Cliff Hess

Cliff Hess (June 19, 1894 – June 8, 1959) was an American pianist, songwriter, composer, and lyricist born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He began performing as a pianist in his early teenage years, playing on passenger riverboats along the Mississippi River before transitioning into the music publishing industry.

Hess secured a position at the Chicago branch of Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc., where he first encountered songwriter Irving Berlin. By 1911, he had taken on the role of Berlin's personal secretary and was appearing on Broadway that same year as Berlin's accompanist, performing alongside Berlin as he sang his own compositions. The two men shared a New York City apartment during their working partnership and frequently collaborated late into the night. Hess remained in Berlin's employ until 1918. Berlin, though a gifted musician, played entirely by ear and lacked the ability to read or write musical notation. Hess was therefore responsible for transcribing Berlin's compositions into written sheet music, and his contributions extended well beyond simple transcription. He transposed Berlin's songs into more accessible keys and edited the arrangements to make them commercially viable. Musicologist Charles Hamm observed that the piano accompaniments in Berlin's songs from this period were, in all likelihood, largely Hess's own work, while crediting Berlin with the invention of the lyrics, melodies, and harmonic intentions.

Hess made his Broadway performing credit in 1915, appearing in the musical Stop! Look! Listen! His song "Cairo" was interpolated into the 1916 Broadway musical Step This Way, and his composition "Marimba" was used in The Greenwich Village Follies of 1920. He became a member of ASCAP in 1919 and went on to work for Tin Pan Alley music publishing firms as well as serving in executive roles at multiple record labels.

As an independent songwriter, Hess achieved notable success, with many of his compositions recorded by Victor Records and Columbia Records. Among his most recognized works were "Homesickness Blues" (1917) and "Freckles." His catalog also included "Don't You Remember the Day," "Huckleberry Finn," "I'm in Heaven (When I'm in My Mother's Arms)," "I Used to Call Her Baby," "Sweet Marimba," "When Alexander Takes His Ragtime Band to France," "While the Years Roll By," and "Doodle Bug" (1915). His work extended into film during the 1930s, when he wrote the score for the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum and composed all of the songs for the 1936 musical film The Black Network.

Hess resided in East Orange, New Jersey for a period of his life. He died on June 8, 1959, in Cameron County, Texas, eleven days before what would have been his sixty-fifth birthday.