Roy Turk

Roy Turk
Born	Roy Kenneth Turk (1892-09-20)September 20, 1892 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Songwriter and lyricist
Years active	1920s–1930s
Style	Traditional pop, cast recordings, show tunes, vaudeville, vocal music

Roy Kenneth Turk (September 20, 1892 – November 30, 1934) was an American songwriter and lyricist, he frequently collaborated with composer Fred E. Ahlert – their popular 1929 song "Mean to Me" has become a jazz standard. He worked with many other composers, including for film lyrics. Turk was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Overview

Among his compositions (with music by Fred Ahlert unless otherwise noted):

• 1927 - Are You Lonesome Tonight? (music by Lou Handman) popularized in 1960 by Elvis Presley
• 1928 - I'll Get By (as Long as I Have You)
• 1928 - Mean to Me
• 1931 - I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)
• 1931 - Walkin' My Baby Back Home
• 1931 - Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day) for Bing Crosby
• 1932 - Love, You Funny Thing!

He also worked with composers such as Harry Akst, George Meyer, Charles Tobias, Arthur Johnston, Maceo Pinkard, and J. Russell Robinson.

Sources

• Biography of Roy Turk at the Songwriters Hall of Fame

References

General references

• The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, Third edition, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, New York (1966)
• ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, Fourth edition, compiled for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, by Jaques Cattell Press, R.R. Bowker, New York (1980)
• The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz, 1900-1950, Three volumes, by Roger D. Kinkle, Arlington House Publishers, New Rochelle, New York (1974)
• Songwriters. A biographical dictionary with discographies, by Nigel Harrison, McFarland & Co., Jefferson, North Carolina (1998)
• Sweet and Lowdown. America's popular song writers, by Warren Craig, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey (1978), Biographies appear in the 'After Tin Pan Alley' section, beginning on page 91
• American Popular Songs. From the Revolutionary War to the present, edited by David Ewen, Random House, New York (1966)

Inline citations