Cecil Mack

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Cecil Mack
Birth nameRichard Cecil McPherson
Born(1873-11-06)November 6, 1873
Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
DiedAugust 1, 1944(1944-08-01) (aged 70)
Manhattan, New York, USA
Occupation(s)Composer, lyricist, music publisher

Cecil Mack (November 6, 1873 – August 1, 1944) was an American composer, lyricist and music publisher.[1][2]

Biography[edit]

Born as Richard Cecil McPherson in Portsmouth, Virginia, he attended the Norfolk Mission College and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (class of 1897) before leaving to go to New York City where the 1900 Federal Census lists his occupation as a stenographer.[3] Mack started writing song lyrics, starting with "Good Morning, Carrie" in 1901. He co-founded the Gotham-Attucks Music Publishing Company in May 1905, in New York City; it was likely the first black-owned music publishing company.[4] In July 1906, an article in The New York Age referred to Mack as the company's "secretary and treasurer and general business director."[5] In 1907 he wrote the lyrics for the musical The Black Politician. In 1925 he co-wrote the book for the musical Mooching Along. Mack also formed a choir, the Southland Singers, that year.[6] In 1931 he co-wrote the music for the musical Rhapsody in Black.

Birth date[edit]

His birthdate is also given as 1880[7] and 1883, and an 1876 date is shown by his World War I Draft Registration card, as referenced above, and the 1900 US Census, but an 1891 Navy Enlistment Record and the 1880 Federal census both point to an 1873 birth year.

Personal life[edit]

Mack married Dr. Gertrude Curtis on April 8, 1912, in Manhattan. Curtis was a pioneering African-American dentist who practiced in Harlem. They remained married to her until his death. They had no children. Gertrude re-married in 1946 to Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson (1888–1990), a comedian.

Death[edit]

Mack died in Manhattan, aged 70. The New York Age, quoting his obituary from The Christian Science Monitor, observed, "Not even Irving Berlin exceeded the output of this talented New York Negro. His songs were as American as Stephen Foster's – one or two of them may be remembered as long – and were typically representative of the pre-radio era when fortunes were made over the 10-cent-store counters. Cecil Mack's songs were pure fun and never had an off-color line."[8]

Notable works[edit]

As lyricist, Mack's notable works include:

  • "Good Morning, Carrie" (1901, co-wrote music and lyrics with J. Tim Brymn)
  • "Please Go Away and Let Me Sleep" (1902)
  • "He's a Cousin of Mine" (1902)
  • "The Little Gypsy Maid" (1904 or before)
  • "Zongo, My Congo Queen" (1904 or before)
  • "Teasing" (1904)
  • "All in down and out" (1906)[9]
  • "You're In the Right Church (But the Wrong Pew)" (1908, co-wrote music and lyrics with Chris Smith)
  • "I'm Miss Hanna from Savannah" (between 1908 and 1910)
  • "That's Why They Call Me Shine"(1910)
  • "Way Down East" (1911) words by Cecil Mack, music by Joe Young and Harold Norman
  • "Someone's Waiting Down in Tennessee" (1912, co-wrote music and lyrics with James Reese Europe)
  • "Charleston" (1923, co-wrote music and lyrics with James P. Johnson)
  • "Old Fashioned Love" (1923, co-wrote music and lyrics with James P. Johnson for the show Runnin' Wild)

Bibliography[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Anderson, 1976.
  2. ^ Perfessor Bill.
  3. ^ "McPherson", US Census, June 12, 1900.
  4. ^ Morgan.
  5. ^ New York Age, July 26, 1906.
  6. ^ "Southland Singers", 1938.
  7. ^ World War II Draft.
  8. ^ New York Age, August 19, 1944.
  9. ^ McPherson, Smith, Johnson, Bowman, 1906.

References linked to notes[edit]

  • Anderson, Elsie Ruth (1907–1989) (compiler) (1976). "McPherson, Richard Cecil". Contemporary American Composers – A Biographical Dictionary (1st ed.). Boston: G. K. Hall & Co. p. 288. ISBN 9780816111176. Retrieved August 18, 2021 – via Internet Archive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) LCCN 76-2395; ISBN 0-8161-1117-0; OCLC 251647491 (all editions).
    1. Vol.  2; Nos. 6–9 (February 1907) (1907). "All In Down and Out; Sorry I Ain't Got It, You Could Get It, If I Had It". © Gotham-Attucks Music Co., New York → 7 December 1906; C 136267{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: postscript (link) p. 44.
    1. New York Age, The (July 26, 1906). "Manhattan and Bronx" (PDF). Vol. 19, no. 40. p. 6 (column 1). Retrieved July 11, 2011 – via Fultonhistory.com.
  • Perfessor Bill (aka Bill Edwards; né William G. Motely III; born 1959) (n.d.). "Richard Cecil McPherson (Cecil Mack)". www.perfessorbill.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • "Southland Singers, The: America's Foremost Jubilee Company". Iowa City: Iowa Digital Library, University of Iowa Ligraries. 1938. Retrieved August 18, 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
    1. UI TC 37758.
    2. UI TC 41971.
    3. UI TC 55420.

External links[edit]

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