Ballard MacDonald

Ballard MacDonald (October 15, 1882 – November 17, 1935) was an American lyricist, who was one of the writers of Tin Pan Alley.

Born in Portland, Oregon, he was a charter member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

MacDonald wrote lyrics for a song called "Play That Barber-Shop Chord" in 1910, which became a hit with revised lyrics when it was sung in The Ziegfeld Follies by vaudeville star Bert Williams.^[1] He subsequently worked with composer Harry Carroll on "On the Mississippi" (1912) and "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" (1912, based on the million-selling novel). He also partnered with James F. Hanley, which produced the 1917 hit "(Back Home Again In) Indiana.^[1]

In the early '20s, MacDonald turned his attention to Broadway revues, which in 1924 brought him his most notable musical collaborator in George Gershwin. In 1926, MacDonald teamed up with Walter Donaldson to write songs for the Broadway show Sweetheart Time^[1]

Thumbs Up was MacDonald's final Broadway show.^[1] He died in Forest Hills, New York.

Songs[]

• 1912 On the Mississippi with Harry Carroll^[1]
• 1912 The Trail of the Lonesome Pine with Harry Carroll^[1]
• 1914 Fatherland, the Motherland, the Land of My Best Girl. (m: Harry Carroll)^[2]
• 1914 Tip-Top Tipperary Mary. (m: Harry Carroll)^[3]
• 1914 War in Snider's Grocery Store with Hank Hancock & Harry Carroll^[3]
• 1915 I Wanna Be the Captain or I Won't Play. (m: Alfred Von Tilzer)^[2]
• 1915 Is That You O'Reilly?^[2]
• 1915 Played by a Military Band. (m: Halsey K. Mohr)^[3]
• 1916 War Babies with Edward Madden. (m: James F. Hanley)^[3]
• 1917 Back Home Again In with James F. Hanley^[1]
• 1917 Mister Butterfly. (m: Leo Edwards)^[2]
• 1917 Never Forget to Write Home. (m: James F. Hanley)^[2]
• 1917 Ragtime Volunteers Are Off to War. (m: James F. Hanley)^[3]
• 1917 We'll Be There, on the Land, on the Sea, in the Air. (m: James F. Hanley)^[3]
• 1918 At the Dixie Military Ball. (m: Harry Carroll)^[2]
• 1918 Don't You Go and Worry, Mary. (m: Halsey K. Mohr)^[2]
• 1918 Dreaming of Home Sweet Home. (m: James F. Hanley)^[2]
• 1918 Father Will Be with Us Soon. (m: Nat Osborne)^[2]
• 1918 I've Got a Ten Day Pass for a Honeymoon (With the Girl I Left Behind) with Walter Donaldson. (m: James F. Hanley)^[2]
• 1918 Little Bit of Sunshine (From Home) with Joe Goodwin. (m: James F. Hanley)^[2]
• 1918 Magic in Your Big Blue Eyes. (m: Nat Osborne)^[2]
• 1918 Strolling 'Round the Camp with Mary. (m: Nat Osborne)^[3]
• 1918 Three Wonderful Letters from Home with Joe Goodwin. (m: James F. Hanley)^[3]
• 1918 With the Rose (I Send This Heart of Mine). m: Nat Osborne^[3]
• 1919 Another Good Man Gone Wrong. (m: Nat Osborne)^[2]
• 1919 M'sieur Jimmie (Come and Shake Ze Shimmy). m: Nat Osborne^[2]
• 1919 On a Little Farm in Normandie. m: Nat Osborne^[3]
• 1920 I Was a Florodora Baby with Harry Carroll

Selective list of song credits[]

• "Beautiful Ohio" (MacDonald/Robert A. King), 1918
• "Rose of Washington Square" (MacDonald/James F. Hanley)
• "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" (MacDonald/Leon Jessel), 1922
• "Back Home Again in Indiana" (MacDonald/James F. Hanley), 1917
• The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" (MacDonald/Harry Carroll), 1913
• "Play That Barbershop Chord"
• "Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!"
• "Somebody Loves Me"
• "Bend Down, Sister"
• "Down in Bom Bombay"
• "On the Mississippi"
• "There's a Light That's Burning in the Window of the Little House Upon the Hill"

References[]

External links[]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Ballard MacDonald

• Ballard MacDonald at allmusic
• Ballard MacDonald in the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Ballard MacDonald at IMDb
• Sheet music for "Dreamy Alabama", New York: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., 1919. From Alabama Sheet Music Collection
• Ballard MacDonald recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

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