Earl Smith (8)

US composer from Greenfield, IN. 1886 - 1954 Smith was a talented piano player and started out playing music in local Greenfield establishments from the Gant Opera House (now the Wooden Bear on North St) to the Why Not Theater (now the Patriot Insurance Building on American Legion Place). He would soon leave Greenfield and travel to Chicago where he would become a composer of hundreds of popular songs during the hey day of "Tin Pan Alley" including: "O'er the Billowy Sea," "You Have a Wonderful Way of Doing What You Do" and others. Smith would end up in Los Angeles where he would compose works for various movie studios. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery. THE CONTROVERSY OVER "DOWN BY THE OLD MILL STREAM" This song has claims from two composers in two counties - both named Hancock - one in Indiana and one in Ohio. The man from Hancock County, Indiana was Earl K. Smith, a Greenfield native. The folklore is that Smith was inspired by a visit to the Ira Bailey Mill on the Big Blue River in Shelby County in the little town of Freeport, located just south of the Hancock County line. The man from Hancock County, Ohio was Tell Taylor, a native of Findlay. The folklore is that Taylor was inspired by a fishing trip to the Blanchard River, which ironically never had any mill on the spot; however, Taylor states he was inspired by the Missmore mill a couple miles upstream. What is fact? The sheet music has a copyright date of 1908, and the original sheet music in the US Copyright office has BOTH names of Earl Smith AND Tell Taylor as composers. In a 1940 letter to a Findlay man (which is now in possesion of the Hancock Historical Center in OHIO), Smith states that neither he nor Taylor were near either river when the song was written. They were both in Chicago - Smith working for Taylor's music publishing company. Smith writes that he wrote the chorus and titled the song. Taylor wrote the two verses. However, since Taylor published the work - he omitted Smith's name as a co-composer off of subsequent versions, and Smith received no royalties off of those editions. This story is supported by Dale Spencer in the 1955 newspaper article included here. Basically, Smith was desperate for money and sold his rights away to Taylor. In fact, you can see from the 1908 ad for the Why Not Theater that at the time - Smith was working as a piano player in a Greenfield's movie house - not exactly a lucrative job. There was a great amount of explotation in the music industry during the "Tin Pan Alley" age. There were several cases where publishers put their names down as composers for songs for which they had nothing to do with creating. Vanity and the ability to obtain royalty rights were a big incentive. Unfortunately, things like this were not policed until 1914 when the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) pushed for regulation. Taylor died in 1937. In that same year the copyright for "Down by the Old Mill Stream" was due to expire. Smith, as co-composer, filed for a renewal of the copyright, and it was granted. Jerry Vogel music, a known composer rights advocate, started publishing the song - crediting both Smith and Taylor. Forester publishing, the company who had previously held the rights, sued. A trial was held in 1944. However, there was conflicting evidence. The best evidence for Smith was the original sheet music in the copyright office. However, the judge would not allow Smith to testify regarding his conversations with Taylor, citing the 'dead man statute.' Ultimately, the judge ruled that Smith had waited too long to press his claim, and the decision was in favor of Forester. The appeal was also unsuccessful and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Most music experts today agree that both Smith and Taylor should be credited with composing "Down by the Old Mill Stream." As further evidence, the Findlay Courier was given a copy of a "sequel" song, "Down Where the Old Mill Stream Flows" by Taylor in 1937. However, the Hancock Historical Center recovered an earlier copy of the song from 1914. It was published by the Tell Taylor Publishing Company with both Taylor and Earl K. Smith listed as the composers.