Dick Robertson (songwriter)

Dick Robertson
Dick Robertson
	Robertson in 1945 advertisement
Background information
Birth name	Richard Joseph Richardson
Born	July 3, 1900; Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	July 12, 1979 (aged 79); Long Island, New York, U.S.
Genres	Big band
Occupation	Songwriter
Instrument	Vocalist
Labels	Banner Records

Richard Joseph Robertson (July 3, 1900 – July 12, 1979)^[1]^[2] was an American popular big band singer and songwriter of the 1930s and 1940s. He sang for many bandleaders such as Leo Reisman and Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra, and was on the artist roster at Banner Records. In fact, he was one of the most prolific New York based vocalists (along with Irving Kaufman, Chick Bullock, Scrappy Lambert, Elmer Feldkamp, Paul Small and Smith Ballew) on scores of records from late 1928 through the mid 1930s. A series of records issued on Melotone/Perfect/Banner/Oriole/Romeo, Crown, Bluebird from 1930-1934 were issued under his name or are listed in the 2010 edition of "American Dance Bands on Record and Film (1915-1942)" by Richard J. Johnson and Bernard H. Shirley as being under his nominal leadership. His last recording session as a singer was in 1949. He also used the pseudonym Bob Richardson for some recordings on Mayfair Records.^[3]

As a songwriter his biggest hit was "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" in 1940.^[4] The Sinatra version of the song was re-released on The Song Is You (album) and again on Frank Sinatra & the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Vol. 1

As songwriter

"I'd Do It All Over Again", 1945, co-written with Frank Weldon and James Cavanaugh.

As singer

"Singin' in the Bathtub", 1929
"Lazy Day", 1932
"Lovable", 1932
"If I Ever Get a Job Again", 1933 [with Gene Kardos and His Orchestra]
"All I Do Is Dream of You", 1934
"She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor", 1940 - banned by the BBC
"Any Bonds Today?", 1940
"Ferryboat Serenade", 1941 - Number 1 in Australia
"My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time", 1945

References

^ A little on the lonely side. Sydney : Sterling Music Pub. Co. ; New York, N.Y. : Advanced Music Co. 1944.
^ "Robertson Dick". Dick Robertson. Oxford University Press. January 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
^ 60 years of recorded jazz 1917-1977 1980 - Volume 9 - Page R-237 "Old sheep, you know the way - BOB RICHARDSON Bob Richardson and his Orchestra : pseudonym on Mayfair G2023 for Dick Robertson, see there"
^ Warren W. Vaché The unsung songwriters: America's masters of melodies 2000 p403 "Anybody who bought popular records during the thirties and forties would be familiar with his voice. Besides performing as a vocalist, Robertson also doubled as a songwriter, collaborating on a number of very respectable entries in the popular field. His biggest hit was the wistful ballad We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me), a 1940 "