Big Band Times Ben Bernie His Life and Music

MEVIOtoday

Feb 08, 2009 Ben Bernie His Life and Music

A composer ("Sweet Georgia Brown"), author, violinist and conductor, he was educated at the NY College of Music, City College of New York, and the Columbia School of Mines. Beginning hisvaudeville act while selling violins in a New York department store, he organized his own orchestra in 1922, playing a long engagement at the Hotel Roosevelt in New York, then toured Europe. He toured with Maurice Chevalier, and was featured on radio for twenty years. Joining ASCAP in 1934, his musical collaborators were Kenneth Casey, Al Goering, Walter Hirsch, and Maceo Pinkard. Song compositions include "Who's Your Little Whoosis?", "I Can't Believe It's True", "Holding My Honey's Hand", "A Bowl of Chop Suey and Yooey", "After The Dance Was Over", "Was Last Night The Last Night?", "Ain't That Marvelous (My Baby Loves Me)", and "Strange Interlude".