"All of Me": Song History, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video

"All of Me"

"Gerald Marks, a Tin Pan Alley composer best known for the song ''All of Me,'' died Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 96.

'''All of Me,' written in 1931 with Seymour Simons, has been recorded by artists including Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Willie Nelson and Frank Sinatra. Mr. Marks also contributed to the scores of four Broadway shows, including a ''Ziegfeld Follies,'' and wrote for campaigns ranging from school safety to World War II bond sales.

"Another of his notable tunes, ''Is It True What They Say About Dixie?,'' was written in 1936 with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Sammy Lerner. It was first made popular by Al Jolson and later recorded by Rudy Vallee.

"Mr. Marks was born in Saginaw, Mich. Until five years ago, he was still giving college lectures about his days writing music in Tin Pan Alley, and at the time of his death was finishing a book, ''What I Found in the Alley.''

For his 96th birthday, he wrote the song ''At My Age, Why Ask?'' and sang it to friends who called to ask about his health."

• Songwriters Hall of Fame (brief bio and song list)
• AllMusic.com (brief bio)
• Naxos.com (brief bio and discography of Naxos albums including songs by this songwriter.
• Wikipedia article;
• Internet Broadway Database (Broadway productions and song credits);
• Internet Movie Database (brief biography, filmography, movie song credits);
• The New York Times (articles about or related to the songwriter);
• New York Public Library (catalog entries for books, personal papers, recordings, scores, etc.);
• Michael Bublé: mikemoonbeam
• Ian Whitcomb interview with Gerald Marx: adamgswanson

Notes

• "Origins of the song" (See video part I, below.)
• from the New York Times obituary for Gerald Marks, January 29, 1997
• Ian Whitcomb interviews Gerald Marks, Part 1--focus on "All of Me"
• Ian Whitcomb interviews Gerald Marks, Part 2 --focus on "Is It True What They Say about Dixie"
• Gerald Marks research resources on the web (listed alphabetically by web source):

Cite this page: "All of Me": Song History, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video, Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/a/all_of_me.html