Fred E. Ahlert

He was educated at Townsend Harris Hall, at City College of New York and at Fordham University Law School. He began arranging for Waterson, Berlin and Snyder, and wrote special material for vaudeville. He did the first arrangements for the new Fred Waring Glee Club. Joining ASCAP in 1920, he served as a director for 20 years, between 1933 and 1953, and as its president from 1948 to 1950. His chief musical collaborators included Roy Turk, Sam Lewis, Joe Young, Harry Richman, Bing Crosby, and Edgar Leslie. His popular songs include "I'll Get By"; "The Moon Was Yellow"; "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter"; "Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day" (the Bing Crosby theme); "Mean to Me"; "Walkin' My Baby Back Home"; "I'd Love to Fall Asleep and Wake Up in My Mammy's Arms"; You Oughta See My Baby"; "I Gave You Up Before You Threw Me Down"; "There's a Cradle in Caroline"; "Love, You Funny Thing"; "Sing an Old-Fashioned Song"; "Life is a Song"; "The Image of You"; "Take My Heart"; I Don't Know Why"; and "I Wake Up Smiling".