Finding Aid for Morris and Barnard Young Music Business Records, 1832-1988 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Lindy Smith and Mark Puente

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Collection Overview

Title: Morris and Barnard Young Music Business Records, 1832-1988

ID: 12/9/108

Primary Creator: Young, Morris N. (1909)

Extent: 50.25 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized in seven series.

Date Acquired: 00/00/1995

Subjects: Music business, Music Publishers

Formats/Genres: Broadsides, Financial Records, Sheet music

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Morris and Barnard Young Business Records consists of financial records, correspondence, royalty statements, songsters and broadsides, radio logs, legal documents, periodicals, music manuscripts, and memorabilia (fliers, brochures, playbills, etc.) that were compiled by Morris N. Young, as part owner of several music publishing, marketing, producing, and artist representation enterprises owned and operated by the brothers between ca. 1934 and 1972. The collection contains legal reports and supporting documentation from key litigation cases that were filed by Barney Young in the 1950s and 1960s against Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) et. al., and the Walt Disney Corporation. The collection also includes periodicals and publications both generated by companies owned by one or both of the Young brothers and those that they collected. The final three series are publications and manuscripts, both musical and prose, created by associates of the Youngs.

Biographical Note

Morris N. Young -- opthalmologist, author, and collector of books and artifacts on magic, mnemonics, and old sheet music -- was born July 20, 1909 in Lawrence, Massachusetts and died November 13, 2002 in Norwich, Connecticut at the aged of ninety-three. In addition to his vocational and avocational involvements, Young served as president of or was heavily involved with many music publishing companies and performer organizations such as Bomart Music Company, Ferris Records, National Juke Box Records, Godell Music, International Songwriters Association, and the Denton & Haskins Music Corporation which he and his brother, Bernard Young, purchased.

Subject/Index Terms

Music business
Music Publishers

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Method:

The UIUC Music Library purchased a related collection, the Morris Young Music Library of Early American Popular Music, in 1986 from rare book broker, J. Lubrano in New York. The business records were acquired in a subsequent gift from the collector's estate ca. 1995.

Box 127 transferred from MPAL: 4/12/2017

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Business Records and Personal Papers, 1936-1986],
[Series 2: Litigation Files, 1936-1973],
[Series 3: Barnard and Morris Young Music Company Periodicals and Publications, 1928-1966],
[Series 4: Non-Young Company Periodicals and Publications, 1832-1988],
[Series 5: Merle Kendrick Papers and Music, 1936-1956],
[Series 6: George Whiting Papers, 1934-1941],
[Series 7: E.M. Wickes papers, 1948-1951],
[All]

Series 7: E.M. Wickes papers, 1948-1951

Consists of manuscripts, papers, periodicals, and ephemera related to writings of E. M. Wickes, a music critic and historian. Also includes a subseries of music manuscripts by Lou Singer. Items are arranged alphabetically by title.

Sub-Series 1: Manuscripts and Published Newspaper Columns

Box 122: Manuscripts and Publications

Folder 1: Ballad Hit of 1951
Folder 2: Best Sellers Lists, March 25, 1946 to March 29, 1946
Folder 3: Changes and Surprises
Folder 4: An 8-bar View of Tin Pan Alley
Folder 5: Hoosier Hot Shots- Story and Pictures
Folder 6: Is Radio Advertising a Mirage?
Folder 7: Made--Not Born
Folder 8: Manuscripts
Folder 9: Milking Melodies
Folder 10: Millions in Melody
Folder 11: New Songs and Revivals
Folder 12: Out of Control
Folder 13: Pale Moon
Folder 14: Plugging Songs
Folder 15: Pop Songs are Assembled
Folder 16: Pop Songs Sprout Like Mushrooms
Folder 17: Song Immortal
Folder 18: Song Lines
Folder 19: Song Pluggers
Folder 20: Song Stuff
Folder 21: Songs-- Not A La Hoyle
Folder 22: Stein Song
Folder 23: Story Behind "The Prisoner's Song"
Folder 24: Story Behind the Song
Folder 25: Tin Pan Alley's Coin and Curriculum
Folder 26: Tin Pan Alley's Gold
Folder 27: They Wrote Hit Songs and Then Drifted Apart
Folder 28: Vagrant Tune
Folder 29: Vaughn Norton: Ex-Coal Miner
Folder 30: Where Are Canada's Hit Song Writers?
Folder 31: Writing the Popular Song Manuscript (partial), 1916
Folder 32: American Magazine, October 1916
Folder 33: Literary Digest, October 7, 1916
Folder 34: People's Favorite Magazine, May 1920
Folder 35: The Songwriter's Guide (pamphlet)
Folder 36: True Stories of Famous Songs, Vol. 1, Undated
Folder 37: Newspaper Articles and Ephemera
Folder 38: BMI- Licensed Record Titles by Artists
Folder 39: Michaels, Edward- In the Bag (incomplete)
Folder 40: Song Hits Magazine, 1941
Folder 41: If I Should Lose You- Robin, Leo and Ralph Rainger

Box 123: Newspaper Columns

Photocopies- not originals

Folder 1: Boston Traveler, July 22, 1938
Folder 2: The Morning Telegraph, January 10, 1926
Folder 3: The Morning Telegraph, August 12, 1928
Folder 4: NY Enquirer: Miscellaneous Clippings, Undated
Folder 5: NY Enquirer, August 15, 1931
Folder 6: NY Enquirer: Miscellaneous Clippings, 1937-1942
Folder 7: NY Enquirer, January 2, 1938
Folder 8: NY Enquirer, July 10, 1939
Folder 9: NY Enquirer, May 27, 1940
Folder 10: NY Enquirer, October 7, 1940
Folder 11: NY Enquirer, January 12, 1942
Folder 12: NY Enquirer, February 16, 1942
Folder 13: NY Enquirer, March 9, 1942
Folder 14: NY Enquirer, March 16, 1942
Folder 15: NY Enquirer: Miscellaneous Clippings, 1943
Folder 16: NY Enquirer, November 15, 1943
Folder 17: NY Enquirer: Miscellaneous Clippings, 1944
Folder 18: NY Enquirer: News-Reviews of Song World, 1944-1946
Folder 19: NY Enquirer, May 14, 1945
Folder 20: NY Enquirer, May 21, 1945
Folder 21: NY Enquirer, May 28, 1945
Folder 22: NY Enquirer, July 2, 1945
Folder 23: NY Enquirer, July 23, 1945
Folder 24: NY Enquirer: Miscellaneous Clippings, 1946-1948
Folder 25: NY Enquirer, June 10, 1946
Folder 26: NY Enquirer, December 23, 1946
Folder 27: NY Enquirer, December 30, 1946
Folder 28: NY Enquirer: News-Reviews of Song World and Did You Know Them When?, 1947 and undated
Folder 29: NY Enquirer, April 14, 1947
Folder 30: NY Enquirer, May 12, 1947
Folder 31: NY Enquirer, June 30, 1947
Folder 32: NY Enquirer, October 13, 1947
Folder 33: NY Enquirer, October 20, 1947
Folder 34: NY Enquirer, October 27, 1947
Folder 35: NY Enquirer, November 10, 1947
Folder 36: NY Enquirer, November 28, 1947
Folder 37: NY Enquirer, December 1, 1947
Folder 38: NY Enquirer, December 8, 1947
Folder 39: NY Enquirer, December 29, 1947

Box 124: Newspaper Columns

Photocopies- not originals

Folder 1: NY Enquirer: News-Reviews of Song World, 1948-1949
Folder 2: NY Enquirer, August 16, 1948
Folder 3: NY Enquirer, January 3, 1949
Folder 4: NY Enquirer, March 21, 1949
Folder 5: NY Enquirer, April 4, 1949
Folder 6: NY Enquirer, May 2, 1949
Folder 7: NY Enquirer, June 20, 1949
Folder 8: NY Enquirer, June 27, 1949
Folder 9: NY Enquirer, Junly 25, 1949
Folder 10: NY Enquirer, October 3, 1949
Folder 11: NY Enquirer, October 24, 1949
Folder 12: NY Enquirer, October 31, 1949
Folder 13: NY Enquirer, December 5, 1949
Folder 14: NY Enquirer: News-Reviews of Music-Radio, 1950-1952
Folder 15: NY Enquirer, January 23, 1950
Folder 16: NY Enquirer, February 13, 1950
Folder 17: NY Enquirer, April 10, 1950
Folder 18: NY Enquirer, May 22, 1950
Folder 19: NY Enquirer, August 14, 1950
Folder 20: NY Enquirer, January 15, 1951
Folder 21: NY Enquirer, April 16, 1951
Folder 22: NY Enquirer, May 14, 1951
Folder 23: NY Enquirer, July 9, 1951
Folder 24: NY Enquirer, July 16, 1951
Folder 25: NY Enquirer, July 23, 1951
Folder 26: Unidentified Newspaper Fragment, Undated

Box 126: Ephemera

Item 11: The Billboard Date Book, 1927-1928

Sub-Series 2: Lou Singer, Undated

Musical scores

Box 125: Lou Singer Scores

Folder 1: A Bath is a Wonderful Thing
Folder 2: Jenny Was Only Jaywalking
Folder 3: Oh the Flies Keep A-Buzzin'
Folder 4: Oom-Dida-Boom-Boom; Keep Your Eyes on the Road
Folder 5: Oh Please Be Careful; There Was a Man Who Drove a Car; The Coffee Boils Over; Careless Kate
Folder 6: Up a Ladder; Can't You See the Children; Jim Was a Reckless Driver