Fred Rose: From Vaudeville to Nashville

Our Parade of Roses growses: to Jack Rose, Harry Rose, Billy Rose, Ike Rose, Julian Rose, Broadway Danny Rose, and Max Rose, we now add Fred Rose (1898-1954).

Fred Rose is basically the missing link between Tin Pan Alley and The Grand Ole Opry. You knew there had to be one! Raised in St. Louis, Rose played piano since childhood. As a teenager he moved to Chicago, where he began to play in saloons and vaudeville. By 1920, performers were recording his songs. One of his first hits “Red Hot Mama” (with Gilbert Wells and Bud Cooper) was recorded just about a century ago (summer 1924), by both Sophie Tucker and Ukulele Ike, followed by both Dolly Kay and the Brox Sisters a few months later. Another of his early songs, “Deed I Do” (with Walter Hirsch) was recorded in 1926 by the orchestras of Ben Bernie and Ben Pollack, with additional hit versions recorded by Ruth Etting and Johnny Marvinin early 1927. Fans of Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla know “Deed I Do” as the song Duke Mitchell sings in that picture. Rose also co-wrote songs with Paul Whiteman which were hits for his band in the ’20s, and “Flamin’ Mama”, a hit for Aileen Stanley in 1925.

Fred Rose hosted a succession of programs on Chicago radio stations, but a drinking problem began to interfere with his work and it hurt his reputation. Seeking a fresh start, in the late ’30s he started writing music for B movie westerns starring Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, Tim Holt, and others, often in collaboration with Ray Whitley (“Back in the Saddle Again”), whose own movies he also wrote tunes for.

In 1942 Rose teamed with country music star Roy Acuff to form the influential publishing company Acuff-Rose Music. I know you’ve seen that crediting on record jackets, that is, if you’re old enough to have looked at record jackets. Naturally the men published their own songs. Many of Rose’s tunes were recorded by the likes of Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Red Foley, and many others. His best known tune of this era was “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”, written in 1947, covered by many, though today probably best known from Willie Nelson’s 1975 version. Acuff-Rose also published the music of Hank Williams himself, making the firm a force to be reckoned with in Nashville.

Rose died a few months after Williams, in 1954, but obviously that catalog of songs remained more valuable than ever. His son Wesley Rose, ran the company with Acuff for the next 30 years, adding important, lucrative new clients like The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Lefty Frizzell, and others. In 1985, the entire catalog was sold to Gaylord Entertainment, parent company of the Grand Old Opry.

For more on vaudeville,where Fred Rose got his start,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.