Everything about Paul Dresser totally explained
Paul Dresser (
April 22 1857 –
January 31 1906) was an important
American songwriter of the late
19th century and early
20th century.
He was born in
Terre Haute, Indiana, and baptized as
Johann Paul Dreiser Jr. on
May 24 1857 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Terre Haute. Paul Dresser is best-known for composing what would become the
state song of Indiana, "
On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away". His younger brother was novelist
Theodore Dreiser.
Dresser worked as an
actor, playwright, songwriter,
producer, and
music publisher. He composed more than 100 songs on
Tin Pan Alley, in
New York City. At the peak of his fame, in the
1890s, he was the most popular songwriter in America. He created his own publishing house in
1901 to produce his works.
Despite his fame, he was financially unwise. He gave much of his money away to friends and family, and when his publishing house failed, he was left destitute. He died, aged 49, in
New York City.
Paul Dresser was portrayed in the
biopic My Gal Sal (1942) by actor
Victor Mature. Dresser was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Legacies
Many landmarks in
Vigo County, Indiana, including the Dresser Memorial Bridge, Dresser Drive and the unplatted community of Dresser, situated on the west bank of the
Wabash River, were named for Paul Dresser.
His birthplace is maintained at Henry Fairbanks Park in Terre Haute by the
Vigo County Historical Society. Dresser Drive, a street in the Forest Hills neighborhood of
Anderson, Indiana, is named for him, as is the Dresser Bridge, which crosses the
Wabash River, near
Attica, Indiana.
Theodore Dreiser wrote an account of his brother's life in his book
Twelve Men, published in
1919. A recent academic study of Dresser's life,
On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away: The Life and Music of Paul Dresser by Clayton W. Henderson, was published by the
Indiana Historical Society Press in 2003.
Sources
- Sadie, S. (ed.) (1980) The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, [vol.# 5].
Further Information
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