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{{Short description|American lyricist}}
{{Infobox musical artist<!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = James W. Blake
| name = James W. Blake
| birth_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]
| birth_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]
| birth_date = September 23, 1862
| birth_date = {{birth date|1862|9|23}}
| death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]
| death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]]
| death_date = May 24, 1935
| death_date = {{death date and age|1935|5|24|1862|9|23}}
| genre = [[Popular music]]
| genre = [[Popular music]]
| occupation = [[lyricist]]
| occupation = [[lyricist]]
| years_active = c. 1885–1935
| years_active = c. 1885–1935
| background=non_performing_personnel
}}
}}


'''James W. Blake''' (23 September 1862 – 24 May 1935) was a lyricist who is most famous for the words to the 1894 song, ''[[The Sidewalks of New York]]''.
'''James William Blake''' (23 September 1862 – 24 May 1935) was a lyricist who is most famous for the words to the 1894 song, "[[The Sidewalks of New York]]".


⚫
==Early years and family==
==Biography==


⚫
Blake was one of seven children of Michael and Elizabeth Blake, immigrants from [[County Westmeath]], Ireland. He and his siblings were all born in [[Manhattan]], in their family home at 312 East 18th Street, just off [[Second Avenue (Manhattan)|Second Avenue]]. James Blake went to P.S. 40 in Manhattan, worked as a stock boy and office boy in various drapers' shops, then went to evening school and became a real estate agent. His oldest brother, [[Michael F. Blake]], a classmate of [[Charles F. Murphy]] and [[James A. Foley]], was first a news reporter, then went to law school, joined his former classmates and [[Tammany Hall]], and became a City Court judge for 20 years.<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news|title=Jas. W. Blake Dead — Wrote Famed Song — Author of 'Sidewalks of New York' Succumbs at 72 in St. Vincent's Hospital — Smith His Benefactor — In Later Days of Adversity the Former Governor Saw to It That He Was Provided For|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/05/25/94613344.html?pageNumber=15|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 25, 1935|page=15}}</ref>
⚫
===Early years and family===


⚫
==Career, songwriting, and lyrics to ''Sidewalks''==
⚫
Blake was one of seven children of Michael and Elizabeth Blake, immigrants from County Westmeath, Ireland. He and his siblings were all born in [[Manhattan]], in their family home at 312 East 18th Street, just off Second Avenue. James Blake went to P.S. 40 in Manhattan, worked as a stock boy and office boy in various drapers' shops, then went to evening school and became a real estate agent. His oldest brother, [[Michael F. Blake]], a classmate of [[Charles F. Murphy]] and [[James A. Foley]], was first a news reporter, then went to law school, joined his former classmates and [[Tammany Hall]], and became a City Court judge for 20 years.<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news|title=Jas. W. Blake Dead — Wrote Famed Song — Author of 'Sidewalks of New York' Succumbs at 72 in St. Vincent's Hospital — Smith His Benefactor — In Later Days of Adversity the Former Governor Saw to It That He Was Provided For|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/05/25/94613344.html?pageNumber=15|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 25, 1935|page=15}}</ref>
⚫
Blake became a hat salesman, and songwriting was only a hobby, which he turned to when sales were slow. One day in 1894, [[Charles B. Lawlor|Charles Lawlor]], a friend who was also a well-known vaudevillian and singer, walked into John Golden's hat store on Third Avenue between East 13th and East 14th Streets to visit Blake, humming the melody that became ''The Sidewalks of New York.'' Blake took a liking to the [[triple metre|3/4 tune]], and had him repeat it several times. "You get the music on paper," he told Lawlor, "and I'll write the words for it." Lawlor returned to the store in about twenty minutes with the musical notes on paper, and Blake was halfway through the lyrics, having been interrupted by a customer. He finished the words in another half-hour. The tune and words became extremely familiar and well-known throughout New York City. It was first made famous by [[Lottie Gilson]], and it had staying power because the melody was [[earworm|catchy]] and easy to sing.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard>{{cite news|title=Sidewalks' Bard Saved From Want — J.W. Blake, Who Wrote Words of Famous Song, Gets Relief as Smith Aids Him — Hesitated to Ask for Help — Destitute at 70, He is Assured of Pension to Care for an Aged Sister and Blind Brother|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/01/17/99285645.html?pageNumber=21|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=January 17, 1933|page=21}}</ref><ref name=NYT24>{{cite news|title=Composer Tells of Sidewalks Song — Charles B. Lawlor, Now Blind, Wrote It 30 Years Ago and Got $5,000 for It — Linked With Gov. Smith — Not a Copy of It Available, Although It Was Sung at the Democratic Convention|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1924/06/28/119040056.html?pageNumber=7|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=June 28, 1924|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Mildred|title=Story of "The Sidewalks of New York" — The Song That Charles Lawlor Wrote Thirty-four Years Ago Has Lived to Become a Smith Campaign Hymn|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/09/09/95833766.html?pageNumber=82|accessdate=30 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|edition=magazine section|url-access=subscription|date=September 9, 1928|page=8}}</ref>


⚫
The words were a shared vision of Lawlor and Blake, and recall their childhood neighborhoods and those who grew up with them. It was a universal longing for youth, yesteryear, and place, although it was also idealized because both Lawlor and Blake had grown up quite poor. Lawlor said that he envisioned a "big husky policeman leaning against a lamppost and twirling his club, an organ grinder playing nearby, and the east side kids with dirty faces, shoes unlaced, stockings down, torn clothes, dancing to the music, while from a tenement window an old Irish woman with a checkered cap and one of those old time checkered shawls around her shoulders, looking down and smiling at the children."<ref name=NYT24/> The children's names in the lyrics were those of Blake's childhood friends. The song became popular right after it was published, and decades later had a huge renaissance when [[Al Smith]] used it as his theme during his three failed presidential campaigns in 1920, 1924, and 1928.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=NYT24/>
⚫
===Career, songwriting, and lyrics to ''Sidewalks''===
⚫
Blake became a hat salesman, and songwriting was only a hobby, turning to it when sales were slow. One day in 1894, [[Charles B. Lawlor|Charles Lawlor]], a friend who was also a well-known vaudeveillian and singer, walked into John Golden's hat store on Third Avenue between East 13th and East 14th Streets to visit Blake, humming the melody that became ''The Sidewalks of New York.'' Blake took a liking to the [[triple metre|3/4 tune]], and had him repeat it several times. "You get the music on paper," he told Lawlor, "and I'll write the words for it." Lawlor returned to the store in about twenty minutes with the musical notes on paper, and Blake was halfway through the lyrics, having been interrupted by a customer. He finished the words in another half-hour. The tune and words became extremely familiar and well-known throughout New York City. It was first made famous by [[Lottie Gilson]], and it had staying power because the melody was [[earworm|catchy]] and easy to sing.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard>{{cite news|title=Sidewalks' Bard Saved From Want — J.W. Blake, Who Wrote Words of Famous Song, Gets Relief as Smith Aids Him — Hesitated to Ask for Help — Destitute at 70, He is Assured of Pension to Care for an Aged Sister and Blind Brother|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/01/17/99285645.html?pageNumber=21|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=January 17, 1933|page=21}}</ref><ref name=NYT24>{{cite news|title=Composer Tells of Sidewalks Song — Charles B. Lawlor, Now Blind, Wrote It 30 Years Ago and Got $5,000 for It — Linked With Gov. Smith — Not a Copy of It Available, Although It Was Sung at the Democratic Convention|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1924/06/28/119040056.html?pageNumber=7|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=June 28, 1924|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Mildred|title=Story of "The Sidewalks of New York" — The Song That Charles Lawlor Wrote Thirty-four Years Ago Has Lived to Become a Smith Campaign Hymn|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/09/09/95833766.html?pageNumber=82|accessdate=30 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|edition=magazine section||url-access=subscription|date=September 9, 1928|page=8}}</ref>


⚫
Over the years, Blake wrote the words to many songs, including some others with Lawlor, such as "Pretty Jenny Slattery", "Every Boy Has Quarreled with His Sweetheart", "The Best in the House is None Too Good for Reilly", "I Did My Drinking When The Drinking Was Good", but none came even close to matching the popularity of "The Sidewalks of New York".<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard/>
⚫
The words were a shared vision of Lawlor and Blake, and recall their childhood neighborhoods and those who grew up with them. It was a universal longing for youth, yesteryear, and place, although it was also idealized because both Lawlor and Blake had grown up quite poor. Lawlor said that he envisioned a "big husky policeman leaning against a lamppost and twirling his club, an organ grinder playing nearby, and the east side kids with dirty faces, shoes unlaced, stockings down, torn clothes, dancing to the music, while from a tenement window an old Irish woman with a checkered cap and one of those old time checkered shawls around her shoulders, looking down and smiling at the children."<ref name=NYT24/> The children's names in the lyrics were those of Blake's childhood friends. The song became popular right after it was published, and then had a huge renaissance decades after it was written, when [[Al Smith]] ran for president in 1920, 1924, and 1928 and used it as his theme.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=NYT24/>


⚫
==Personal life and later years==
⚫
Over the years, Blake wrote the words to many other songs, including some with Lawlor, such as ''Pretty Jenny Slattery'', ''Every Boy Has Quarreled With His Sweetheart'', ''The Best in the House is None Too Good for Reilly'', ''I Did My Drinking When The Drinking Was Good'', but none came even close to matching the popularity of ''The Sidewalks of New York''.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard/>
⚫
The rest of Blake's life was much tougher than his big hit suggested. He married a girl from Brooklyn named Ida McBurney and they had two children, but both died in infancy and Ida died after only two years of marriage. He and Lawlor sold the rights to "The Sidewalks of New York" for $5,000 to the music publishers [[Paul Dresser#Howley.2C Haviland and Company|Howley, Haviland, and Dresser]], so they did not get any [[residual (entertainment industry)|residuals]]. Lawlor died blind and penniless in 1925. Blake worked for many years selling hats, [[velvets]], and related items, including at [[Macy's]] and at Shendell and Co.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard/>


⚫
In 1932, Blake joined his two surviving siblings, Mary and John, in an apartment on Walton Avenue in [[the Bronx]]. However, by January 1933 they had no money and were evicted from their building. They even walked the sidewalks and streets he had written about, and spent time in [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)#Original structure .281910.E2.80.931963.29|Pennsylvania Station]] just to keep warm. But he remembered being interviewed several years earlier by [[Ishbel Ross]] of the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'', so he got in touch with her. When his story became known, Smith, who had by then retired from politics, arranged for the Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee to provide an apartment for the three Blakes at 407 West 22nd Street, and Max Mayer, who then owned the rights to ''Sidewalks'', arranged for the [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers]] to provide a $25 weekly pension even though Blake had never even been a member of the organization. When Blake became ill, Smith arranged for him to be hospitalized at [[Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center|St. Vincent's Hospital]] in New York City, where he died of stomach cancer several weeks later.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard/><ref>{{cite news|title=Smith Aids Author of 'Sidewalks,' Ill — He Orders Aged Writer of Song About New York Sent to Hospital for X-Rays — Lost 18 Pounds in 8 Days — But J.W. Blake Was Too Proud to Reveal Plight — Brother and Sister Penniless Too|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/05/07/95074335.html?pageNumber=25|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 7, 1935|page=25}}</ref>
⚫
===Personal life and later years===
⚫
The rest of Blake's life was much tougher than his big hit suggested. He married a girl from Brooklyn named Ida McBurney and they had two children, but both died in infancy and Ida died after only two years of marriage. He and Lawlor sold the rights to ''The Sidewalks of New York'' for $5,000 to the music publishers [[Paul_Dresser#Howley.2C_Haviland_and_Company|Howley, Haviland, and Dresser]]. Lawlor died blind and penniless in 1925. Blake worked for many years selling hats, [[velvets]], and related items, including at [[Macy's]] and at Shendell and Co.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard/>


⚫
He was buried in a family plot in [[Calvary Cemetery (Queens, New York)|Calvary Cemetery]] in [[Queens, New York|Queens]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons|date=2016|publisher=McFarland and Company|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-7864-7992-4|page=67|edition=3rd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-DgDAAAQBAJ&q=where+is+james+w.+blake+buried&pg=PA67|accessdate=27 November 2016}}</ref>
⚫
In 1932, Blake moved in with his two surviving siblings, Mary and John, in an apartment on Walton Avenue in [[the Bronx]]. However, by January 1933 they had no money and were evicted from their building. They even walked the sidewalks and streets he had written about, and spent time in [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)#Original structure .281910.E2.80.931963.29|Pennsylvania Station]] just to keep warm. But he remembered being interviewed several years earlier by [[Ishbel Ross]] of the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'', so he got in touch with her. When his story became known, Governor Smith arranged for the Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee to provide an apartment for the three Blakes at 407 West 22nd Street, and Max Mayer, who then owned the rights to ''Sidewalks'', arranged for the [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers]] to provide a $25 weekly pension even though Blake had never been a member. When Blake became ill, Smith arranged for him to be hospitalized at [[Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center|St. Vincent's Hospital]] in New York City, where he died.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=Bard/><ref>{{cite news|title=Smith Aids Author of 'Sidewalks,' Ill — He Orders Aged Writer of Song About New York Sent to Hospital for X-Rays — Lost 18 Pounds in 8 Days — But J.W. Blake Was Too Proud to Reveal Plight — Brother and Sister Penniless Too|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/05/07/95074335.html?pageNumber=25|accessdate=27 November 2016|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 7, 1935|page=25}}</ref>

⚫
He was buried in a family plot in [[Calvary Cemetery (Queens, New York)|Calvary Cemetery]] in [[Queens, New York|Queens]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons|date=2016|publisher=McFarland and Company|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-7864-7992-4|page=67|edition=3rd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-DgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=where+is+james+w.+blake+buried&source=bl&ots=6USCDHxm7N&sig=GOOv-1aitOU5ph51F3qhNJl4MeM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjErqux_MnQAhWB5yYKHfbnA00Q6AEIRDAI#v=onepage&q=where%20is%20james%20w.%20blake%20buried&f=false|accessdate=27 November 2016}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, James W.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, James W.}}

Latest revision as of 15:31, 25 May 2021

James W. Blake
Born(1862-09-23)September 23, 1862
New York City, New York, United States
DiedMay 24, 1935(1935-05-24) (aged 72)
New York City, New York, United States
GenresPopular music
Occupationlyricist
Years activec. 1885–1935

James William Blake (23 September 1862 – 24 May 1935) was a lyricist who is most famous for the words to the 1894 song, "The Sidewalks of New York".

Early years and family

[edit]

Blake was one of seven children of Michael and Elizabeth Blake, immigrants from County Westmeath, Ireland. He and his siblings were all born in Manhattan, in their family home at 312 East 18th Street, just off Second Avenue. James Blake went to P.S. 40 in Manhattan, worked as a stock boy and office boy in various drapers' shops, then went to evening school and became a real estate agent. His oldest brother, Michael F. Blake, a classmate of Charles F. Murphy and James A. Foley, was first a news reporter, then went to law school, joined his former classmates and Tammany Hall, and became a City Court judge for 20 years.[1]

Career, songwriting, and lyrics to Sidewalks

[edit]

Blake became a hat salesman, and songwriting was only a hobby, which he turned to when sales were slow. One day in 1894, Charles Lawlor, a friend who was also a well-known vaudevillian and singer, walked into John Golden's hat store on Third Avenue between East 13th and East 14th Streets to visit Blake, humming the melody that became The Sidewalks of New York. Blake took a liking to the 3/4 tune, and had him repeat it several times. "You get the music on paper," he told Lawlor, "and I'll write the words for it." Lawlor returned to the store in about twenty minutes with the musical notes on paper, and Blake was halfway through the lyrics, having been interrupted by a customer. He finished the words in another half-hour. The tune and words became extremely familiar and well-known throughout New York City. It was first made famous by Lottie Gilson, and it had staying power because the melody was catchy and easy to sing.[1][2][3][4]

The words were a shared vision of Lawlor and Blake, and recall their childhood neighborhoods and those who grew up with them. It was a universal longing for youth, yesteryear, and place, although it was also idealized because both Lawlor and Blake had grown up quite poor. Lawlor said that he envisioned a "big husky policeman leaning against a lamppost and twirling his club, an organ grinder playing nearby, and the east side kids with dirty faces, shoes unlaced, stockings down, torn clothes, dancing to the music, while from a tenement window an old Irish woman with a checkered cap and one of those old time checkered shawls around her shoulders, looking down and smiling at the children."[3] The children's names in the lyrics were those of Blake's childhood friends. The song became popular right after it was published, and decades later had a huge renaissance when Al Smith used it as his theme during his three failed presidential campaigns in 1920, 1924, and 1928.[1][3]

Over the years, Blake wrote the words to many songs, including some others with Lawlor, such as "Pretty Jenny Slattery", "Every Boy Has Quarreled with His Sweetheart", "The Best in the House is None Too Good for Reilly", "I Did My Drinking When The Drinking Was Good", but none came even close to matching the popularity of "The Sidewalks of New York".[1][2]

Personal life and later years

[edit]

The rest of Blake's life was much tougher than his big hit suggested. He married a girl from Brooklyn named Ida McBurney and they had two children, but both died in infancy and Ida died after only two years of marriage. He and Lawlor sold the rights to "The Sidewalks of New York" for $5,000 to the music publishers Howley, Haviland, and Dresser, so they did not get any residuals. Lawlor died blind and penniless in 1925. Blake worked for many years selling hats, velvets, and related items, including at Macy's and at Shendell and Co.[1][2]

In 1932, Blake joined his two surviving siblings, Mary and John, in an apartment on Walton Avenue in the Bronx. However, by January 1933 they had no money and were evicted from their building. They even walked the sidewalks and streets he had written about, and spent time in Pennsylvania Station just to keep warm. But he remembered being interviewed several years earlier by Ishbel Ross of the New York Herald Tribune, so he got in touch with her. When his story became known, Smith, who had by then retired from politics, arranged for the Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee to provide an apartment for the three Blakes at 407 West 22nd Street, and Max Mayer, who then owned the rights to Sidewalks, arranged for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers to provide a $25 weekly pension even though Blake had never even been a member of the organization. When Blake became ill, Smith arranged for him to be hospitalized at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City, where he died of stomach cancer several weeks later.[1][2][5]

He was buried in a family plot in Calvary Cemetery in Queens.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Jas. W. Blake Dead — Wrote Famed Song — Author of 'Sidewalks of New York' Succumbs at 72 in St. Vincent's Hospital — Smith His Benefactor — In Later Days of Adversity the Former Governor Saw to It That He Was Provided For". New York Times. May 25, 1935. p. 15. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sidewalks' Bard Saved From Want — J.W. Blake, Who Wrote Words of Famous Song, Gets Relief as Smith Aids Him — Hesitated to Ask for Help — Destitute at 70, He is Assured of Pension to Care for an Aged Sister and Blind Brother". New York Times. January 17, 1933. p. 21. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Composer Tells of Sidewalks Song — Charles B. Lawlor, Now Blind, Wrote It 30 Years Ago and Got $5,000 for It — Linked With Gov. Smith — Not a Copy of It Available, Although It Was Sung at the Democratic Convention". New York Times. June 28, 1924. p. 7. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ^ Adams, Mildred (September 9, 1928). "Story of "The Sidewalks of New York" — The Song That Charles Lawlor Wrote Thirty-four Years Ago Has Lived to Become a Smith Campaign Hymn". New York Times (magazine section ed.). p. 8. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Smith Aids Author of 'Sidewalks,' Ill — He Orders Aged Writer of Song About New York Sent to Hospital for X-Rays — Lost 18 Pounds in 8 Days — But J.W. Blake Was Too Proud to Reveal Plight — Brother and Sister Penniless Too". New York Times. May 7, 1935. p. 25. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
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