Alfred Bryan (lyricist)

Alfred Bryan
BornSeptember 15, 1871
Brantford, Ontario, Canada
DiedApril 1, 1958(1958-04-01) (aged 86)
Gladstone, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupationlyricist

Alfred Bryan (September 15, 1871 – April 1, 1958) was a Canadian lyricist.

Bryan was born in Brantford, Ontario. He worked as an arranger in New York and wrote lyrics for many Broadway shows in the late 1910s and early 1920s; often collaborating with composer Jean Schwartz. In the 1920s he moved to Hollywood to write lyrics for screen musicals.[1]

Bryan worked with several composers during his career. Among his collaborators were Henriette Blanke-Belcher,[2] Fred Fischer, Al Sherman, Larry Stock and Joe McCarthy.[1] Perhaps his most successful song was "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" (1915), with music by Al Piantadosi.[3] The song sold 650,000 copies during the first three months and became one of 1915's top-selling songs in the United States.[4] Although Bryan himself was not a committed pacifist, he described the American public's anti-war sentiments in his lyrics.[3]

He died in Gladstone, New Jersey, aged 86.

Musicals

  • Shubert Gaieties of 1919
  • Hello, Alexander (1919)
  • The Century Revue (1920)
  • The Midnight Rounders of 1920
  • The Midnight Rounders of 1921
  • Make It Snappy (1922)
  • A Night in Spain (1927)

Songs

Notes

  • Van Wienen, Mark W. (2002). Rendezvous with Death: American poems of the Great War. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07059-4.

References

  1. ^ a b "Alfred Bryan". Songwriters Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b "I'll do anything, but--". Historic Sheet Music Collection, Oregon Digital. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  3. ^ a b Van Wienen 2002, p. 289
  4. ^ Van Wienen 2002, p. 80
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I Sheet Music - Volume 1. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 52, 67, 74, 77, 80, 87, 109, 113, 115, 159, 175, 180, 250, 256, 263, 270, 280, 284, 319, 321, 383, 415, 446. ISBN 978-0-7864-2798-7.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I Sheet Music - Volume 2. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 479, 489, 519, 637, 673, 734, 742, 758, 773, 776, 778, 781, 785, 790. ISBN 978-0-7864-2799-4.