Elliot Carpenter papers

1922-1979

Elliot James Carpenter was a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and song stylist, with a career that spanned much of the twentieth century. Born in Philadelphia on December 28, 1894, he was educated at the Temple School of Music in that city. He became an organist in a Baptist church, and at age fifteen played Mendelssohn's Concerto for piano and orchestra with the Philadelphia Concert Orchestra under the direction of Gilbert Anderson. Carpenter, however, preferred performing popular music and after moving to New York, became a member of the Clef Club, a union and booking agent for black musicians and musical groups, which also sponsored its own concerts. It was during this time that he became a pianist with the James Reese Europe Orchestra, and married Mauvolyene Rollins, also of Philadelphia, in 1914.

Carpenter first went to Europe in 1921 with an orchestra under the direction of Seth Weeks of Clef Club fame. While in Europe he again performed with the Europe Orchestra, was coach-accompanist for singer Maurice Chevalier, and performed at the Apollo Theatre in Paris with a small orchestra under the management of Seth Weeks in 1922. He continued his musical studies while in France at the Conservatory in Fontainbleau with Deacroux and Fouchet, and also received training at the Tadlewski Institute of Nice.

When Carpenter returned to the United States in 1923, he formed a vaudeville team with Ike Hatch and performed in many theaters in Europe. Soon after he formed a band composed of himself, Opal Cooper, Creighton Thompson and Roscoe Burnett. Known as the Red Devils, the band toured Europe under the management of the Clef Club Singers and Players. He also performed as a piano soloist in cabarets, theaters and clubs in London and Paris, including the Follies Bergères, the Casino in Cannes, as well as in Cairo and Buenos Aires. After twelve years of performing and studying abroad he returned to the United States in 1935.

Carpenter's primary musical style was popular, but he also wrote and performed swing music. Although he wrote a substantial amount of original music principally using the themes of love and religion, only a modest number of pieces were published. He was a prodigious arranger of music authored by both black and white composers. While devoting most of his talent to composing music, he also wrote lyrics, sometimes with collaborators. Additionally Carpenter wrote a small number of original scripts, generally short, which might have been skits to be performed in nightclubs or on the radio; some of which were reworkings of scenes from plays popular at the time, such as Showboat.

In the 1930s Carpenter moved to Los Angeles, which eventually became his permanent home. In 1937 he collaborated with Clarence Muse to write and perform the music for the film Spirit of Youth starring Joe Louis, the boxing champion. Five songs from this movie were published by Mills Music, Inc. including "More Sleepy Time", "Mighty Men of Steel", and "It's the Little Things You Do". In 1939 he arranged the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado into a swing piece called Swing Mikado, also known as Mikado in Swing. A major boost to his career was his performance of the sound track for "As Time Goes By" in the film Casablanca as the playing hands of Sam, the character played by Dooley Wilson. This led to other opportunities including performing in the homes of Hollywood stars such as Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford. He also appeared in radio programs on the London BBC, in Philadelphia and Hollywood and had roles in motion pictures, one of them being Amos and Andy.

Among his other accomplishments, Carpenter wrote a symphonic poem called "Moods" performed by the Federal Theatre Orchestra under the direction of Eusigli, and wrote two suites, African Dance and Bolero for Dance. A collaboration with Langston Hughes produced a song entitled "America's Young Black Joe", which was published. Three additional tunes "Album of Broken Dreams", "Cry Away Your Blues", and "We're Gonna Get Corny Tonight" were published under the pen name of Jimmy Fortune. He is also the author of a book entitled Syncopation which depicts the lives and works of early African-American composers. Although it is not clear how many recordings Carpenter made, he recorded "Jamaica" for Monte Carlo Records and "Priceless (Nightingale) " with Bonnie Bartlett on the Tip Top Label.

Carpenter frequently worked with other collaborators including Karen Bank, Bill Boyd, Everett F. Briggs, Dove See, Frank Lowry, and Kahl Ra-Faun. He also assisted other composers in the construction of melody and lyrics, the preparation of lead sheets, as a copyist, and by undertaking revisions of their work. Throughout the forty year period from the 1930s until the 1970s, Carpenter frequently accompanied performances in churches, community groups and colleges in Los Angeles and its environs, and became one of Hollywood's teachers of voice, style and piano. Carpenter died in 1982.

Note: A search of the literature has yielded very little published information about Carpenter other than what was found in the collection.