Eddie Vincent Kilfeather

Edward Vincent (Eddie) Kilfeather (April 5, 1900, Portland, Oregon - January 13, 1950, Los Angeles, California) was a musical composer and arranger who worked on the Columbia Pictures' animated cartoons.

Kilfeather was born in 1900 to Edward and Hannah Kilfeather and grew up in Portland, Oregon. His father was a well-known Democrat found guilty of jury bribing in 1898. The young Kilfeather hooked up with another Portlander, George Olsen, who had formed a band and was its pianist, conductor and arranger. The band headed south and in San Francisco when it was hired by Flo Ziegfeld in 1923 to come to New Year to play music for the show Kid Boots. Kilfeather co-wrote the song Goin' Home Blues for the show. Ziegfeld became enraged with the band after the opening of Whoopee! in 1928. While on the road in Pittsburgh, he fired Kilfeather and replaced him with a personal favorite. Olsen protested by having his musicians refuse to play for the replacement. Ziegfeld relented and gave Kilfeather his job back. The Olsen band quit when the week was over.

Kilfeather wrote a number of songs that Olsen recorded on RCA Records, including She's a Corn Fed Indiana Girl. (1926) He was so taken with the cornet playing of Bix Beiderbecke on a recording of Jazz Me Blues that he transcribed the notes and used it in Olsen's RCA Victor recording You'll Never Get to Heaven With Those Eyes.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1931 with the Olsen band and occasionally played with Sam Coslow's orchestra at the Roosevelt Hotel. He arrived at the Charles Mintz cartoon studio in 1937 and stayed after it was absorbed by Columbia in 1941. His first short was Merry Mannequins and he was involved in 64 cartoons through the release of Up N' Atom in 1947. He was the studio's musical director, sometimes working in conjunction with composer Paul Worth. A stroke forced Eddie to retire as the cartoon studio's musical director in 1946. He was replaced by Darrell Calker, who was working with the Walter Lantz studio at the time.

Kilfeather died in 1950, leaving behind his wife, the former Adelaide Robinson, who died in 1991, and a daughter, Mary Ellen.

Birth and Death Data: Born April 5, 1900, Died January 13, 1950

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1924 - 1930

Roles Represented in DAHR: songwriter, director, piano, arranger, organ

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

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-30116 10-in. 5/16/1924 Sally Lou George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Victor B-30165 10-in. 6/5/1924 A new kind of man George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Victor B-30621 10-in. 7/25/1924 Sax-o-phun George Olsen and his Music ; Rudy Wiedoeft Jazz/dance band, with saxophone solo instrumentalist, piano, arranger  
Victor B-30883 10-in. 10/3/1924 Goin' home blues George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band songwriter  
Victor BVE-34333 10-in. 1/15/1926 She's a corn-fed Indiana girl (But she's mamma to me) George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal duet songwriter  
Victor BVE-35751 10-in. 7/8/1926 You need someone to love George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio songwriter  
Victor BVE-37163 10-in. 12/21/1926 Sam, the old accordion man George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio instrumentalist, organ  
Victor BVE-46600 10-in. 7/23/1928 King for a day Fran Frey Male vocal solo, with orchestra director  
Victor BVE-46601 10-in. 7/23/1928 Out of the dawn Fran Frey Male vocal solo, with orchestra director  
Victor BVE-50981 10-in. 3/27/1929 A garden in the rain Fran Frey ; George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BVE-50996 10-in. 4/1/1929 Breakaway Fran Frey ; George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BVE-50997 10-in. 4/1/1929 Big city blues George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor PBVE-61018 10-in. 9/5/1930 Always in all ways George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor PBVE-61019 10-in. 9/5/1930 Beyond the blue horizon George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor PBVE-61053 10-in. 11/10/1930 My love for you George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor PBVE-61054 10-in. 11/14/1930 Song of the fool George Olsen and his Music Jazz/dance band, with vocal trio director  
Columbia 142160 10-in. 5/6/1926 You need someone to love Broadway Bellhops ; Jack Wilson Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Columbia 145469 10-in. 1/4/1928 Danger! (Look out for that gal) Victor Irwin and his Orchestra Jazz/dance band songwriter  
Columbia W145821 10-in. 3/21/1928 Danger! (Look out for that gal) Tracy-Brown's Orchestra Jazz/dance band songwriter  
OKeh 80054 10-in. 6/3/1926 You need someone to love Melody Sheiks Jazz/dance band songwriter  
Brunswick E3301-E3303 10-in. 6/26/1926 You need someone to love Windsor Hotel Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal trio songwriter  
Brunswick E3779-E3780 10-in. 9/16/1926 She’s a corn-fed Indiana girl Bessie Coldiron Female vocal solo, with piano songwriter  
Edison 11035 10-in. 6/9/1926 She's a corn-fed Indiana girl (But she's Mama to me) Tom Howard ; Jazz Babies Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Edison 11173 10-in. 8/31/1926 You need someone to love Arthur Fields ; Golden Gate Orchestra [California Ramblers] Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo songwriter  
Edison 18159 10-in. 1/9/1928 Danger! (Look out for that gal) Oreste Queensland Orchestra ; The Songsters Jazz/dance band, with male vocal duet songwriter  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Kilfeather, Eddie Vincent," accessed March 28, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/115262.

Kilfeather, Eddie Vincent. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/115262.

"Kilfeather, Eddie Vincent." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/115262

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