Harry Woods

Tin Pan Alley lyricist Harry Woods composed many hits during the 1920s and 1930s. Although he was known as a drinker and a fighter, Woods penned such songs as "A Little Kiss Each Morning" (1929) and "Try a Little Tenderness" (1932). He's also responsible for several million-selling hits, including "When the Red Red Robin Comes Bobbing Along" (1926), "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover," and "Side by Side," both written in 1927. "Side by Side" was originally recorded by the most popular bandleader of the '20s, Paul Whiteman. That song and "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" also sold well the second time around, with revivals by Kay Starr in 1953 and Art Mooney in 1947, respectively. Woods was also the author of songs adopted by individual entertainers as theme songs, including Rudy Vallée's "Heigh Ho, Everybody, Heigh Ho" (1929) and Kate Smith's "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" (1931).
© Joslyn Layne /TiVo