Benny Davis
Background information
Born(1895-08-21)August 21, 1895
OriginNew York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 20, 1979(1979-12-20) (aged 84)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Occupation(s)vaudeville performer, Songwriter

Benny Davis (August 21, 1895 - December 20, 1979) was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs.

Biography

Davis started performing in vaudeville in his teens. He began writing songs when working as an accompanist for Blossom Seeley. In 1917, he wrote "So Long Sammy" with Jack Yellen[1] and "Good-Bye Broadway. Hello France" with C. Francis Reisner.[2]

His first success was 1920's "Margie", with music by Con Conrad and J. Russel Robinson. His most popular song was "Baby Face", written in 1926 with Harry Akst. For Broadway, Davis wrote the score for the 1927 edition of Artists and Models and for the 1929 show Sons o' Guns. His career lasted until the mid-1930s.[3][4]

Davis's liberal use of false rhymes in his songs was scorned by some pure practitioners of the craft, and prompted Howard Dietz to compose a couplet: "Heaven Save Us|From Benny Davis."[5] Nevertheless, Davis was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.[6]

Davis died in December 1979, aged 84, in Miami, Florida.[6]

References

  1. ^ Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I Sheet Music - Volume 2. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 590. ISBN 978-0-7864-2799-4.
  2. ^ Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I Sheet Music - Volume 1. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-7864-2798-7.
  3. ^ Bush, John. "Benny Davis". Allmusic. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Benny Davis". Songwriters Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  5. ^ Feinstein, Michael (2020). The Gershwins and Me. p. 197.
  6. ^ a b "Benny Davis | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-06-28.

External links


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