Buddy Feyne

Buddy Feyne (born Bernard Feinstein; June 9, 1912 – December 10, 1998) was an American lyricist during the swing era. He wrote the lyrics for "Tuxedo Junction", which went to No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 1940 when Glenn Miller recorded it, "Jersey Bounce", which was No. 15 on the Cash Box Hit Parade of 1942., and "Jumpin' with Symphony Sid".

Feyne's songs have been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Jackson, The Manhattan Transfer, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams,

Life and career Feyne was born in New York City, the youngest son of immigrants Solomon and Sarah Feinstein.

Feyne was based at the Brill Building in New York, writing songs for Lewis Music Publishers, one of the few companies which published "race music", the term for songs created by black artists. In 1939, Erskine Hawkins and his band introduced "Tuxedo Junction" at the Savoy Ballroom, in New York, which was an immediate hit.

When it was decided to add words to the music, the publisher asked several different lyricists to propose words for the tune. Feyne met Hawkins and asked what the name referred to. It was named for a whistle stop spot on the "Chitlin' Circuit" in Alabama. When he learned the meaning of the song, the lyrics came easily, and his were selected. Glenn Miller recorded the most successful version, reaching #1 on the Billboard charts in 1940, selling 115,000 in the first week of release. The song was also recorded by the Andrews Sisters, Duke Ellington, Jan Savitt, and other orchestras. Later it became the theme song of The Manhattan Transfer, who met Feyne in 1978. Feyne played the original piano solo for them from the Miller Band and they changed their arrangement to match the original. They maintained a close friendship for the last twenty years of Feyne's life.

Feyne continued to write lyrics for black composers such as Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, Dud Bascomb, Bobby Plater, Tiny Bradshaw, and Edward Johnson. "Dolimite" by the Hawkins band on the Bluebird label was recorded by Jimmy Dorsey for Decca (1940). Feyne became a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1940. He used the nom de plume "Robert B. Wright" when he penned the lyrics for "After Hours", a haunting blues piece composed by Avery Parrish. "Jersey Bounce" followed soon after. He wrote the lyrics to the Glenn Miller #3 Billboard chart hit "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem" in 1941, with music by Jerry Gray. He wrote with many other composers, sang on the radio, and was a writer-producer of the series "Rhythm School of the Air".

Drafted in World War II, while in training at Fort Pickett in Virginia, Buddy continued to write songs and sang his tune "Your Soldier Boy" on Armed Forces Radio, recorded on the base. He served in the Pacific in the 77th Infantry Division and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal

Buddy Feyne died in Canoga Park, Los Angeles in 1998, at the age of 86.

Hit compositions Songs "Tuxedo Junction" "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem" "Jersey Bounce" "After Hours" "Why" (recorded by Nat King Cole) "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" "Dolomite" ( "Dolemite") "Radar Blues" "The Shadow Knows" "Everybody Wants to Be Loved"

Musicals: Song of Texas (composer Harry Revel) So This is Brooklyn (composer Bill Harrington) Up Your Alley (composer Bill Baker)

Films with Buddy Feyne Songs: George Hall & His Orchestra (1936) It's In the Stars (1938) The Zoot Cat (1944) Junior Miss (1945) Sweet Serenade (1950) Night Stage to Galveston (1952) The Glenn Miller Story (1954) The Benny Goodman Story (1956) The Gene Krupa Story (1959) Carnal Knowledge (1971) Diary of a Stewardess (1972) Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976) The Electric Horseman (1979) Raging Bull (1980) Raggedy Man (1981) Sharky's Machine (1981) Dead End Dolls (1983) House (1986) Radio Days (1987) Miss Rose White (1992) A Midnight Clear (1992) Boiling Point (1993) Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1993) Murder in the First (1995) Contact (1997) Rounders (1998) Transistorized (2000) My Dog Skip (2000) The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) Out of Step (2001) Starsky & Hutch (2004) The Machinist (2004) Australia (2008)

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