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Henry Creamer |
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Basic InformationBorn: June 21, 1879, Richmond, Virginia (US) Died: October 14, 1930 (age 51), New York City Primary songwriting role: lyricist; also composer, singer and music publisher Co-writers: chiefly Turner Layton. Click here to view a database of 10 Henry Creamer co-writers. |
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Overview and Commentary |
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  Arnold Shaw, The Jazz Age: Popular Music in the 1920's, New York: Oxford University Press, 1987 |
Creamer "was an accomplished lyricist whose collaboration with J. Turner Layton involved songwriting and a vaudeville team. They themselves introduced their bluesy songs, 'After You've Gone' (1918), 'Dear Old Southland' (1921) . . . , and 'Way Down Yonder in New Orleans' (1922). With Bert Williams, Creamer wrote 'That's a Plenty' (1909), and with Jimmy Johnson 'If I Could Be With You . . . (1926) . . . . A founder of the Clef Club of black entertainers, Creamer and his partner, Layton, contributed songs to the Ziegfeld Follies (1921) and wrote the score for Strut Miss Lizzie (1922)" (Shaw, pp. 73-74). |
 David A. Jasen and Gene Jones Spreadin' Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930, New York: Schirmer Books, 1998 (paperback edition, Routledge, 2005 shown) |
From the Chapter on Henry Creamer and Turner Layton "The story of the six year collaboration [c. 1916-1922] of Henry Creamer and Turner Layton is that of a team out of sync. Creamer was serious about theatre, and his long apprenticeship in the profession made him the most likely of his contemporaries to succeed at it; Layton was a gifted pianist and composer who saw the theatre as a place to promote pop songs. When the going got tough, Layton got out. They had their chances, their shows, their hits--but there was always something that kept it from coming together for them. At various times they needed smarter producers, bigger publishers, or better first recordings of their songs. Yet, for all of their near-misses in the theatre, theirs is not a hard-luck story. They had big songs and a few of these became standards. They simply never made the parlay of hit songs from hit shows" (p. 360 hardcover Ed.). Jasen and Jones go on to give a detailed account of Creamer's and Turner's lives and careers. |
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"Everybody's Crazy 'Bout the Doggone Blues," Music by Turner Layton, lyrics by Henry Creamer performed by Marion Harris, c. 1916. |
"Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", Music by Turner Layton, lyrics by Henry Creamer, performed by Turner Layton and Clarence (Tandy) Johnstone, 1927 |
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, New York: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (dates, career, shows/movies, songs; 3rd edition, 1966, entry p. 144)
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