View source for Kerry Mills

{{Short description|American composer (1869–1948)}}
{{infobox person
| name = Kerry Mills
| birth_name = Frederick Allen Mills
| other_names = F.A. Mills (publishing as)
| birth_place = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, United States
| birth_date = 1 February 1869
| death_place = [[Hawthorne, California]], United States
| death_date = 5 December 1948 (aged 79)
| occupation= Composer, Music Publishing Executive
| known_for   = F.A. Mills Music Publisher
}}
'''Kerry Mills''' ''(né'' '''Frederick Allen Mills'''; 1 February 1869 in [[Philadelphia]] – 5 December 1948 in [[Hawthorne, California]]), publishing also as '''F.A. Mills''', was an American [[ragtime|ragtime composer]] and music publishing executive of popular music during the [[Tin Pan Alley]] era.<ref name="Bio Index" /><ref name="Baker's Bio Dict" /><ref name="Baker's 20th C Classical" /><ref name="NGDAM" /><ref name="Hertage Encycl" /> His stylistically diverse music ranged from ragtime through [[cakewalk]] to [[march (music)|marches]]. He was most prolific between [[1895 in music|1895]] and [[1918 in music|1918]].<ref name="Ewen" /><ref name="Ewen 2" /><ref name="Rigdon" /><ref name="Gammond" /><ref name="Craig" />

== Career ==
[[Image:RedWingMills1907.jpeg|thumb|200px|right|[[Red Wing (song)|Red Wing]] 1907 [[sheet music]]]]
Mills trained as a [[violin]]ist and was head of the Violin Department of the [[University of Michigan]] School of Music when he began composing.  He moved to [[New York City]] in 1895 and started a music publishing firm, '''F. A. Mills Music Publisher''', publishing his own work and that of others.<ref name="Kinkle" /> The company went bankrupt in 1915 and was acquired by Maurice Richmond, who sold on many of the songs.<ref>https://ragpiano.com/comps/famills.shtml</ref>

==Selected works ==
* "Impecunious Davis"
* "In The City Of Sighs And Tears"
* "Just For The Sake Of Society" 
* "Let's All Go Up To Maud's"
* "The Longest Way 'Round Is The Sweetest Way Home"
* "[[Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis]]" (words by [[Andrew B. Sterling]])
*1895 : Rastus on Parade - Characteristic Two Step March for Piano
*1895 : Shandon Bells - Two Step March
*1896 : Happy Days in Dixie - Characteristic March
*1897 : At A Georgia Camp Meeting - A Characteristic March listen to:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLR2ZI0evgs
*1899 : Whistling Rufus - Characteristic Two Step March, Polka & Cakewalk
*1899 : Impecunious Davis - A Characteristic March
*1900 or before: Cake-Walk
*1900 : Kerry Mills Medley - Themes from Previous Cake Walk and Songs
*1902 : Harmony Moze - Characteristic Two Step
*1902 : A Brand Plucked from the Burning (words by [[Alfred Bryan (lyricist)|Alfred Bryan]])
*1902 : I Know She Waits for Me (words by [[Alfred Bryan (lyricist)|Alfred Bryan]])
*1903 : Valse Hèléne
*1903 : Petite Causerie - A Quiet Chat
*1903 : Valse Primrose - Les Primevères
*1903 : 'Leven Forty-Five From The Hotel - Two Step March
*1903 : Me and Me Banjo - Characteristic Piece
*1903 : Petite Causerie (A Quiet Chat) 
*1903 : Valse Helene 
*1903 : L'amour Aux Bois (Cupid's Bower)
*1903 : Valse Primrose (Les Primeveres)
*1903 : Like A Star That Falls From Heaven (words by [[Alfred Bryan (lyricist)|Alfred Bryan]])
*1904 : We'll Be Together When the Clouds Roll By (words by [[Alfred Bryan (lyricist)|Alfred Bryan]])
*1906 : Old Heidelberg: - Characteristic Two Step March
*1906 : While The Old Mill Wheel Is Turning (words by [[Will D. Cobb]])
*1907 : [[Red Wing (song)|Red Wing]]" - An Indian Intermezzo (words by [[Thurland Chattaway]]).  Mills adapted the melody from [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]]'s "The Happy Farmer"
*1908 : Kerry Mills Barn Dance
*1908 : Sun Bird - Intermezzo
*1908 : Hallie (A Little Romance)
*1908 : Sweet Sixteens - March
*1908 : [[Any Old Port in a Storm]] (words by [[Arthur J. Lamb]])
*1908 : If You Were Mine (words by [[Arthur J. Lamb]])
*1909 : Comical Eyes (words by Bartley C. Costello)
*1909 : Kerry Mills Rag Time Dance
*1909 : A Georgia Barn Dance
*1909 : The Scarf Dancer - A Novelty Two Step
*1909 : Lily of the Prairie - Two Step Intermezzo
*1909 : Sicilian Chimes - Reverie
*1909 : Kerry Mills Potpourri
*1909 : Don't Be an Old Maid, Molly
*1909 : Where Were You Last Night? (words by [[Alfred Bryan (lyricist)|Alfred Bryan]])
*1909 : "A Georgia Barn Dance" {{Audio|"A Georgia Barn Dance", by Kerry Mills (1909).webm|listen}}
*1910 : That Fascinating Ragtime Glide
*1910 : Valley Flower - Intermezzo
*1910 : Kerry Mills Palmetto Slide
*1910 : The Wyoming Prance - A Rag Time Two Step
*1910 : I've Lost My Nannie
*1911 : You've Got the Wrong Number, But You've Got the Right Girl (words by [[Arthur J. Lamb]])
*1914 : Kerry Mills Turkey Trot
*1914 : Kerry Mills Fox Trot
*1918 : Snooky Hollow - Intermezzo
*1919 : Tokio - Fox Trot on Chorus from Geisha Girl

==See also==
{{Portal|Music}}
*[[List of ragtime composers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="Bio Index">''[[Biography Index]],'' [[H.W. Wilson Co.]]; {{ISSN|0006-3053}}<br>
{{Space|4}}Vol. 1: Jan. 1946–Jul. 1949 (1949)<br>
{{Space|4}}Vol. 6: Jan. 1961–Jul. 1974 (1965)</ref>

<ref name="Baker's Bio Dict">''[[Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians]]'' (Mills is in Vol. 4 of 6), [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]; [[G. Schirmer Inc.|Schirmer]]<br>
{{Space|3}}6th ed., [[Nicolas Slonimsky|Slonimsky]] (ed.) (1978); {{OCLC|4426869}}<br>
{{Space|3}}8th ed., [[Nicolas Slonimsky|Slonimsky]] (ed.) (1992); {{OCLC|24246972}}<br>
{{Space|3}}9th ed., Laura Kuhn (ed.) (born 1953) (2001); {{OCLC|44972043}}</ref>

<ref name="Baker's 20th C Classical">''Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Classical Musicians,'' Nicolas Slonimsky (ed), [[G. Schirmer Inc.|Schirmer]] (1997); {{OCLC|36111932}}</ref>

<ref name="NGDAM">''The New Grove Dictionary of American Music,'' (Mills is in Vol. 3 of 4), [[H. Wiley Hitchcock]] & [[Stanley Sadie]] (eds.), [[Macmillan Publishers]] (1986); (see ''[[Oxford Music Online]]''); {{OCLC|13184437}}, {{OCLC|230202868}}</ref>

<ref name="Hertage Encycl">''The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music — Supplement,'' William H. Rehrig (ed.), [[Westerville, OH]]: Integrity Press (1996); {{OCLC|45209483}}</ref>

<ref name="Kinkle">''The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz, 1900-1950,'' by Roger D. Kinkle (1916–2000) (Mills is Vol 3 of 4), [[Arlington House Publishers]], [[New Rochelle, NY]] (1974) {{OCLC|897890}}</ref>

<ref name="Ewen">''American Popular Songs, From the Revolutionary War to the present,'' edited by David Ewen, New York: [[Random House]] (1966); {{OCLC|598027}}</ref>
<ref name="Ewen 2">''Popular American Composers, From Revolutionary times to the present — A Biographical and Critical Guide,'' 1st ed., compiled & edited by David Ewen, New York: [[H.W. Wilson Co.]] (1962); {{OCLC|63081753}}</ref>

<ref name="Rigdon">''Notable Names in the American Theatre'', Walter Rigdon (born 1930) (ed.), [[Clifton, NJ]]: [[James T. White & Co.]] (1976); {{OCLC|2372945}}<br>{{Space|4}}Alphabetized by titles of address, ''e.g.:'' Dr., Mrs., and Sir</ref>

<ref name="Gammond">''The Oxford Companion to Popular Music,'' by Peter Gammond, [[Oxford, England]]: [[Oxford University Press]] (1991); {{OCLC|22382241}}</ref>

<ref name="Craig">''Sweet and Lowdown: America's Popular Song Writers,'' by Warren Craig, [[Metuchen, NJ]]: [[Scarecrow Press]] (1978); {{OCLC|3380132}}</ref>

}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Kerry Mills}}
* [https://archive.today/20121215194549/http://boundless.uoregon.edu/u?/sheetmusic,648 Sheet music for his song "We'll Be Together When the Clouds Roll By"] from the collection at University of Oregon Libraries
* {{IMSLP|id=Mills, Kerry}}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109306 Kerry Mills recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Kerry}}
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:American male composers]]
[[Category:American composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Hawthorne, California]]
[[Category:Ragtime composers]]
[[Category:University of Michigan faculty]]