Harry D. Kerr

This article is about songwriter & lawyer. For other Harry Kerr's, see Harry Kerr. For the contemporary composer, see Harrison Kerr.

Harry David Kerr (8 October 1880 Santa Rosa, California – 21 May 1957 Los Angeles)[1] was an American songwriter, lyricist, author, and lawyer. Kerr became active in music at age 15 (1895). The practice of law had been his prime avocation until 1920, when he decided to focus on songwriting.[2] But he still continued to use his legal training in music. In 1922, while living in New York City, Kerr prepared the incorporation documents for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), of which he had become one of 90 charter members at its founding in 1914.[3][4][5][6]

Copyright activist

From February 1900[7] to 1903, he had studied law in the law office of George H. Cobb of Watertown, New York. In May 1905, Kerr received an LL.B. from Albany Law School.[8]

Beginning in 1907 as a young lawyer, Kerr worked for about 18 months with a coalition in Washington, D.C., for the passage of the Copyright Act of 1909, which secured the rights of composers to charge royalties on the sales of sound recordings. While lobbying for it, Kerr was associated with the New York City law firm Dougherty, Olcott & Tenney.[9][10]

The U.S. Congregational Committee on Copyrights began hearings Mary 26–28, 1908, at the Library of Congress, to vet the concerns and proposals of authors and managers. Constituent groups giving testimony were the (i) National Association of Theatrical Managers, (ii) the Allied Copyright Committee, and (iii) the White Rats, an author advocacy group of which Kerr was a member.[11]

In 1909, Kerr also wrote the lyrics to "Get on a Raft With Taft," President William H. Taft's campaign song — a particularly memorable concept given that Taft weighed 300 lbs. Taft signed the Copyright Act into law.

Growing up

Kerr attended Gouverneur High School, Gouverneur, New York, during the 1899–1900 school-year. He moved to Watertown, New York, sometime after that, but before 1901.

Career before becoming a lawyer

In June 1901, Kerr moved from Watertown, New York, to Denver to accept an executive and governance position — corporate secretary and director — with The New York Mining and Development Company, of which Ezekiel Hanson Cook, PhD (1845–1907), who from 1994 to 1889 had been the president of Potsdam Normal College, was president.[12] Charles Finding was the Vice President and Charles Love was the Treasurer. The same group of executives simultaneously ran another Denver-based mining company called Mountain Pride Mining Co.

Selected songs

<div= style="-moz-column-width:50em; column-width:50em; font-size:90%;"> (publisher unknown)

Windsor Music Co, Chicago, New York

Willis Woodward & Co., New York

The Mammoth Music Company, Albany, New York

Roger A. Graham, Providence

Metropolis Music Co.

M. Witmark & Sons

Jerome H. Remick & Co., Detroit, New York

Leo Feist, Inc.

French Version: "Tout ton amour pour moi," French text by A. Bollaert

Victor Kremer Co, Chicago

Miller Music Publishing Co., Chicago

Vinton Pub. Co., Boston

Joe Morris Music Co., New York

Church, Paxson and Co., New York

G. Schirmer

C. C. Church & Co., Hartford

New Amsterdam Music Corporation, New York

Gillick Co., San Francisco

Joseph W. Stern & Co.

Chas. E. Roat Music Co., Battle Creek, Michigan

Edward L. Ballenger Music Publishing Co., Los Angeles

Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.

Pace & Handy Music Co., Memphis

Artmusic, Inc., New York

Broadway Music Corp.

Los Angeles Music Publishing Co.

T. Presser, Philadelphia

F. B. Haviland Pub. Co.

C. Arthur Fifer Music Co., Quincy, Illinois

L.F. Collin, Melbourne (distributor for C. Arthur Fifer Music Co.)

Wright Music, Seattle

A.J. Stasny Music Co.

J.W. Jenkin's Sons Music, Kansas City, Missouri

Maurice Richmond (1880–1965), New York

(aka "Share Your Heart" & "Will You Share Your Heart With Me?")

Nacio Herb Brown, Los Angeles

Chappell & Co., Ltd., London

Allan & Co., Melbourne

J Mills, New York

Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc.

Sam Fox Publishing Company

Henry Burr Music Corporation, New York

Forster Music Publisher, Inc., Inc., Chicago

Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco

J. Albert & Son, Sydney

DeSylva, Brown and Henderson Inc., New York — selling agents: Crawford Music Corp.

Suttons, Melbourne

R.L. Huntzinger, New York

William Conrad Polla (1876–1939)

Boston Music

State Theatre Collection, Sydney, Australia (for cinema use)

Selected recordings

<div= style="-moz-column-width:50em; column-width:50em; font-size:90%;"> Blue Amberol Records

Nordskog Records

Brunswick Records

Victor

Neapolitan Nights (Oh, Nights of Splendour)

Filmography

Hold Me in Paradise (2010 film) — "Do You Ever Think Of Me?" (uncredited)
Episode 8.46 (1963) — "Neapolitan Nights" (uncredited)

Screenplays

The Motorcycle Kid (1953) (original story)

Radio theme music

Pseudonyms

Progressive sociological essays by Kerr

Family

Kerr was married twice.

His first marriage was to Harriet Lodge Hastings (maiden; 1883–1946). They married on October 9, 1905, in Albany, New York.[18] His second marriage was to Ruth Eleanor Minter (maiden; 1892–1969). They married on December 20, 1919, in Santa Ana, California, and remained married until his death.

References

General references

Inline citations

  1. ↑ Harry D. Kerr Dies at 76, New York Times, May 22, 1957
  2. ↑ Harry D. Kerr, Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ Composer-Lawyer Harry D. Kerr Dies, Boston Traveler, May 21, 1957, pg. 34
  4. ↑ The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, Third edition, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (1966)
  5. ↑ ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, Fourth edition, compiled for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers by Jacques Cattell Press, New York, R.R. Bowker (1980)
  6. ↑ Biography Index, A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, Volume 4, September 1955 — August 1958 H.W. Wilson Company, New York (1960)
  7. ↑ Personals, Watertown Daily Times, February 21, 1900, pg. 8, col. 2
  8. ↑ Union University Quarterly, Union University, Volume II, Number 1, May 1995, pg. 152
  9. ↑ J. Hampden Dougherty, J. Van Vechten Olcott, & Levi Sanderson Tenney
  10. ↑ Works to Protect Music Composers — Harry D. Kerr, Formerly of Washington, Wins Out in Washington, Watertown Daily Times, April 30, 1909, pg. 4
  11. ↑ Arguments on Copyright, Authors, Managers, and Composers Appear Before Congressional Committee, The New York Dramatic Mirror, April 4, 1908, pg 8, col. 1
  12. ↑ Local Paragraphs, Watertown Daily Times, June 21, 1901, pg. 8, col. 1
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Von Tilzer / Gumm Collection, Library of Congress
  14. ↑ News of the Music Men, Variety, Vol. LIX, No. 1, May 28, 1920, pg. 19, col. 1, paragraph 12
  15. ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 2, Part MB, No. 1, Renewal Registrations, January–June 1948
  16. ↑ Mary Lansing's Column, Albany Evening News, February 2, 1932, pg. 21
  17. ↑ Report of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor Concerning Patents Granted to Officers and Employees of the Government, Under the Provisions of Public Resolution No. 15, March 27 & 29, 1908
  18. ↑ Home Wedding, Albany Evening Journal, October 10, 1905, pg. 9, col. 4

External links

Harry Kerr at Find a Grave