Alex Kramer

(Montreal, Quebec, 30 May, 1903 - Westport, Connecticut, 10 February, 1998)

Alex C. Kramer was one of the most successful and highly regarded songwriters of the big band era.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1903, Kramer began his career at 17 years of age, working as a pianist for a silent movie theatre in his native city. He studied at McGill Conservatory of Music, and later, joined Meyer Davis and his Orchestra for one season in Florida, before going back to Montreal to lead his own orchestra on radio shows CFCF and CKAC.

Kramer travelled to Paris and Cannes before moving to New York in 1938, where he continued his work as a bandleader on radio shows, and as an accompanist in vaudeville and nightclubs throughout the city. He also worked as a vocal coach, training aspiring young talents. One of his students was a Broadway performer named Joan Whitney, who later became his wife and songwriting partner. As Kramer continued performing, the couple began to write an extensive body of songs that would evoke passionate performances from notable singers and consistently dazzle audiences.

High on a Windy Hill was the pair's first #1 hit, performed by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in 1941. Collaborations with Hy Zaret (It All Comes Back to Me Now, My Sister and I) and Mack David (Candy) were also immediate #1 chart-toppers.

Other popular songs include It's Love Love Love, Comme-ci, Comme-ca, That's the Beginning of the End, Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Money Is the Root of All Evil, Love Somebody, Dangerous Dan McGrew, You'll Never Get Away, Far Away Places, Summer Rain, I Only Saw Him Once, Story of My Life, So You're the One and No Other Arms, No Other Lips.

After a string of successful hits, Kramer and Whitney began to issue music under their own publishing firm, Kramer-Whitney, Inc., established in 1947; however, it went bankrupt as the Big Band era faded out.

In addition to performing and composing songs, Kramer was an active member of the American Guild of Actors and Composers, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and he established the Bedside Network at the Veterans Hospital Radio & Television Guild, where he was president.

Over 150 different artists have covered Kramer and Whitney songs in various musical genres, most notably Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Dorsey, Doris Day, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Buddy Clark, Louis Jordan, Johnny Mercer and Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting, Glenn Miller, and others.

Alex Kramer passed away in Westport, Connecticut on February 10, 1998, at the age of 95. Kramer and Whitney were inducted into the US Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982. One of their best-known songs, Far Away Places, was previously inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.