The Great Neck Choral Society

PROFILE

Roy Bennett:
He wrote songs for the stars 3-31-05

When Roy C. Bennett sings, it is usually from the back row of GNCS, where he has been carrying bass parts since he joined the chorus in 1962. But one night in 2002, there he was, at the age of 84, singing duets with Cliff Richard, Britain's pop star, before 12,000 fans in Birmingham, England.

The two men had long wanted to meet each other. The songs they sang together had been written many years ago by Roy with Sid Tepper, his long-time collaborator. And Mr. Richard had recorded 15 of the Bennett-Tepper songs. One them, The Young Ones was a mammoth hit worldwide--except in the U.S.

The trip, which Roy made with Ruth, his wife of 56 years, was a highlight of a songwriting career whose beginnings he can trace to the age of 11 or 12. It was then that he befriended Sid, a boy who had moved into the house across the street from where Roy�s family lived in Brooklyn, and they wrote their first song together, though it was, Roy says, "nothing of any consequence."

Roy's interest in music started much earlier. His parents, of Eastern European Jewish descent, had come to New York to escape persecution, and Roy spoke only Yiddish until he was five years old. Even in his stroller, his parents told him later, he knew, when he heard a recorded song, what was on the other side of the disk and would sing it out.

The fork in the road

At Thomas Jefferson High School, Roy became known as the poet of his class. At City College of New York, he took a BA in English while studying theory and harmony for a music minor. He was persuaded to take voice lessons after a professor, who was also a voice teacher, heard him singing in the shower. There came a fork in the road: After winning a scholarship in voice from the American Theater Wing, "I had to choose between a vocal career and a songwriting career," he says, "and I chose songwriting. I never regretted that decision."

Roy and Sid wrote what was to become their first recorded song, Candle Burning Blue, in 1939. But World War II called Roy into the Army Air Corps and Sid into the U.S. Cavalry. After the war their songwriting partnership began in earnest. Neither Roy nor Sid played piano or guitar, but both had good baritone voices that helped put over their songs to prospective publishers. From 1945 to 1970 they had nearly 300 songs published, many of them recorded by the top pop artists of the day.

Some of these songs were inspired by events in Roy's personal life. Roy met his future wife at a CCNY-Brooklyn College football game, and during their three-month courtship he had to take three buses to get to her house, even though they both lived in Brooklyn. Out of that experience came It's a Long Way from Your House to My House, recorded by Frank Sinatra.

Of all their songs, Roy's personal favorite is I�ve Got a Crush on New York Town, which never became a hit, although it has been performed by the New York Treble Singers under the direction of Dr. Virginia Davidson, GNCS's director. But the most durably popular of the Bennett-Tepper songs is Red Roses for a Blue Lady, first recorded by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians in 1948. It was a No. 3 hit for Vaughan Monroe in 1949, and three different recordings scored among the top 40 in 1965. That song, Roy says, "helped put my children through college." Today, he says, the song remains immensely popular in Germany and Austria--"I don�t know why." The lyrics:

I want some red roses for a blue lady
Mr. Florist, take my order, please

We had a silly quarrel the other day
Hope these pretty flowers chase her blues away

Wrap up some red roses for a blue lady
Send them to the sweetest gal in town

And if they do the trick, I'll hurry back to pick
Your best white orchid for her wedding gown

The Bennett-Tepper duo wrote a number of songs for children. Most notable were Suzy Snowflake, recorded by Rosemary Clooney, and Nuttin' for Christmas, which was a hit for five different singers in 1955. That same year, Naughty Lady of Shady Lane was a top-10 hit for both Dean Martin and the Ames Brothers. Three years later, Kewpie Doll was a top-10 hit for both Perry Como and Frankie Vaughan. The Ames Brothers recorded eight other Bennett-Tepper songs, including My Bonnie Lassie.

The list of other prominent pop artists who recorded Bennett-Tepper songs reads like an honor roll. It includes, among others, the Andrews Sisters, the Beatles, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Connie Francis, Robert Goulet, the Ink Spots, Burl Ives, Eartha Kitt, Tony Martin, Gordon McRae, Wayne Newton, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Sarah Vaughn, and Andy Williams.


Early promo photo of Roy (left) and Sid.	British pop star Cliff Richard with Roy.

But the duo's most remunerative success was their output for Elvis Presley. Hit singles included Puppet on a String and All That I Am in 1965 and 1966. Because most of the songs were composed to fit particular moments in Presley's films, not many became standalone hits. But altogether there were 42 songs for Presley, including five in Presley fans' favorite album, Blue Hawaii. In 2002, the two songwriters were honored in Memphis by Lisa Presley and Elvis Presley Enterprises for their contribution to the Presley career. Ironically, neither Roy nor Sid ever met Elvis in person.

The end of a long partnership

In the 1970s Sid Tepper suffered a heart attack and moved to Florida, ending a 25-year collaboration. On his own, Roy wrote only a few more songs and turned his attention to other pursuits. One, incongruously, was composing a software program called PowerMacros for WordPerfect, which was sold nationally for a number of years before Microsoft Word took over the word processing market. Roy also had two books published. One was titled "How to Write and Sell Hit Songs," now inexplicably out of print. The other, titled "Choral Singer's Handbook," is described elsewhere on this website, is still in print after 28 years, and is highly recommended for choral singers.

Roy also taught songwriting at Queens College for four years. And recently he has been lecturing on songwriting in an elderhostel program at the Warwick Conference Center upstate.

Composing did not go away entirely, though. Roy wrote some small choral pieces, one of which, "Sailor's Lament," was arranged by Virginia Davidson and performed in a GNCS concert at Great Neck House.

Roy moved from Brooklyn to Flushing in 1955, after his twin sons were born, and he and Ruth still live in the house they bought then. Ruth taught French and Spanish at both the high school and college level, and in 1990 was named president of the15,000-member American Assn. of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Upon her retirement, the AATSP created an award in her name for �distinguished contributions to Hispanic studies.�

Neither of the Bennetts' sons went into music professionally, but both like to sing. Neil, a demographer and a tenured professor at Baruch College, sings with the Oratorio Society of New York. Keith, a software developer, loves karaoke and, says Roy, "has the best ear in the family." The Bennetts' daughter, Claire, did sing professionally and was a featured singer with the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players. In 1980 she was the mezzo soloist in Brahms� Liebeslieder when it was performed by GNCS. Tragically, Claire died of breast cancer in 1995.

In recent years, Roy has spent much of his time reading, traveling--"we go to at least two elderhostels a year," and, he says, "keeping medical appointments." And, of course, singing in GNCS. Recently Roy and Sid were nominated for membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. But the man who made his name and fortune in the world of pop says, "Choral music is my favorite music."

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