J. Fred Coots
John Frederick Coots (May 2, 1897 – April 8, 1985) was an American songwriter. He composed over 700 popular songs and over a dozen Broadway shows. In 1934, Coots wrote the melody with his then chief collaborator, lyricist Haven Gillespie, for the biggest hit of either man's career, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." The song became one of the biggest sellers in American history. In 1934, when Gillespie brought him the lyrics to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", Coots came up with the outline of the melody in just ten minutes. Coots took the song to his publisher, Leo Feist, who liked it but thought it was "a kids' song" and didn't expect too much from it. Coots offered the song to Eddie Cantor who used it on his radio show that November and it became an instant hit. The morning after the radio show there were orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music and by Christmas sales had passed 400,000. |
Birth and Death Data: Born May 2, 1897 (New York City), Died April 8, 1985 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1920 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, songwriter, tenor vocal, lyricist, piano
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 351-357 of 357 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edison | N-831 | 10-in. | 4/2/1929 | I'm thirsty for kisses—hungry for love | Melville Morris ; Piccadilly Players | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet | composer | |
Edison | N-845 | 10-in. | 4/9/1929 | A precious little thing called love | John Gart | Organ solo | composer | |
Edison | N-953 | 10-in. | 6/12/1929 | Just another kiss | Hawaiian Troubadours | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Edison | N-1143 | 10-in. | 9/20/1929 | Collegiate Sam | 7 Blue Babies ; Jack Dalton | Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band | songwriter | |
Victor (Canada) | 8360 | 10-in. | before 6/7/1938 | There's honey on the moon tonight | Georgia Day ; Mart Kenney ; Three of a Kind ; Western Gentlemen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo and male vocal trio | composer | |
Victor (Canada) | [ViC cat 263607-A] | 10-in. | August 1929 or earlier | Un gentil rien qui s'appelle l'amour | Georges Beauchemin | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | composer | |
Vocalion | 22921 | 10-in. | 5/11/1938 | You go to my head | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Coots, J. Fred," accessed October 16, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106489.
Coots, J. Fred. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 16, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/106489.
"Coots, J. Fred." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 16 October 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: J. Fred Coots
Discogs: J. Fred Coots
Allmusic: J. Fred Coots
IMDb: J. Fred Coots
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Coots, J. Fred, 1897-1985 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n92014476
Wikidata: J. Fred Coots - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1284588
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/5196885
MusicBrainz: J. Fred Coots - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/3bcb90e6-c8d9-463d-870a-3cc1e480a060
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