The Gotham-Attucks Music Publishing Company ("The House of Melody") was an African-American owned firm based in Manhattan, New York, that was formed July 15, 1905, by merger of the Gotham Music Company and the Attucks Music Publishing Company. The Gotham Music Company was founded by composer Will Marion Cook and songwriter Richard Cecil McPherson (akaCecil Mack) and the Attucks Music Publishing Company, the first African-American music publishing company in the United States, founded in 1904 by Sheperd Nathaniel Edmonds (1874–1941).[1][2] Gotham-Attucks ceased to operate as a legitimate music publisher after its sale to the "song shark" Ferdinand E. Miersch in 1911.[3][4][5][6]
The Gotham-Attucks firm, according to Wayne D. Shirley in 1987, then a Music Specialist in the Music Division of the Library of Congress,[Note 1] was a small music publisher with relatively low output, but notable for the music it published. Despite never publishing more than twenty pieces a year over its eight-year existence, Gotham-Attucks managed to produce a remarkable number of important pieces. Its roster of composers and lyricists, according to Shirley, was impressive: Will Marion Cook, Bert Williams, Cecil Mack, Alex Rogers (né Alexander Claude Rogers; 1876–1930), William Tyers [fr] (1870–1924), Chris Smith, James Reese Europe, Wm. H. Dixon (1879-1917) "Malinda, Come Down To Me," Tom Lemonier (1870–1945), James Tim Brymn, Henry Creamer, and Ford Dabney – all of whom influential in the history of popular music in the early years of the 20th century. Shirley asserted that, aside from an impressive roster of people, many of the works published by Gotham-Attucks during its short tenure are still important, especially "Nobody," Bert Williams's signature song, and "Shine," a song with an enduring legacy that, among other things, has been included by musicologist Richard Crawford in The Core Repertory of Jazz Standards on Record, 1900–1942.[8]
"Why Adam Sinned" (1904), Alex Rogers (words and music)
"Me an' de Minstrel Ban'" (1904), James Vaughan (né James Joseph Jefferson Vaughan; 1874–1945)[12] (music), Alex Rogers (words)
"I May Be Crazy but I Ain't No Fool" (1904), Alex Rogers (words and music)
"When the Moon Shines" (1904), James Vaughan (music), Alex Rogers (words)
"Never!" (1904), Alex Rogers (words and music)
"Fare Thee! On Ma' Way! Jes' Gone!" (1904), Jesse A. Shipp (words and music)
"The Squee-Gee," a characteristic two-step march (1904), for piano, William Tyers [fr] (1870–1924) (music)
"My Love for You Is Dyin'" (1904), Jesse A. Shipp (music), Alex Rogers (words)
"Just as Fleet as a Bird or Susan" (1904), Shepard N. Edmonds (words and music)
"Della from Delaware" (1904), Tom Lemonier (music), Will Tobias (words)
"Décollett: Intermezzo" for piano (1904), Warner Crosby (né Warner Pratt Crosby; 1870–1907; suicide)[13] (music)
"A Female Fancy" (1905), Shepard N. Edmonds (words and music) (registered as an Attucks publication, but published by Shepard N. Edmonds Music Pub. Co.)
"They Were Happy in Their Little Mountain Home" (1904)
"Nellie Darling" (1904), William H. Nelson (music), M.J. Fitzpatrick (né Michael J. Fitzpatrick; 1963–1950) (words)
"Down at the Hippodrome" (1905), John C. Rundback (né John Caspar Rundback; 1880–1959) (music), James T. Quirk (né James Timothy Quirk; born 1883) (words)
"Some O' Dese Days" (1905), Frank Williams (words and music)
"Wooing 'neath the Silvery Moon" (1905)
"Mandy, You and Me!" (1905), Chris Smith and James H. Burris (né James Henry Burris; 1876–1923) (words and music)
"All In Down and Out" ("Sorry Aint Got It, You Could Get It, If I Had It") (1906), Chris Smith and Billy B. Johnson (music), R. C. McPherson (words)
"It's Great to Be in Love" (from The Ides of March) (1907), Anatole Friedland (music), Allen T. Hopping (words), as produced by the Columbia Varsity Show
"That's Where Friendship Ends" (1907), Chris Smith (music), R. C. McPherson (words)
"Just An Old Friend of the Family" (1907), Chris Smith (music), R. C. McPherson (words)
"Fas', Fas' World" (1907), Bert A. Williams (music), Alex Rogers (words)
"Late hours " (1907), Bert A. Williams (words), David Kempner (words)
"In Bandanna Lan'" (1908), Will Marion Cook (music), Mord Allen[Note 2] (words)
"Until Then" (1908), Will Marion Cook (music), Alex Rogers (words)
"Red Red Rose" (1908), Will Marion Cook (music), Alex Rogers (words), published in low, medium, and high keys, and in a version with violin or cello obligato
The Sheath Gown in Darktown" (1908), J. Lubrie Hill (music), Mord Allen (words)
"In My Old Home" ("In Dixie Land") (1908), Tom Lemonier (music), Mord Allen (words)
"It's Hard to Love Somebody" ("Who's Loving Somebody Else") (1907), Chris Smith (music), R. C. McPherson (words)
"I'd Rather Have Nothin' All of the Time, Than Somethin' for a Little While" (1908), Bert A. Williams (music), John B. Lowitz (words)
"Any Old Place in Yankee Land Is Good Enough for Me" (1908), Will Marion Cook and Chris Smith (music), Alex Rogers (words)
Gotham-Attucks (continued)
"Be My Little Dinah True" (1908)
"For the Last Time Call Me Sweetheart (1908), Louise A. Johns (music), Cecil Mack (words), published in low, medium, and high keys
"Welcome to Our City," characteristic rag two-step with song trio (1908), for piano with interlinear words to trio, Herman Carle and Cecil Mack(words and music)
"Maori: a Samoan Dance" (1908), for piano. William Tyers [fr] (1870–1924) (music)
"Sue Simmons ("Bill's Sister") (1908), J. Leubrie Hill (words and music), cover art: E. H. Pfeiffer (né Edward Henry Pfeiffer; 1868–1932)[15]
"Kinky" (1908), Will Marion Cook (music), Mord Allen & Ed Green (words)
"Down Among the Sugar Cane (1909), Cecil Mack and Chris Smith (music), Avery & Hart (words)
"Abraham Lincoln Jones or 101" ("The Christening") (1909), Cecil Mack and Chris Smith (words and music)
"In Pumpkin Pickin'" (1909), Chris Smith (music), Cecil Mack (words)
"Dear Old Moonlight" (1909), Tom Lemonier (music), Henry Creamer (words)
"Any Old Town is a Lonesome Old Town" ("When Your Sweetheart Is Away") (1910) Maurice Daniels (music), Bert Spears (words)
"I'm Going Mad Over You" (1910), William H. Farrell (music), Charles G. Kane (words)
"If He Comes In I'm Going Out" (1910) Chris Smith (music), Cecil Mack (words)
"My Little Jungle Maid" (1910), William H. Farrell (music), Henry Creamer and Charles A. Parker (words)
"Way Down East" (1910), Joe Young and Harold Norman (music), Cecil Mack (words)
"Sweetness" (1910), Tom Lemonier (music), Henry Creamer (words)
"That Minor Strain" (1910) (from Ziegfeld Follies of 1910),Ford Dabney (1910), Cecil Mack
"Porto Rico" (1910), James Tim Brymn (music), R. C. McPherson (words)
Gotham-Attucks (continued)
"When You See the Snowflakes Falling" (1911), Bert Grant (music), Joe Young (words)
"What Makes Me Love You the Way I Do?" (1911), Barney Barber (music), Cecil Mack (words)
"The Riddle Song" (1911) ("That Little Thing Called Love"), Chris Smith, Cecil Mack (words)
Notes and references
Notes
^Wayne Douglas Shirley (born 1936), from 1965 to 2002, worked at the Library of Congress, first as a reference librarian, then music specialist in the Music Division, retiring as Senior Music Specialist. (OCLC4779683717)
^Mord Allen (né Junius Mordecai Allen; 1875–1953) was an African American poet.
^Encyclopedia of African American Music (Vol. 1 of 3), Emmett George Price III (executive ed.), Tammy L. Kernodle, and Horace J. Maxille, Jr. (associate eds.), Greenwood Press (2011), pps. 100–101; OCLC1130985647
^Spreadin' Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880–1930, by David A Jasen and Gene Jones, Routledge (2013), 124–125; OCLC1100434419, 476766319
Note: The Gotham-Attucks Music Company ceased to operate as a legitimate music publisher after its sale to the "song shark" Ferdinand E. Miersch in 1911
^"André De Takacs" by Bill Edwards (né William G. Motley; born 1959), ragpiano.com Website administrator: Bill Edwards (no date); Contributors: Andrea Ellis and Keith Emmons (retrieved February 21, 2020)
^"Barron's Exclusive Club, Harlem" on Flickr (re: "Barron D. Wilkins"), by Matthew X. Kiernan (born abt 1950), (no date; photo taken September 9, 2013), NYBAI13-5216 (retrieved February 24, 2020)
^"Gay Music His Death Song – Warner Crosby Finishes Score Then Shoots Himself," The Sun (New York), April 29, 1907, p. 2, col. 6 (of 7) (accessible viaNewspapers.com; subscription required)