Image Source: Wikipedia

Jean Schwartz

Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born Jewish American composer and pianist. He is best known for his work writing the scores for more than 30 Broadway musicals, and for his creation of more than 1,000 popular songs with the lyricist William Jerome. Schwartz and Jerome also performed together on the vaudeville stage in the United States; sometimes in collaboration with Maude Nugent, Jerome's wife, and the Dolly Sisters. Schwartz was married to Jenny Dolly from 1913 to 1921.

With Jerome, Schwartz created a large body of work for both Broadway and Tin Pan Alley, with the majority of their songs written between the years 1901 and 1910. Many of their popular songs were interpolated into Broadway musicals created by others during the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s. The pair were also the primary creators of eight Broadway musicals, the most successful of which were Piff! Paff!! Pouf!!! (1904) and The Ham Tree (1905). Their most enduring song, "Chinatown, My Chinatown", was written in 1906, interpolated into their final musical together, Up and Down Broadway (1910), and became a jazz standard when a series of recording artists, including Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson, made popular recordings of the work. Their collaborative output slowed significantly after 1910 and came to an end during World War I.

While Schwartz was mainly concerned with writing the music to his songs, he did on occasion work as a lyricist as well. He was a founding member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1914. Schwartz formed a prolific partnership with the lyricist and playwright Harold Atteridge with whom he created more than a dozen Broadway musicals. Many of these shows were also made with the composer Sigmund Romberg. The trio of Schwartz, Atteridge, and Romberg created five of The Passing Show musical revues together as well as the musicals Monte Cristo, Jr. (1919) and Innocent Eyes (1924). Schwartz also created several Broadway musicals in collaboration with the lyricist Alfred Bryan; sometimes in conjunction with Atteridge as musical book writer.

Schwartz collaborated with many other songwriters during his lengthy career. He wrote the 1918 popular standard "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" with Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. In 1930, he intentionally ended his career as a New York City based songwriter with the aptly named "Au Revoir Pleasant Dreams", a work which became the theme song for Ben Bernie and his orchestra. After this, he lived in retirement in Los Angeles and was mostly finished with music making. His final song of significance, the 1937 popular standard "Trust in Me", was written in collaboration with Milton Ager and Ned Wever. That song has been recorded by numerous artists, most recently by Beyonce for the 2008 film Cadillac Records. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

Birth and Death Data: Born Budapest (capital and largest city of Hungary), Died November 30, 1956

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1901 - 1941

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, songwriter

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 326-350 of 376 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
OKeh S-718 10-in. approximately June 1919 Flutter on by, my Broadway butterfly Van Eps Quartet Instrumental quartet composer  
OKeh S-70051 10-in. July 1921 Molly on a trolly (By golly with you) Billy Jones ; Rega Orchestra Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band composer  
OKeh S-70653 10-in. May 1922 Lovable eyes Hotel Pennsylvania Orchestra ; Vincent Lopez Jazz/dance band composer  
OKeh S-71024 10-in. Nov. 1922 Silver Swanee Guyon's Paradise Orchestra ; Jules Herbuveaux Jazz/dance band composer  
OKeh S-72414 10-in. Mar. 1924 Innocent eyes Lanin's Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
OKeh W80624 10-in. 3/23/1927 Fourth of July at the county fair Bill Chitwood ; Georgia Mountaineers Male vocal solo, with string band composer  
OKeh W404841 10-in. 2/10/1931 One little raindrop Phil Dannenberg Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
OKeh W405059 10-in. 11/3/1931 Chinatown, my Chinatown Louis Armstrong Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and talk composer  
Brunswick [Br cat 5198-b] 10-in. approximately December 1917 I'm all bound round by the Mason Dixon Line Harry Tally Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Brunswick [Br cat 5266-a] 10-in. approximately August 1918 Rock-a-bye your baby with a Dixie melody Vernon Dalhart Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Brunswick 8141-8143 10-in. approximately May 1922 Lovable eyes Oriole Terrace Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Brunswick E23281 10-in. 5/21/1927 Room for two Colonial Club Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Brunswick E29222 10-in. 2/5/1929 Chinatown, my Chinatown Five Pennies ; Red Nichols Jazz/dance band composer  
Brunswick E36046 10-in. 2/10/1931 One little raindrop Will Osborne and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Brunswick E36220 10-in. 3/4/1931 One little raindrop Seger Ellis Male vocal solo, with orchestra songwriter  
Brunswick E36304 10-in. 3/11/1931 One little raindrop Dick Robertson Male vocal solo, with orchestra songwriter  
Brunswick E23278-E23280 10-in. 5/21/1927 Room for two Colonial Club Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo composer  
Brunswick C6185 10-in. November 1930 Au revoir, pleasant dreams Ben Bernie Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with vocal; without vocal (take G) composer  
Brunswick C7409 10-in. 2/9/1931 One little raindrop Ben Bernie Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo; without vocal (take G) songwriter  
Brunswick [Br (U.K.) cat 112-b] 10-in. July 1927 Underneath the clover moon Harry Shalson Male vocal solo, with piano composer  
Brunswick DAL183 10-in. 9/30/1935 Chinatown, my Chinatown Hillbilly Boys ; W. Lee O'Daniel String band, with male vocal solo composer  
Brunswick DAL386 10-in. 6/20/1937 In a little red barn (on a farm down in Indiana) Light Crust Doughboys String band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Brunswick SA3016 10-in. 11/15/1937 Chinatown, my Chinatown Nite Owls String band, with male vocal solo composer  
Edison 3345 10-in. October 1914 Le rouli National Promenade Band Band composer  
Edison 3522 10-in. 1/15/1915 Back to the Carolina you love Owen J. McCormack Baritone vocal solo and mixed vocal quartet, with orchestra composer  
(Results 326-350 of 376 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Schwartz, Jean," accessed January 7, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106564.

Schwartz, Jean. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 7, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106564.

"Schwartz, Jean." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 7 January 2026.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106564

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.