Paul Dresser, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Paul Dresser

American musician

Date of Birth: 22-Apr-1858

Place of Birth: Terre Haute, Indiana, United States

Date of Death: 31-Jan-1906

Profession: actor, singer, songwriter, stage actor

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Taurus


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About Paul Dresser

  • Paul Dresser (born Johann Paul Dreiser, Jr.; April 22, 1857 – January 30, 1906) was an American singer, songwriter, and comedic actor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
  • In addition to songwriting Dresser performed in traveling minstrel and medicine-wagon shows and as a vaudeville entertainer.
  • Dresser sold his songs through sheet music publishers, especially the firms in New York City's Tin Pan Alley, and became a partner in the music publishing business. Dresser grew up in a large family (including his brother, novelist Theodore Dreiser) and lived in Sullivan and Terre Haute, Indiana.
  • He had a troubled childhood and spent several weeks in jail.
  • Dresser left home at age sixteen to join a traveling minstrel act and performed in several regional theaters before joining John Hamlin's Wizard Oil traveling medicine-wagon show in 1878.
  • Dresser composed his first songs while working for Hamlin.
  • Dresser settled in Evansville, Indiana, for several years, while as he continued to work as a traveling performer and musician.
  • Eventually, he became a nationally known talent and traveled with a number of different acts, including The Two Johns, A Tin Soldier, and The Danger Signal, among others.
  • Dresser wrote songs featured in these shows, sold his songs to others acts, and published his music.
  • In 1893 Dresser joined "Howley, Haviland and Company", a New York City sheet music publisher, as a silent partner.
  • He later became an active partner in other music publishing companies.
  • At the height of his success, Dresser lived in New York City as a wealthy entertainer, successful songwriter, and sheet music publisher.
  • He was also known for his generosity, especially to family and friends, and lavish spending.
  • At the turn of the century Dresser fell into financial distress when his music fell out of style.
  • In 1905 his music publishing business declared bankruptcy and Dresser's health declined.
  • He died penniless in New York City a year later. Although Dresser had no formal training in music composition, he wrote ballads that had wide popular appeal, including some that became among the most popular of his time.
  • During a career that spanned nearly two decades, from 1886 to 1906, Dresser composed and published more than 150 songs.
  • His biggest hit, "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" (1897), became the second best-selling song, in terms of sheet music, during the nineteenth century.
  • Following the success of "Wabash", many newspapers compared Dresser to popular music composer Stephen Foster.
  • "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" became the official state song of Indiana in 1913.
  • The Paul Dresser Birthplace in Terre Haute is designated as a state shrine and memorial.
  • Dresser was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Read more at Wikipedia

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