This article is about songwriter & lawyer. For other Harry Kerr's, see Harry Kerr. For the contemporary composer, see Harrison Kerr.
Harry David Kerr (8 October 1880 Santa Rosa, California – 21 May 1957 Los Angeles)[1] was an American songwriter, lyricist, author, and lawyer. Kerr became active in music at age 15 (1895). The practice of law had been his prime avocation until 1920, when he decided to focus on songwriting.[2] But he still continued to use his legal training in music. In 1922, while living in New York City, Kerr prepared the incorporation documents for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), of which he had become one of 90 charter members at its founding in 1914.[3][4][5][6]
Beginning in 1907 as a young lawyer, Kerr worked for about 18 months with a coalition in Washington, D.C., for the passage of the Copyright Act of 1909, which secured the rights of composers to charge royalties on the sales of sound recordings. While lobbying for it, Kerr was associated with the New York City law firm Dougherty, Olcott & Tenney.[9][10]
The U.S. Congregational Committee on Copyrights began hearings Mary 26–28, 1908, at the Library of Congress, to vet the concerns and proposals of authors and managers. Constituent groups giving testimony were the (i) National Association of Theatrical Managers, (ii) the Allied Copyright Committee, and (iii) the White Rats, an author advocacy group of which Kerr was a member.[11]
In 1909, Kerr also wrote the lyrics to "Get on a Raft With Taft," President William H. Taft's campaign song — a particularly memorable concept given that Taft weighed 300 lbs. Taft signed the Copyright Act into law.
Growing up
Kerr attended Gouverneur High School, Gouverneur, New York, during the 1899–1900 school-year. He moved to Watertown, New York, sometime after that, but before 1901.
Career before becoming a lawyer
In June 1901, Kerr moved from Watertown, New York, to Denver to accept an executive and governance position — corporate secretary and director — with The New York Mining and Development Company, of which Ezekiel Hanson Cook, PhD (1845–1907), who from 1994 to 1889 had been the president of Potsdam Normal College, was president.[12] Charles Finding was the Vice President and Charles Love was the Treasurer. The same group of executives simultaneously ran another Denver-based mining company called Mountain Pride Mining Co.
Selected songs
(publisher unknown)
"Listen to the Rain," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry Joseph Tandler (1881–1940)
"Send Back Dear Daddy To Me," lyrics by Kerr, music by Irving Maslof
"Sweetheart Days," lyrics by Kerr, music by Homer Tourjée (1866–1943) (1920)
"Don't Make Your Sweet Mama Cry Over You," lyrics by Kerr, music by Earl Burtnett, arranged by Vern Elliott (1922)
"If I Had a Little Girl Like You," lyrics by Kerr, music by Otto Milton Heinzman (1873–1943) (1935)
"Just You, Dear," lyrics by Kerr, music by Otto Milton Heinzman (1873–1943) (1935)
"I'd Love to Know," lyrics by Kerr, music by Otto Motzan (1880–1937) (1920) OCLC497638092
"If All The Years Were Mine," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry Joseph Tandler (1881–1940) (1920) OCLC497790450
"There's No Other Rose Like You," lyrics by Kerr, music by William Alexander OCLC499112564
"My Rosebud Rosary," lyrics by Hal Billings (pseudonym of Kerr), music by Charlie Straight & Roy Bargy, arranged by Otto Frey (1921)
"When Love's the Gondolier," lyrics by Hal Billings (pseudonym of Kerr), music by Henry R. Cohen (1922) OCLC497294660
"I Can't Forgive and Forget," lyrics by Hal Billings (pseudonym of Kerr), music by Joseph Meyer (1923)
"Pep," (aka "Yankee Pep") lyrics by Kerr, music by Elizabeth D. Armer, arranged by Homer Tourjée (1866–1943) (1919)
"If Solomon Had a Million Wives Today," lyrics and music by Kerr (manuscript)[13]
"My Heart is the Harbor to Hold All Your Love," lyrics and music by Kerr (manuscript)[13]
"That's Where I Love You the Most," lyrics and music by Kerr (manuscript)[13]
"When Your Love Crept Into My Heart," lyrics by Kerr, music by William (Billy) D. Alexander (1919)
Windsor Music Co, Chicago, New York
"Waiting," lyrics & music by Kerr (1902) OCLC497461849
"Dorothy Waltzes," lyrics & music by Kerr (1903) OCLC497461770
"Elinore Waltzes," lyrics & music by Kerr (1904) OCLC497461800
Willis Woodward & Co., New York
"May I Call on You?," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry Arthur Blumenthal (1906) OCLC60563951
The Mammoth Music Company, Albany, New York
"Put Your Shoes in My Trunk," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry P. Vogel (1906) OCLC497586583
"When Daddy Sings the Little Ones to Sleep," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry P. Vogel
"Don't Say Good Bye, Sweet Elinore," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry P. Vogel (1906)
"Blue Eyed Mary," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry P. Vogel
"Oriental Love Dreams," lyrics by Kerr, music by Earl Burtnett & Henry Miller, cover artist POM Griffith (né Porter Murdock Griffith; 1889–1969) (1924) OCLC221011677, 224052884, 460637491
"Croon a Little Lullaby," lyrics by Kerr, music by Chris Schonberg & Clyde Baker (1925) OCLC221552416
Copyright Legislation — An Answer to the Argument of the Manufacturers of Phonographs and Other Mechanical Reproduction Devices (1908)[18]
Family
Kerr was married twice.
His first marriage was to Harriet Lodge Hastings (maiden; 1883–1946). They married on October 9, 1905, in Albany, New York.[19] His second marriage was to Ruth Eleanor Minter (maiden; 1892–1969). They married on December 20, 1919, in Santa Ana, California, and remained married until his death.
Biography of Song Sheets; Sports and Recreations in American Popular Songs: Part IV — Songs of the Silent Film, compiled by Gerald D. McDonald, Notes (journal), Second Series, Vol. 14, No. 4, September 1957
