James W. Blake
James W. Blake | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 12, 1862 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | May 24, 1935 New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Popular music |
| Occupation | lyricist |
| Years active | c. 1885–1935 |
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.
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. 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]
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. He later became a hat salesman, and songwriting was his hobby, turning to it when sales were slow. One day in 1894, Charles Lawlor, a friend who was a well-known comedian and songwriter, walked into John Golden's hat store on Third Avenue between East 13th and East 14th Streets to visit Blake, humming the melody that later became The Sidewalks of New York. Blake took a liking to the catchy 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 it was so easy for anybody to sing.[1][2][3]
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 childrens' 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 1924 and 1928 and used it as his theme.[1][3]
However, the rest of Blake's life was much tougher. He married a girl from Brooklyn named Ida McBurney and had two children, but they 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. 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 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 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, 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 St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City, where he died.[1][2][4]
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.[1][2]
He is buried in a family plot in Calvary Cemetery in Queens.[5]
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.