Dick Robertson (songwriter)

Dick Robertson
Robertson in 1945 advertisement
Background information
Birth nameRichard Joseph Richardson
Born(1900-07-03)July 3, 1900
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedJuly 12, 1979(1979-07-12) (aged 79)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
GenresBig band
OccupationSongwriter
InstrumentVocalist
LabelsBanner Records

Richard Joseph Robertson (July 3, 1900 – July 12, 1979)[1][2] was an American popular big band singer and songwriter of the 1930s and 1940s. He sang for many bandleaders such as Leo Reisman and Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra, and was on the artist roster at Banner Records. In fact, he was one of the most prolific New York based vocalists (along with Irving Kaufman, Chick Bullock, Scrappy Lambert, Elmer Feldkamp, Paul Small and Smith Ballew) on scores of records from late 1928 through the mid 1930s. A series of records issued on Melotone/Perfect/Banner/Oriole/Romeo, Crown, Bluebird from 1930-1934 were issued under his name or are listed in the 2010 edition of "American Dance Bands on Record and Film (1915-1942)" by Richard J. Johnson and Bernard H. Shirley as being under his nominal leadership. His last recording session as a singer was in 1949. He also used the pseudonym Bob Richardson for some recordings on Mayfair Records.[3]

As a songwriter his biggest hit was "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" in 1940.[4] The Sinatra version of the song was re-released on The Song Is You (album) and again on Frank Sinatra & the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Vol. 1

  1. ^ A little on the lonely side. Sydney : Sterling Music Pub. Co. ; New York, N.Y. : Advanced Music Co. 1944.
  2. ^ "Robertson Dick". Dick Robertson. Oxford University Press. January 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  3. ^ 60 years of recorded jazz 1917-1977 1980 - Volume 9 - Page R-237 "Old sheep, you know the way - BOB RICHARDSON Bob Richardson and his Orchestra : pseudonym on Mayfair G2023 for Dick Robertson, see there"
  4. ^ Warren W. Vaché The unsung songwriters: America's masters of melodies 2000 p403 "Anybody who bought popular records during the thirties and forties would be familiar with his voice. Besides performing as a vocalist, Robertson also doubled as a songwriter, collaborating on a number of very respectable entries in the popular field. His biggest hit was the wistful ballad We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me), a 1940 "