Buddy DeSylva

George Gard "Buddy" De Sylva (1895-1950) was a prolific songwriter ("April Showers", "Button Up Your Overcoat", "Look for the Silver Lining", "California, Here I Come"), composer, producer, publisher and author. Along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs he founded Capitol Records.

In 1925, DeSylva became one third of the songwriting team with lyricist Lew Brown and composer Ray Henderson, one of the top Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the era. The writing and publishing partnership continued until 1930, producing a string of feel-good hits and the perennial Broadway favorite Good News. The popularity of this team was so great that Gershwin's mother supposedly chided her sons for not being able to write the sort of hits turned out by the trio.

obit

July 11. — Film Producer B. G. (Buddy) DeSylva died at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital today following an illness of nearly five years. ...

• imdb, Wikipedia, Songwriters Hall of Fame, Find A Grave Memorial# 6807077, “Why Don’t you Marry the Girl?”: How the 1909 Copyright Act Helped Bring Down DOMA Posted on July 9th, 2013 by David Kluft

1. Lillian Lorraine: The Life and Times of a Ziegfeld Diva (Google eBook) Nils Hanson.  McFarland, Sep 1, 2011 - Performing Arts - 220 pages.  Page 183.
2. "Mrs. De Sylva to Get Bulk of the Estate" The Billboard.  August 5, 1950.
3. 351 U.S. 570 (1956) de Sylva v Ballentine, Guardian decided June 11, 1956

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_De_Sylva

George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 - July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs he founded Capitol Records.

Biography

DeSylva was born in New York City, but grew up in California and attended the University of Southern California. His father, Aloysius J. De Sylva, was better known to American audiences as the Portuguese-born actor, Hal De Forrest.

DeSylva's first successful songs were those used by Al Jolson on Broadway in the 1918 +Sinbad production, which included "I'll Say She Does". Soon thereafter he met Jolson and in 1918 the pair went to New York and DeSylva began working as a songwriter at Tin Pan Alley. In the early 1920s DeSylva frequently worked with composer George Gershwin. Together they created the experimental one-act jazz opera Blue Monday set in Harlem, which is widely regarded as a forerunner to Porgy and Bess ten years later.

In 1925, DeSylva became one third of the songwriting team with lyricist Lew Brown and composer Ray Henderson, one of the top Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the era. The writing and publishing partnership continued until 1930, producing a string of feel-good hits and the perennial Broadway favorite Good News. The popularity of this team was so great that Gershwin's mother supposedly chided her sons for not being able to write the sort of hits turned out by the trio. The 1956 Hollywood film The Best Things in Life Are Free, starring Gordon MacRae, depicting the De Sylva, Brown and Henderson collaboration.

DeSylva joined ASCAP in 1920 and served on the ASCAP board of directors between 1922 and 1930. He became a producer of stage and screen musicals. DeSylva relocated to Hollywood and went under contract to Fox Studios. During this tenure, he produced movies such as The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Captain January, Poor Little Rich Girl and Stowaway. In 1941, he became the Executive Producer at Paramount Pictures, a position he would hold until 1944. At Paramount, he was also an uncredited executive producer for Double Indemnity, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Story of Dr. Wassell and The Glass Key.

The Paramount all-star extravaganza Star Spangled Rhythm, which takes place at the Paramount film studio in Hollywood, features a fictional movie executive named "B.G. DeSoto" (played by Walter Abel) who is a parody of DeSylva.

In 1942, Johnny Mercer, Glenn Wallichs and DeSylva together founded Capitol Records, which continues to this day. He also founded the Cowboy label.

He is sometimes credited as: Buddy De Sylva, Buddy DeSylva, Bud De Sylva, Buddy G. DeSylva and B.G. DeSylva.

Buddy DeSylva died in Hollywood, aged 55, and was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Broadway credits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_De_Sylva#Broadway_credits

George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he founded Capitol Records.

Biography

DeSylva was born in New York City, but grew up in California and attended the University of Southern California, where he joined the Theta Xi Fraternity. His father, Aloysius J. De Sylva, was better known to American audiences as the Portuguese-born actor, Hal De Forrest. His mother, Georgetta Miles Gard, was the daughter of Los Angeles police chief, George E. Gard.

DeSylva's first successful songs were those used by Al Jolson on Broadway in the 1918 Sinbad production, which included "I'll Say She Does". Soon thereafter he met Jolson and in 1918 the pair went to New York and DeSylva began working as a songwriter in Tin Pan Alley.

In the early 1920s, DeSylva frequently worked with composer George Gershwin. Together they created the experimental one-act jazz opera Blue Monday set in Harlem, which is widely regarded as a forerunner to Porgy and Bess ten years later.

In April 1924, DeSylva married Marie Wallace, a Ziegfeld Follies dancer.

In 1925, DeSylva became one third of the songwriting team with lyricist Lew Brown and composer Ray Henderson, one of the top Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the era. The team was responsible for the song Magnolia (1927) which was popularized by Lou Gold's orchestra. The writing and publishing partnership continued until 1930, producing a string of feel-good hits and the perennial Broadway favorite Good News. The popularity of this team was so great that Gershwin's mother supposedly chided her sons for not being able to write the sort of hits turned out by the trio.

DeSylva joined ASCAP in 1920 and served on the ASCAP board of directors between 1922 and 1930. He became a producer of stage and screen musicals. DeSylva relocated to Hollywood and went under contract to Fox Studios. During this tenure, he produced movies such as The Little Colonel, The Littlest Rebel, Captain January, Poor Little Rich Girl and Stowaway. In 1941, he became the Executive Producer at Paramount Pictures, a position he would hold until 1944. At Paramount, he was also an uncredited executive producer for Double Indemnity, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Story of Dr. Wassell and The Glass Key.

The Paramount all-star extravaganza Star Spangled Rhythm, which takes place at the Paramount film studio in Hollywood, features a fictional movie executive named "B.G. DeSoto" (played by Walter Abel) who is a parody of DeSylva.

In 1942, Johnny Mercer, Glenn Wallichs and DeSylva together founded Capitol Records, which continues to this day. He also founded the Cowboy label.

He is sometimes credited as: Buddy De Sylva, Buddy DeSylva, Bud De Sylva, Buddy G. DeSylva and B.G. DeSylva.

Buddy DeSylva died in Hollywood, aged 55, and is buried at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Individual songs

Desylva, Buddy, B. G. De Sylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. Good News: vocal selection. [Place of publication not identified]: Chappell, n.d. OCLC 495863850

Henderson, Ray, B. G. De Sylva, and Bud Green. Alabamy Bound. New York: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co, 1925. OCLC 645628000

De Sylva, B. G., Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson. Magnolia. 1927. OCLC 918927178

Broadway credits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_DeSylva#Broadway_credits

Selected filmography

Stepping Sisters (1932)

My Weakness (1933)

In popular culture

The 1956 Hollywood film The Best Things in Life Are Free, starring Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, and Ernest Borgnine, depicted the De Sylva, Brown and Henderson collaboration.

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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0221865/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Prolific songwriter ("April Showers", "Button Up Your Overcoat", "Look for the Silver Lining", "California, Here I Come"), composer, producer, publisher and author, educated at USC.

He wrote songs for the Broadway musicals "Sinbad", "Sally", "The Perfect Fool", "The French Doll", and the 1918 and 1921 editions of the Ziegfeld Follies.

In 1925, he joined Lew Brown and Ray Henderson as a songwriting and music publishing team. His Broadway stage scores include "La La Lucille", "Bombo", "Orange Blossoms", "The Yankee Princess", "and George White's Scandals" (1922 through 1926, and 1928), "Big Boy", "Sweet Little Devil", "Tell Me More", "Captain Jinks", and "Manhattan Mary".

He also was co-librettist for "Good News", "Hold Everything", "Three Cheers", "Follow Through", "Flying High", and "Take A Chance" (the latter of which he also co-produced). He also was producer and co-librettist for the Broadway musicals "DuBarry Was a Lady" and "Panama Hattie", and produced "Louisiana Purchase".

In 1929, he sold the publishing firm and went to Hollywood under contract to Fox, eventually becoming a co-producer at Paramount (1941-1944).

His film biography was given the title of his song "The Best Things in Life Are Free".

Joining ASCAP in 1920 (he served as an ASCAP director between 1922 and 1930), he collaborated musically with Gus Kahn, Al Jolson, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Vincent Rose, Louis Silvers, Joseph Meyer, Victor Herbert, Emmerich Kalman, Ira Gershwin, Ballard Macdonald, Lewis Gensler, James Hanley, Nacio Herb Brown, Richard Whiting, and Vincent Youmans.

His other popular-song compositions include "'N' Everything", "I'll Say She Does", "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet", "Yoo-Hoo", "Memory Lane", "Why Do I Love You?", "Whip-poor-will", "Avalon", "In Arcady", "A Kiss in the Dark", "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise", "Do It Again", "I Won't Say I Will but I Won't Say I Won't", "Somebody Loves Me", "Keep Smiling at Trouble", "Hello, 'Tucky", "If You Knew Susie", "Just a Cottage Small by a Waterfall", "Alabamy Bound", "Tell Me More", Kickin' the Clouds Away", "My Fair Lady", "When Day is Done", "Lucky Day", "Birth of the Blues", "Black Bottom", "It All Depends on You", "The Best Things in Life Are Free", "Good News", "The Varsity Drag", "Just Imagine", "Lucky In Love", "Broken Hearted", "Just a Memory", "So Blue", "I'm on the Crest of a Wave", "You're the Cream in My Coffee", "You Wouldn't Fool Me, Would You?", "Sonny Boy", "Together", "My Sin", I'm A Dreamer, Aren't We All?", "Sunny Side Up", "If I Had a Talking Picture of You", "Little Pal", "Without Love", "Thank Your Father", "Red Hot Chicago", "You Try Somebody Else", Eadie Was a Lady", "My Lover", "I Want to Be With You", "Oh, How I Long to Belong to You", "Rise 'n Shine", "You're an Old Smoothie", "Should I Be Sweet?", "Gather Lip Rouge While You May", "Polly Wolly Doodle", and "Wishing".