information on this Argentine Lyricist and Librettist.
In speaking about the Tango, he has said that (paraphrased):
       ".....the Tango is Sensual, - not sexual. A Man who dances the Tango as though he
       wants to take the lady to bed is immediately disqualified by his fellow dancers."

   Frances Faye
b. Nov. 4, 1912, New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA, d. Nov. 8, 1991, Los Angeles, CA, USA. (Multiple Strokes). née: Frances Cohen.
Here is a publicity photo of Frances Faye, whose career began when, at just age sixteen, she appeared on an amateur show filling in for an absent pianist. She then spent a few years in the vaudeville and nightclub circuit, as a piano accompanist for singers. She began singing on her own when a nightclub owner fired the singer in Faye's act. By 1934, her schedule kept her working 11 months a year, often on the road. Faye was still headlining, well into the 1970s, in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, as well as England and Australia. She appeared in at least two movies, -40 years apart! In 1937, she debuted in the Bing Crosby-Martha Raye film Double or Nothing. In 1977, she played a wise-cracking madam in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby, a film that (according to Faye herself) "opens with me in bed smoking an opium pipe with a wig half off my head." In 1936, Bing Crosby had introduced Faye to the Decca Records management, and she made her first recordings. In 1939, Faye, with Don Raye, composed the song "Well All Right", which became a big hit that year for the Andrews Sisters. (Faye also performed the song a few years later, in a 1942 "soundie".) She continued composing throughout her career, and recorded a number of her own songs, including "Purple Wine", "You're Heavenly", "Frances and Her Friends", and "A Good Idea". Her act was peppered with double entendre and saucy lyric modifications. Much of her jokes and patter pertained to her looks and to her sexuality. Faye was a favorite among 'Gay' audiences. She was quite adept at switching gender pronouns on the songs she performed, often making comments such as "Gay, gay, gay, Frances Faye, is there another way?" At the end of the 1950s, health problems limited her appearances. In 1957, she suffered a broken hip, and was unable to walk, even after three ensuing operations. For most of the 1960s, she was carried onto the stage for her performance. During the 1970s, she was again walking, and traveling the club circuit. In 1978, she suffered a heart attack, and had a pacemaker installed. Despite a series of strokes that followed, she continued touring the clubs until 1981, and lived another decade before her demise on November 8, 1991. She will always be recalled as a fine Lounge performer whose work included Ballads, novelties, rock and roll, and folk songs.