Cliff Hess

Biography

Clifford Hess, better known as Cliff Hess, (June 19, 1894 – June 8, 1959) was an American songwriter, composer, lyricist, and pianist. He began his career as pianist while a young teenager working on passenger riverboats on the Mississippi River. He met Irving Berlin while working in the Chicago branch of the music publisher Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc. By 1911 he was working as Berlin's secretary, and appeared on Broadway that year with Berlin as his accompanist in performances of his songs. He served as Berlin's secretary until 1918 and was largely responsible for not only notating Berlin's songs into sheet music, but also editing his works into playable keys and simplifying works to make them accessible for commercial sale. After leaving Berlin, he became a successful songwriter in his own right with many tunes being recorded for Victor Records and Columbia Records. He also wrote songs for films during the 1930s and some of his tunes were interpolated into musicals.

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