Harry D. Kerr


Harry David Kerr was an American songwriter, lyricist, author, and lawyer. Kerr became active in music at age 15. The practice of law had been his prime avocation until 1920, when he decided to focus on songwriting. But he still continued to use his legal training in music. In 1922, while living in New York City, Kerr prepared the incorporation documents for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, of which he had become one of 90 charter members at its founding in 1914.

Copyright activist

From February 1900 to 1903, he had studied law in the law office of George H. Cobb of Watertown, New York. In May 1905, Kerr received an LL.B. from Albany Law School.
Beginning in 1907 as a young lawyer, Kerr worked for about 18 months with a coalition in Washington, D.C., for the passage of the Copyright Act of 1909, which secured the rights of composers to charge royalties on the sales of sound recordings. While lobbying for it, Kerr was associated with the New York City law firm Dougherty, Olcott & Tenney.
The U.S. Congregational Committee on Copyrights began hearings Mary 26–28, 1908, at the Library of Congress, to vet the concerns and proposals of authors and managers. Constituent groups giving testimony were the National Association of Theatrical Managers, the Allied Copyright Committee, and the White Rats, an author advocacy group of which Kerr was a member.
In 1909, Kerr also wrote the lyrics to "Get on a Raft With Taft," President William H. Taft's campaign song — a particularly memorable concept given that Taft weighed 300 lbs. Taft signed the Copyright Act into law.

Growing up

Kerr attended Gouverneur High School, Gouverneur, New York, during the 1899–1900 school-year. He moved to Watertown, New York, sometime after that, but before 1901.

Career before becoming a lawyer

In June 1901, Kerr moved from Watertown, New York, to Denver to accept an executive and governance position — corporate secretary and director — with The New York Mining and Development Company, of which Ezekiel Hanson Cook, PhD, who from 1994 to 1889 had been the president of Potsdam Normal College, was president. Charles Finding was the Vice President and Charles Love was the Treasurer. The same group of executives simultaneously ran another Denver-based mining company called Mountain Pride Mining Co.

Selected songs

;
; Windsor Music Co, Chicago, New York
; Willis Woodward & Co., New York
; The Mammoth Music Company, Albany, New York
; Roger A. Graham, Providence
; Metropolis Music Co.
; M. Witmark & Sons
  • "Drifting Down the Old St. Lawrence," lyrics & music by Kerr
  • "The Ebony-Colored Club; Ethiopian Two-Step," lyrics & music by Kerr
  • "Where Love Alone is King," lyrics by Kerr, music by Ernest R. Ball
  • "In a Little Wigwam," lyrics & music by Kerr
  • "Father Has a Tender Heart," lyrics & music by Kerr
  • "I'm Just a Ragged Newsboy, But My Heart's True Blue," lyrics & music by Kerr
  • "There's a Sunny Smile Waiting For Me," lyrics by Kerr, music by Leo Edwards
; Jerome H. Remick & Co., Detroit, New York
  • "Won't You Share a Little Home With Me?" lyrics & music by Kerr
  • "Tell Me the Story of Love," lyrics by Kerr, music by C Sharpe Minor
  • "Some Day the Long Way Will Turn," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry Joseph Tandler
  • "Years," lyrics by Kerr, music by Otto Motzan
  • "Just Keep a Thought For Me," lyrics by Kerr, music by Earl Burtnett & Max Fischer, arr. by J. Bodewalt Lampe
  • "Two Tiny Hands," lyrics by Kerr, Henry Joseph Tandler
  • "Manzanilla", lyrics by Hal Billings, music Henry Joseph Tandler
  • "Counting the Days," lyrics by Kerr, music by Earl Burtnett & Jess Kirkpatrick
  • "Guessing," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry R. Cohen, cover artist William Austin Starmer
; Leo Feist, Inc.
; Victor Kremer Co, Chicago
; Miller Music Publishing Co., Chicago
; Vinton Pub. Co., Boston
; Joe Morris Music Co., New York
; Church, Paxson and Co., New York
; G. Schirmer
; C. C. Church & Co., Hartford
; New Amsterdam Music Corporation, New York
; Gillick Co., San Francisco
; Joseph W. Stern & Co.
; Chas. E. Roat Music Co., Battle Creek, Michigan
; Edward L. Ballenger Music Publishing Co., Los Angeles
; Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
; Pace & Handy Music Co., Memphis
; ArtMusic, Inc., New York
; Broadway Music Corporation
; Los Angeles Music Publishing Co.
; T. Presser, Philadelphia
; F.B. Haviland Pub. Co.
; C. Arthur Fifer Music Co., Quincy, Illinois
; L.F. Collin, Melbourne
; Wright Music, Seattle
; A.J. Stasny Music Co.
; J.W. Jenkin's Sons Music, Kansas City, Missouri
; Maurice Richmond, New York
; Nacio Herb Brown, Los Angeles
; Chappell & Co., Ltd., London
; Allan & Co., Melbourne
; J Mills, New York
; Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc.
; Sam Fox Publishing Company
; Henry Burr Music Corporation, New York
  • "Baby Curls," lyrics by Kerr, music by John Cooper
; Forster Music Publisher, Inc., Inc., Chicago
; Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco
  • "Do You Ever Think of Me?" lyrics by Kerr & John Cooper, music by Earl Burtnett
  • "My Dearest Prayer," lyrics by Kerr, music by Henry Joseph Tandler
  • "Somebody's Waiting," lyrics by Kerr, music by Chris Schonberg
  • "Have You Forgotten?" lyrics by Kerr, music by Earl Burtnett, John Cooper & Oswald Stevenson
  • "You Won't Be Sorry", lyrics by Kerr, music by Earl Burtnett & Louis Marcasie, arranged by Harry A. Powell
  • "Don't Be Too Sure," lyrics by Hal Billings, music by Henry R. Cohen
  • "Bygones," lyrics by Kerr, music by Irving Abrahamson & Don Warner
  • "That's My Girl," lyrics by Kerr, music by Joe McKiernan
  • "Ships That Pass In the Night," music by W. H. Smith & Earl Burtnett
  • "Rest In My Arms," lyrics by Kerr, music by Earl Burtnett
  • "Give Me Today," lyrics by Kerr, music Paul Titsworth & Harold Bell
; J. Albert & Son, Sydney
; DeSylva, Brown and Henderson Inc., New York — selling agents – Crawford Music Corp.
; Suttons, Melbourne
; R.L. Huntzinger, New York
; William Conrad Polla
; Boston Music
; State Theatre Collection, Sydney, Australia

Record labels

; Blue Amberol Records
; Nordskog Records
; Brunswick Records
; Victor
; "Neapolitan Nights"
Kerr was married twice.
His first marriage was to Harriet Lodge Hastings. They married on October 9, 1905, in Albany, New York. His second marriage was to Ruth Eleanor Minter. They married on December 20, 1919, in Santa Ana, California, and remained married until his death.