1921 in music - Definition and Overview

See also: 1920 in music, other events of 1921, 1922 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• Clarence Williams makes his first recordings

Published popular music

• "Ain't We Got Fun?" w.m. Richard A. Whiting, Raymond Egan & Gus Kahn
• "All By Myself" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "And Her Mother Came Too" w. Peter Dion Titheradge m. Ivor Novello
• "Any Time" w.m. Herbert Happy Lawson
• "April Showers" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Louis Silvers
• "Baltimore Buzz" w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
• "Bandana Days" w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
• "Bimini Bay" w. Gus Kahn & Raymond Egan m. Richard Whiting
• "Blue Jeans" w. Harry D. Kerr m. Traveller
• "Coal-Black Mammy" by Laddie Cliff
• "Dancing Time" w.(Eng) George Grossmith (US) Howard Dietz m. Jerome Kern US words written 1924.
• "Dapper Dan" w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Dear Old Southland" w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton
• "Down Yonder" w.m. L. Wolfe Gilbert
• "Everybody Step" w.m. Irving Berlin
  
• "Hawaiian Chimes" w. Irving Bibo m. Eva Applefield
• "I Ain't Nobody's Darling" w. Elmer Hughes m. Robert A. King
• "I Found A Rose In The Devil's Garden" w.m. Fred Fisher & Willie Raskin
• "I Wonder If You Still Care For Me" w.m. Harry B. Smith & Francis Wheeler
• "I'll Forget You" w. Annelu Burns m. Ernest R. Ball
• "I'm Just Wild About Harry" w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
• "I'm Missin' Mammy's Kissin'" w. Sidney Clare m. Lew Pollack
• "I'm Nobody's Baby" w.m. Benny Davis, Milton Ager & Lester Santly
• "Jazz Me Blues" m. Tom Delaney
• "Keep Movin'" Helen Trix
• "Kitten On The Keys" m. Zez Confrey
• "Laughin' Rag" S. Moore, H. Skinner
• "Learn To Smile" w. Otto Harbach m. Louis A. Hirsch
• "Leave Me With A Smile" w.m. Charles Koehler & Earl Burtnett
• "Love Will Find A Way" w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
• "Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me" w. Sidney Clare m. Con Conrad
• "Make Believe" w. Benny Davis m. Jack Shilkret
• "Mandy 'N' Me" w. Bert Kalmar m. Con Conrad
• "My Sunny Tennessee" w.m. Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby & Herman Ruby
• "Peggy O'Neill" w.m. Harry Pease, Ed G. Nelson & Gilbert Dodge
• "Sally" w. Clifford Grey m. Jerome Kern
• "Say It With Music" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Second Hand Rose" w. Grant Clarke m. James F. Hanley
• "The Sheik Of Araby" w. Harry B. Smith & Francis Wheeler m. Ted Snyder
• "She's Mine, All Mine" w.m. Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby
• "Shimmy With Me" w. P. G. Wodehouse m. Jerome Kern from the musical The Cabaret Girl
• "Shuffle Along" w.m. Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
• "Song Of Love" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
• "Strut Miss Lizzie" w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton
• "Swanee River Moon" w.m. H. Pitman Clarke
• "Sweet Lady" w. Howard Johnson m. Frank Crumit & Dave Zoob
• "Ten Little Fingers And Ten Little Toes" w. Harry Pease & Johnny White m. Ira Schuster & Ed G. Nelson
• "There'll Be Some Changes Made" w. Billy Higgins m. Benton Overstreet
• "Tuck Me To Sleep In My Old 'Tucky Home" w. Sam H. Lewis & Joe Young m. George W. Meyer
• "Wabash Blues" w. Dave Ringle m. Fred Meinken
• "When Big Profundo Sang Low C" w. Marion T. Bohannon m. George Botsford
• "When Buddha Smiles" w. Arthur Freed m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "When Francis Dances With Me" w. Ben Ryan m. Sol Violinsky
• "When Shall We Meet Again" w. Raymond B. Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
• "Whip-poor-will" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Jerome Kern
• "Yoo-Hoo" w. B. G. De Sylva m. Al Jolson

Top Hit Recordings

• "Wang Wang Blues" by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, featuring Gussie Mueller
• "Look for the Silver Lining" by Marion Harris
• "Margie" by Eddie Cantor
• "Margie, introducing Singing the Blues/Palesteena" by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band
• "The Wabash Blues" by Isham Jones & His Orchestra
• "Say It with Music" by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
• "All by Myself" by Ted Lewis & His Jazz Band
• "Everybody Step" by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra

Classical music

• Howard Hanson - Before the Dawn
• Edgar Varèse - Offrandes
• Edgar Varèse - Amériques (1918-21)

Opera

• Leos Janacek - Katya Kabanova
• Pietro Mascagni - Il piccolo Marat
• Sergei Prokofiev - The Love for Three Oranges

Musical theater

• Bombo, Broadway production opened at Jolson's 59th Street Theatre on October 6 and ran for 213 performances
• The Broadway Whirl, Broadway revue opened at the Times Square Theatre on June 8 and ran for 85 performances
• Good Morning, Dearie, Broadway production opened at the Globe Theatre on November 1 and ran for 347 performances
• Sally, London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 10 and ran for 387 performances
• Shuffle Along, Broadway production opened at the 63rd Street Music Hall on May 23 and ran for 504 performances
• Sybil, London production opened at Daly's Theatre on February 19 and ran for 346 performances

Births

• January 31 - Mario Lanza
• January 31 - Carol Channing
• February 5 - Sir John Pritchard, British conductor
• March 8 - Cyd Charisse
• March 12 - Gordon MacRae
• May 17 - Bob Merrill, US songwriter
• May 25 - Hal David - US lyricist
• June 1 - Nelson Riddle, US conducter, composer and arranger
• June 19 - Louis Jordan
• June 21 - Judy Holliday, US actress and singer
• June 24 - Peggy DeCastro, US singer born in the Dominican Republic, eldest of the DeCastro Sisters
• August 3 - Richard Adler, US composer and lyricist
• September 8 - Harry Secombe, Welsh idiot ("My God! Who Sent You To Me!")
• September 19 - Billy Ward, The Dominoes
• November 23 - Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer, musician and songwriter
• December 8 - Johnny Otis
• December 15 - Alan Freed, disc jockey
• December 26 - Steve Allen

Deaths

• April 20 - Tony Jackson
• August 2 - Enrico Caruso
• December 16 - Camille Saint-Saëns