Ruth Lowe

2025-06-22T02:55:57Z

162.222.63.53: /* Early life */Fixed typo

{{Short description|Canadian pianist and songwriter (1914–1981)}}
'''Ruth Lowe''' (August 12, 1914 – January 4, 1981) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[pianist]] and songwriter. She composed the first ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' top 80 song "[[I'll Never Smile Again]]".<ref name=":1" />

==Early life==
Born in Toronto but raised in [[Glendale, California]], Lowe returned to her birth country of Canada as a young woman and began working as a pianist.<ref name=":2" /> In 1936, Lowe was working in the 'Song Shop' in Toronto when [[Ina Ray Hutton]] brought her [[all-female band]] (the [[Melodears]]) to town. Her piano player had taken ill, and Hutton was frantically trying to locate a good-looking blonde lady replacement. Lowe auditioned, and became the regular pianist in Ina Ray's band.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=A new book tells the story of Ruth Lowe, the pioneering Canadian songwriter behind two of Sinatra's earliest hits|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-a-new-book-tells-the-story-of-ruth-lowe-the-pioneering-canadian/|access-date=2021-05-09}}</ref> At age 23 in 1938, Lowe married Harold Cohen, a Chicago music publicist. It was a happy marriage that only lasted one year until Cohen's death of kidney failure during an operation in 1939. In her deep grief, Lowe returned to live in Toronto. In her apartment, she composed "[[I'll Never Smile Again]]".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Média|first=Bell|title=Canada's Ruth Lowe Wrote 1st Song To Top 'Billboard' Chart 80 Years Ago|url=https://www.iheartradio.ca/news/canada-s-ruth-lowe-wrote-1st-song-to-top-billboard-chart-80-years-ago-1.13079117|access-date=2021-05-09|website=www.iheartradio.ca|language=en-CA}}</ref>

==Songwriter==
The song "I'll Never Smile Again" was first heard on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]'s (CBC) radio program ''Music By Faith'', in an arrangement by Canadian musician [[Percy Faith]], who would soon go on to fame in the US and the world. Approximately a year later, Lowe passed a copy of the tune to a guitarist in the [[Tommy Dorsey]] band, Carmen Mastren, hoping to have Dorsey hear the tune. Dorsey initially passed on the song, giving it to [[Glenn Miller Orchestra|Glenn Miller]], but then had it arranged for his young singer, [[Frank Sinatra]], and the [[The Pied Pipers|Pied Pipers]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Steve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWBPAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22i'll+never+smile+again%22+grammy+hall+of+fame&pg=PA373|title=Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings|date=2013-10-04|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8296-6|language=en}}</ref> It was an early, major hit song for Sinatra.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tyler|first=Don|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSCfBQAAQBAJ&dq=%22i'll+never+smile+again%22+grammy+hall+of+fame&pg=PA250|title=Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era|date=2007-04-02|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-2946-2|language=en}}</ref> Lowe wrote the lyrics for another Frank Sinatra hit, "[[Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ruth-lowe-emc|title=Ruth Lowe {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia|website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca|access-date=2019-04-12}}</ref> She and her son Tom Sandler wrote the song "Take Your Sins to the River" for [[The Travellers (Canadian band)|The Travellers]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Meet Ruth Lowe, The Canadian Songwriting Pioneer Who Penned Two of Frank Sinatra's Biggest Hits|url=https://www.everythingzoomer.com/arts-entertainment/2020/11/22/frank-sinatra-turns-100-2/|access-date=2021-05-09|website=www.everythingzoomer.com|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life and legacy==
In 1945, Lowe married Nathan Sandler and the union produced two sons, Tommy and Stephen.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schweitzer|first=Ruth|date=2015-12-11|title=How a Jewish songwriter launched Frank Sinatra's career|url=https://www.cjnews.com/culture/entertainment/how-a-jewish-songwriter-from-toronto-launched-frank-sinatras-career|access-date=2021-05-09|website=The Canadian Jewish News|language=en-US}}</ref>

Lowe died of cancer in 1981.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|date=1981-01-05|title=Sinatra 'Anthem' Composer Dies|pages=25|work=The Vancouver Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77348973/sinatra-anthem-composer-dies/|access-date=2021-05-09}}</ref> "I'll Never Smile Again" was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 1982.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-10-18|title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/hall-of-fame|access-date=2021-05-09|website=GRAMMY.com|language=en}}</ref>

In 2020, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=iFsgzgEACAAJ Until I Smile at You: How One Girl’s Heartbreak Electrified Frank Sinatra’s Fame!]'', a biography written by Peter Jennings with Tom Sandler, Lowe’s son, was published by Castle Carrington Publishing.<ref name=":0" />

In 2021, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LIktzgEACAAJ Ruth's Wonderful Song]'', a children's book biography by Jennings, was published by Tellwell Talent.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Midland author Peter Jennings launches children's book|url=https://www.simcoe.com/community-story/10321997-midland-author-peter-jennings-launches-children-s-book/|access-date=2021-05-09|website=Simcoe.com|language=en-CA}}</ref>

in 2022, Canadian writer and filmmaker [[Jamila Pomeroy]] optioned and began development of a screen adaptation of [https://books.google.com/books?id=iFsgzgEACAAJ Until I Smile at You].<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 24, 2022 |title=Midland-based author's latest book, 'Until I Smile At You,' being developed into movie |work=Simcoe.com |url=https://www.simcoe.com/things-to-do/books/midland-based-author-s-latest-book-until-i-smile-at-you-being-developed-into-movie/article_8dd7185b-121c-5d5d-b1b3-d4ebf48068f4.html}}</ref>

==References==
<references />

== External links ==

* {{IMDb name|id=1283648}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Ruth}}
[[Category:Canadian women songwriters]]
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Verdun, Quebec]]
[[Category:Musicians from Montreal]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian pianists]]
[[Category:Melodears members]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women pianists]]

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Ruth Lowe