Joe Young
My great uncle was Joe Young (1889-1939) a prolific hit songwriter of the Tin Pan Alley era. Born Israel Youdovich, he was one of nine siblings who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen in New York after the family emigrated from Russia in 1888.Joe got his start as a vaudeville card boy and later as a singing waiter hired by Irving Berlin to plug songs. He begins to work for publishing companies as a song plugger by singing and performing songs. He wrote over 550 songs, and was a charter member of ASCAP.
During WWI, Joe entertained the troops as a singer. He wrote many famous WW1 songs including “How Ya Gonna Keep Em Down on the Farm”, “Just a Baby’s Prayer at Twilight”, “Hello Central, Give Me No Man’s Land”, “Goodbye Frenchy, Goodbye” along with many others.
In the 1920s He wrote song hits for Al Jolson, among others, including “I’m Sittin’ on Top of the World”, “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue”, “Dinah”, “Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody”. “Tuck Me To Sleep in my Old Tucky Home” is the largest selling song ever published by Irving Berlin, selling over 3 million copies.
In the 1930s, Joe Young served as secretary of ASCAP along with Fred Ahlert as President. Joe and Fred write 45 or more songs together during this time including “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”. He also writes over 25 songs with Harry Warren including “You’re My Everything”, 5 songs with Fats Waller, and writes with many other famous song writers and for artists such as Kathrine Hepburn, Shirley Temple, Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, Kate Smith, Eddie Cantor, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgeral, Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, Ruth Etting, Dean Martin, Ozzie & Harriet, Sophie Tucker and many more.
Joe died in 1939. His obituary said that “Joe Young, who died Saturday in New York, probably wrote more songs that tickled the fancy of the public, with the possible exception of Irving Berlin, than any other composer.”
I’m currently writing a book and a musical about Joe’s life and career. The working title is “Has Anybody Seen My Songs?”
Here’s a slideshow of some of Joe’s sheet music covers
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