Oh By Jingo

One of several brothers who all abandoned the surname Gumm in favour of the classier sounding Von Tilzer, Albert followed carefully, and creatively, in his older brother Harry’s footsteps. After working in Chicago at a music publishing establishment which was a regional outlet for the firm of Shapiro, Bernstein and Von Tilzer, Albert made the inevitable move out east. Then in 1904 they started up the York Music Company on West 28th Street in New York City. The song that put this company on the map was “Teasin’,” the product of Albert’s collaboration with Cecil Mack. He seems to have had no trouble in turning out songs which were to become extremely popular.

Albert Von Tilzer is also remembered for emitting “Oh, By Jingo!” a knuckleheaded novelty number that the record-buying public of 1919 seems to have found particularly irresistible.