John M. "Jack" Elliott
2005 WMA Hall of Fame Member
Jack Elliott was born on May 7, 1914 in Gowanda, NY. He married Judy Rotman in 1940 in Chicago and they had one child, John Michael Elliott, Jr. While in Chicago, Jack composed songs for Dale Evans, who was working at The Chicago Theatre, and he came to Los Angeles with her in 1942 for a radio audition. They both got the job!
Jack subsequently composed songs for over 40 Western movies at Republic Studio alone, most notably for Roy Rogers & Dale Evans films. His compositions included the title songs for the following films in the 1940s and 50s: Lights of Old Santa Fe, Rainbow Over Texas, Bells of Rosarita, Bells of San Angelo, Song of Arizona, Heldorado, Under Nevada Skies, Roll on Texas Moon, Home in Oklahoma, Apache Rose, North of the Great Divide, Susanna Pass, Under California Stars, Pals of the Golden West, Grand Canyon Trail, Far Frontier and Springtime in the Sierras. He also composed the title song from the Gene Autry film, Twilight on the Rio Grande and "Under Colorado Stars" from the Rex Allen film, Colorado Sundown.
Not only were Elliott's songs used on screen, but Roy Rogers had successful commercial recordings of "Roll on Texas Moon" and "Home in Oklahoma" for RCA Victor, which are still available today. And Gene Autry's soundtrack recording of the beautiful "Twilight on the Rio Grande" has also been issued on CD.
In addition to the title songs, some of which are more memorable than the films they came from, Elliott composed many of the other songs in those and other films. For example, titles included "Slumber Trail" from Under Nevada Skies, "Cowboy's Dream of Heaven" from Bells of San Angelo, "By a Laughing Spring" from North of the Great Divide, "Belle of the el Dorado" from Sunset in El Dorado and "Every Day is Christmas in the West," from Trail of Robin Hood, a beautiful song composed by Elliott with Foy Willing, that Don Edwards found on the film soundtrack and recorded, for the first time, in 1996.
"Lights of Old Santa Fe" was sung in two of Roy Rogers' films, and, while not recorded commercially, it was a staple on radio broadcasts, has been released on a soundtrack LP and, more recently, on CDs containing radio performances. There were many more, not all of which were strictly Western, but fans of B-Western movies will count many of them among their favorites, e.g. "Saskatoon," What's Doin' Tonight in Dreamland" and "Saving for a Rainy Day."
Jack Elliott died on January 3, 1971, but by that time he had made a major contribution to the Western music genre, primarily through his work on films. It should be pointed out that, today, an internet search will turn up a number of other Jack Elliotts, who should not be confused with this year's inductee into the Western Music Hall of Fame. One of those whose name appears frequently is "Ramblin' Jack" Elliott, another was head of the Henry Mancini Institute, and there are others. Part of the confusion may be due to the fact that John M. "Jack" Elliott's name as it appears on sheet music and in film credits, is simply Jack Elliott. It is hoped that, with the WMA's recognition of his contribution to Western Music through his induction into the Hall of Fame, future internet searches for information on Jack Elliott, Western composer, will now be more productive.
