Nathaniel Shilkret
Musician · 1889–1982 · New York City
Best known for
Composer
Nathaniel Shilkret was a New York-born clarinetist, conductor, composer, and Victor Records musical director whose 1925–1932 tenure as head of Victor’s “light music” division put him in the producer’s chair for some of the era’s biggest-selling records. His co-write “The Lonesome Road” (with Gene Austin, 1927) became a Tin Pan Alley standard later picked up by country and bluegrass acts.
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- Born December 25, 1889, in New York City to Hungarian Jewish immigrant parents.
- Began on clarinet as a child; was performing with the New York Symphony Orchestra by his late teens.
- Joined the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1915; was named director of the company’s “light music” division in 1924.
- Co-wrote “The Lonesome Road” with Gene Austin in 1927; the song became a multi-decade Tin Pan Alley standard and entered country and bluegrass repertoires through cuts by Charlie Poole, Doc Watson, and Jerry Garcia.
- Composed and conducted scores for MGM films through the 1940s.
- Died February 18, 1982, in Franklin Square, New York at age 92.
