Einar Aaron Swan
Einar Aaron Swan | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Einar (Eino) William Swan |
Born | Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States | March 20, 1903
Died | August 8, 1940 Greenwood Lake, New York, USA | (aged 37)
Genres | Big band, swing, jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Violin, clarinet, saxophone, piano |
Years active | 1919-1940 |
Einar Aaron Swan (born Einar (Eino) William Swan; March 20, 1903 – August 8, 1940) was an American musician, arranger and composer. He is known for writing songs including "When Your Lover Has Gone" and "In the Middle of a Dream".
Early life
Swan was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts to
Career
Around 1924, the bandleader Sam Lanin invited Swan to join his orchestra at New York's famed Roseland Ballroom, and Swan played with leading musicians such as cornettist Red Nichols, and members of The Charleston Chasers Vic Berton (drums) and Joe Tarto (tuba), with whom he soon started composing and arranging material for the orchestra. He also started arranging for the other resident band at the Roseland Ballroom, Fletcher Henderson's orchestra.[1]
After five months with Lanin, Swan joined
Around 1930 Swan stopped working as a musician and concentrated on arrangements, starting to work for radio programmes and bandleaders such as
In 1931 he wrote "When Your Lover Has Gone" which was featured in the James Cagney film Blonde Crazy (1931). The song became a hit and has since been covered by many other performers such as Lee Wiley, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra.[1]
In 1939, he composed "In the Middle of a Dream" with Tommy Dorsey and Al Stillman, which was recorded by Glenn Miller and Red Norvo.
Personal life
Swan married, on August 7, 1925, Ann "Billie" Kaufman in
Einar and Ann had two children, Pearl, born in 1926 (later known as Leslie von Roeder), and Donald, born in 1930.[1]
He died of a
Major compositions
- "White Ghost Shivers"
- "Trail of Dreams" (1926)
- "When Your Lover Has Gone" (1931)
- "In the Middle of a Dream" (24 May 1939); Al Stillman (words); Tommy Dorsey and Einar Swan (music)
References
- ^ The Swedish-Finn Historical Society)
- ^ "New York, State Death Index, 1880-1956", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGP2-LNJ7 : 3 March 2022), Einar A Swan, 1940.