Will Accooe
American musician and composer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willis J. Accooe (1874 – April 26, 1904) was an African American performing musician and composer, mainly of musicals.[1][2] He was "an important songwriter during the birth of the black musical" according to the Library of Congress website.[2]
Will Accooe | |
|---|---|
| Born | Will Accooe 1874 |
| Died | April 26, 1904 (aged 29–30) |
| Occupation | Musician |
Life and career
He was born in Winchester, Virginia to preacher John Harris Accooe and Anna Accooe.[3] He married fellow musician and performer Alice Mackey.[1] He studied at Princess Anne Academy in Maryland.[4]
He played organ at the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition,[citation needed] and his composition Tennessee Centennial March proved greatly successful.[2]
Accooe was musical director for John William Isham's Octoroons, a popular quasi-minstrel troupe,[2] and was musical director for productions with Bert Williams. With Bob Cole and Billy Johnson he produced A Trip to Coontown in 1898, "the first New York musical written, produced, and performed by black artists". He wrote songs for the show and was its musical director.[2] In addition to his other theatrical work, he also worked on Broadway musicals for white audiences, including The Belle of Bridgeport (1900), The Liberty Belles (1901), The Casino Girl (1900–1901).[1][5]
He co-wrote a musical with Will Marion Cook entitled The Cannibal King (1901), but it was never produced.[2] He was a co-composer for Harry B. Smith's musical comedy, The Liberty Belles, which was produced in 1901.[6] He composed some of the music for the musical comedy Sons of Ham. During a 1903 production of the show by Avery and Hart (Dan Avery and Charles Hart), Accooe was the orchestra's conductor.[7]
He wrote the comic opera The Volunteers in 1903, but fell ill and production was halted.[3]
Accooee wrote his own funeral oration shortly before his death. He died at age 30 on April 26, 1904, in Brooklyn, New York.[4][8]
Selected compositions
- Chicken (1899), co-wrote[9]
- Lulu: I loves yer, Lulu[2] co-wrote (1901)[10]
- Love Has Claimed Its Own (1901), co-wrote[11]
- Black Patti Waltzes
- Ma Dandy Soldier Coon (1900)[12]
- On the Road to Cairo Town (1903) co-wrote with James O'Dea[13]
- In a Birch Canoe (1904)[14]
- The Phrenologist Coon was released five times on Victor Records in recordings by either Bert Williams or Silas Leachman.[15]
- Tennessee Centennial March (1897)[2]