Fred E. Ahlert

Frederick Emil Ahlert (19 September 1892 – 20 October 1953) was an American composer and songwriter. He received a degree from Fordham Law School, but instead of pursuing a legal career he began work as an arranger, initially for Irving Aaronson and his Commanders and then for composer and band-leader Fred Waring. Ahlert had his first hit song in 1920, and eventually started his own publishing company in 1928.

His songs have been recorded by numerous artists, including Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Fats Waller. Ahlert most frequently collaborated with lyricist Roy Turk, but he also wrote with others including Joe Young and Edgar Leslie.

Ahlert was born and died in New York City, where he lived all his life.

Among his compositions (with Roy Turk unless otherwise noted):

Ahlert was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.[1]

Family

Fred Ahlert and his wife, Mildred ("Millie") (b. approx 1894 Russia;[2] d. 1955 New York City),[3] had three sons:

  1. Frederick Emil Ahlert, Jr. (b. 16 Feb 1926 New York City; d. 8 Sep 2005 San Francisco) was one of the last independent music publishers. He worked for the Leo Feist Agency until he started Fred Ahlert Music Group after the death of his father in 1953. In addition to his father's catalog, among the songwriters Fred Jr. represented were Ted Koehler, Irving Kahal, Walter Donaldson, Mort Dixon, Joe Burke, Edgar Leslie, John Jacob Loeb, Harold Stanley, Burt Bacharach and Hal David.[4] Fred Jr. had a son, Fred Emil Ahlert III (b. 17 May 1958; d. 21 Apr 2008).
  2. Arnold Ahlert
  3. Richard Ahlert (b. 4 Sep. 1921; d. 9 Aug. 1985 Scarsdale, New York) graduated from Juilliard when he was 17. He was a clarinetist and songwriter who composed over 1,000 songs, including the Broadway musical, Adam, for which his wife, June Tansey, wrote the book. He was a member of ASCAP and his songs included My Days of Loving You, recorded by Perry Como, and Running Out of Fools, recorded by Aretha Franklin.[5]

Fred Ahlert had a brief prior marriage to Minnie Campbell. They were married October 17, 1912, in Manhattan, New York.

References

General references

Inline citations

  1. ^ Jazz Biographies
  2. ^ 1920 United States Federal Census: Manhattan Assembly District 21, New York, New York
  3. ^ Deaths: Ahlert, Mildred, The New York Times, Aug 1, 1955
  4. ^ Obituary: Ahlert, Fred E., Jr., San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 15, 2005
  5. ^ Richard Ahlert Is Dead at 63; Song Writer and Composer, The New York Times, Aug. 12, 1985

External links