Roger A. Graham (12 June 1885 – 25 October 1938) was an American lyricist, composer, singer, and music publisher who flourished from 1906 to 1920 — a period that included World War I, the golden age of Tin Pan Alley (from about 1915 to 1920), the dawn of the Jazz Age (circa 1914), and the silent film era.
[1][2] From about 1914 to 1919, Graham's success and popularity as lyricist and publisher led to close friendships with stars of the stage and silent screen — George M. Cohan, Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and many others.
In 1938, nine years after the Wall Street Crash and in the throes of the Great Depression, Graham died alone and penniless in the Cook County Hospital charity ward, reportedly unknown to those attending him and without any kin or friend mourning at his side.
Graham's remains would have been interred in a pauper's grave were it not for an alert attendant at the Cook County Morgue, who, after recognizing his name on a list, contacted a sister, Elizabeth (Mrs. Lawrence Joseph Mulhearn; 1887–1982) of Bronxville, New York, and his ex-wife of 8 years, May Olivette Hill (1888–1978) of Los Angeles.
According to Hill, his lyrics from "I Ain't Got Nobody", and other melancholy songs that made him popular, seemed to foreshadow his decline and ensuing loneliness.
Rhode Island First marriage Move from Providence to Chicago in 1910 Theodore Morse Music Company, Chicago Ellis & Co., Chicago Marriage to May Olivette Hill Retirement from music Divorce Roger Graham, 143 Dearborn Street Theory over the etymology of the word, "Jazz" At the height of his career, around 1918, his friends were stars of the stage and silent screen — George M. Cohan, Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and many others.
Clarence E. Brandon Sr. claimed that the more well-known Williams-Graham-Peyton song was written in response to his refusal to sell the publishing rights to his 1911 "I Ain't Got Nobody",[23] which, according to him, was shelved and sold only under the counter.
"Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble", a 1917 hit composed by Spencer Williams and published by Graham endures today as the impetus for the shimmy, a dance move.